Whole is Sum of the Parts

"Representations of corporeality are also central to Titus Andronicus where the body's fragmentation and its loss of coherence acquire a collective perspective and become a synecdoche of political havoc and social dismantlement." Marti

Naturally there were some points that Marti made that I both disagreed and agreed with. However, I really enjoyed reading the above excerpt simply because I think although it might be considered an obvious point to some, Marti does an excellent job in summing up what may be thought of as a difficult concept to grasp. Moreover, at first glance Titus is a heroic soldier that is looked up to by many, and personally I did not want to extrapolate any further claims concerning his stature without any further evidence. However as the drama unfolded the viewer becomes more acquainted with the nuances associated with him; and I fully agree with the statement that he is indeed representative of the politics and the status quo so-to-speak. Without restating what Marti so eloquently put, I would like to point out that the political and societal equilibrium's are vulnerable to the disfigurement of prominent political figures: whether that may be literal disfigurement or not. Therefore, when Titus was foolishly lured by Aaron to cut off his own hand that was very much representative of the possibility of the political hierarchy failing. Titus is a strong, built man and to see him lose what Marti describes as something phallic (his hand) is unsettling for his own sexuality and also for those he leads. So as the title of this blog states, the entirety of political and social status is dependent on the parts that represent it--and that representation happens to be Titus' literally falling apart.