Titus Anronicufuckthisshit.

Guh.. Paper not going so well.

In the play, Titus Andronicus, the characters' family values are questionable, and while those values take a back seat to most of the more serious drama in the play, can show an interesting new side to some elements of the story. Characters such as Aaron, Titus and Tamora all act contrary to their character, or role in the play when faced with certain family situations. Aaron, in Acts III IV an V, even becomes something of a tragic hero, whereas Titus, the tragic hero becomes a barbarian.
The main character, Titus, is generally looked at as an old warrior made victim of cruelty, but one may feel the need to point out that among other evils, he kills two of his own children, for seemingly little reason. He acts in a barbarous way at times, even though he is supposed to be the tragic hero. Shakespeare calls attention to this on multiple instances by having characters relate Titus' behavior to the mannerisms and lifestyles of the Goths. Upon Titus telling Tamora of his need to sacrifice Alarbus, she bursts out, “O cruel irreligious piety!” (when Chiron asks...) “Was never Scythia half so Barbarous.” (1.1.130-131).
Aaron spends the first two acts convincing people to do terrible things, seemingly just for fun. He has no grudges against Titus, but that he cares for Tamora. For this reason, at first, one may suspect Aaron to be Shakespeare's most evil villain, but in act III, he does something surprising: he kills the nurse of his bastard son and flees to the Goths for his son's safety. When Aaron runs from Rome, he gives up his lover and any more chances for the political interference he seems to love so much. On his way to Gothic territory, he is caught by Lucius, one of Titus' sons, and his army of Goths. Lucius captures Aaron, and in exchange for sparing the child, Aaron admits to all of the crimes committed, after which he speaks the following monologue:
“Ay, that I had not done a thousand more.
Even now I curse the day--and yet, I think,
Few come within the compass of my curse,--
Wherein I did not some notorious ill,
As kill a man, or else devise his death,
Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it,
Accuse some innocent and forswear myself,
Set deadly enmity between two friends,
Make poor men's cattle break their necks;
Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,
And bid the owners quench them with their tears.
Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,
And set them upright at their dear friends' doors,
Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;
And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,
Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,
'Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.'
Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things
As willingly as one would kill a fly,
And nothing grieves me heartily indeed
But that I cannot do ten thousand more.” (5.1.124-144)
Aaron clearly stated that he does evil for the sake of doing evil. He and Titus change when the child is born and Titus goes insane, and it creates an interesting change of roles. Titus becomes something of a villain, and Aaron a tragic hero.
It's easier to see Aaron as a victim after his quote:
"Coal-black is better than another hue
In that it scorns to bear another hue
For all the water in the ocean
Can never turn the swan's black legs to white." (4.2.98-101) He defends his son's skin color, which he himself has been ostracized for. This causes us to consider that he may be doing evil to get his revenge on the world for the treatment of those with dark skin. The quickness with which he loves his son shows how alone he has been before the child's birth.
Titus shows very little love for his family, for someone who commits his life to vengeance for his fallen sons and daughter. He kills his son, Mutius in the first scene, simply for trying to assist his sister Lavinia in escaping forced wedlock: “What, villian boy! Barrs't me my way in Rome?” [He kills him.] He also kills Lavinia with seemingly no emotion, after she has been given revenge on Tamora and her kin: “Die, die Lavinia, and thy shame with thee; [Kills Lavinia] And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die!” One might question Titus' status as a tragic hero when he throws away his children as if they were garbage.
Tamora also has an intriguing twist to her character. She displays some very misogynistic behavior, which is somewhat confusing, since she marries Saturninus, loves Aaron, and is portrayed as a figure of lust. It is most noticeable during act II scene 3, where she tells Chiron and Demetrius to rape Lavinia:
“So should I rob my sweet sons of their fee:
No, let them satisfy their lust on thee.”
This, could also possibly be a product of Tamora's vengeance, but relating to jealousy over Lavinia and Bassianus, when Tamora can't be with Aaron. She is driven mainly by revenge for Titus, but this act is different, because it is direct cruelty toward Lavinia, who hasn't harmed Tamora.
The overt acts of violence and revenge in this play effectively mask these interesting changes in personality and values of our three main characters.