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Culpability And Social Commentary In Titus Andronicus And King Lear, Jay S. Looney

USF St. Petersburg campus Master's Theses (Graduate)

In Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus and King Lear, notions of identity, power, violence, madness, disability, transformation, and problematic masculinity are used to complicate culpability and comment on the societies within these plays and on Shakespeare’s own society. In both plays, the main characters’ identities ultimately break down as they attempt to rigidly conform to irreconcilably conflicting values. Additionally, the stage villains in both plays provide interesting insights into culpability and social commentary. I explore these themes individually in each play, and I also explore and argue for the connections between these themes in both plays. I argue that the social …