The Theater of Pain and Community-Making in William Shakespeare''s Titus Andronicus and Coriolanus

• Main Authors: Bao-guo Wang, 王寶國
• Other Authors: Yu-Zhi Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/25513795112880340123

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 英美語文學研究所 === 100 === This thesis places pain in the context of social relations in interpreting Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus and Coriolanus. It argues that the perception of pain depends on the social relation between the perceiver and the victim. Whether the pain of another person or group is recognized as such depends on the way the perceiver sees his or her relation to the victim and on the kind of relation he or she wants to create or deny. Another part of the argument is that pain is presented as one kind of asset or currency in order to change how the other’s perception of relation. The ability or inability to express pain hence influences the way one manages the world of social relations. Based on the link between pain and social relations, this thesis argues that the presentation of pain is part of the continuing process of making a community. The second chapter analyzes Titus Andronicus. It argues that the rise and fall of the Andronici depend on the question of whether the family’s pain can be recognized by the community as honor or not. The presentation of pain staged at the end of the play is concerned with the reintegration of the Roman community. The third chapter reads Coriolanus. It focuses on the situation where the presenter refuses to present his pain even when it serves his best interests to do so. This chapter explicates the refusal by analyzing the conflicts of social relations and argues that the making of community is a continuing and changing process. The conclusion discusses one female character’s pain in Titus Andronicus. It restates the importance of placing pain in the context of social relations by referring to the inexpressibility or expressibility of pain.