twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

About twilightdawning

Amongst other things, I write professionally. I've been published everywhere from the small (Barnsley Chronicle), to the large (London Sunday Times colour supplement). I primarily write about music, theatre and sport. Most of the articles here have been previously published. No copyright infringement intended I also work in the music world. I've worked as a producer, promoter and general ideas man and conceptualizer. At the moment I'm working with Sad Cafe among others. I'm building a theatre. It's almost done after three years of planning and trying to be kind to my architect and my builders. We open in October 2012. I run a theatrical production company called "The Shakespearience". We perform an introduction to William Shakespeare for young people. Most of all I work in the charitable and faith sphere. I'm senior pastor of an unusual church in central London. I'm a busy man.

All-Star Break # 3 – Making my pitch……

Posted on July 18, 2008 by twilightdawning

So yesterday we look at the performance of the Yankee hitters in comparison with predictions compared by myself and the Bill James Handbook 2008. Today, we do the same for the pitchers…….

Mariano Rivera

Predictions: Games – 41, Saves – 21, ERA – 2.72
Actual: Games – 38, Saves – 23, ERA – 1.06

Mariano Rivera is a model of consistency. That he is still able to do this at this level at 38 years of age is nothing short of amazing. His ERA is one and a half runs ahead of where I thought it would be.

Kyle Farnsworth

Predictions: Games – 34, Wins – 2, ERA – 3.86
Actual: Games – 41, Wins – 1, ERA – 3.51

Farnsworth has had a much better year than I could have anticipated. His ERA is better now than at any time since he became a Yankee and since Chamberlain moved to the rotation, he has a clearly defined role in bridging the gap between the starter and Rivera

Mike Mussina

Predictions: Games – 16, Wins – 6, ERA – 3.74
Actual: Games – 19, Wins – 11, ERA – 3.61

Everybody expected Moose to bounce back a little but nobody tipped this to happen. He has had high run support but this can’t account for all his wins. He has been a substantially better pitcher than he ever looked like he would be again.

Andy Pettitte

Predictions: Games – 19, Wins – 8, ERA – 3.78
Actual: Games – 20, Wins – 10, ERA – 4.03

Pettitte had a horrible post-season that he brought upon himself. The official Yankees website has been talking about him having a poor first half. In reality, he has been as good as we could have hoped for. The veteran starters have kept us in the race.

Chien-Ming Wang

Predictions: Games – 18, Wins – 8, ERA – 3.75
Actual: Games – 15, Wins – 8, ERA – 4.07

Wang began to lose his form before his injury. Given the time that he has spent on the DL and that slow down, his performance has been pretty good.

LaTroy Hawkins

Predictions: Games – 35, Wins – 2, ERA – 3.60
Actual: Games – 30, Wins – 1, ERA – 5.79

Girardi has no confidence in Hawkins. His appearances have come in non-crucial innings and it is difficult to imagine he would still be around, if they could’ve got a deal for him and if it wasn’t for the injuries. His ERA has bloated but whether this is entirely due to a loss of form or whether this is partially due to a confidence-crisis is difficult to discern.

The less predictables

In addition to these mainstays, it was impossible to make predictions for Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, Kei Igawa and Joba Chamberlain because they didn’t really have whole seasons at the Major League level to bases guesses upon. However, there can be no disguising the fact that no-one would have hazarded that Hughes and Kennedy would fall apart quite so badly as they did. No-one would have guessed that Igawa (and his huge contract) would really have no role to play whatsoever. The Steinbrenner (junior) influenced transfer of Chamberlain from successful reliever to average starter was a hasty decision always destined to get off to a slow start and so it has.

Pluses: Mariano Rivera, Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Mussina
Minuses: LaTroy Hawkins, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Kei Igawa
Surprises: Dan Giese, Jose Veras

Jose Veras has been another key piece of the puzzle. I wouldn’t have expected him to be a regular part of the bullpen at all at this stage but he has stepped in Chamberlain’s role very effectively.

Dan Giese wasn’t even on the compass. He has filled some gaps very nicely.

So what happens next……? We’ll see

All-Star Break #2 – Where do we go from here?

Posted on July 17, 2008 by twilightdawning

I averaged out predictions I made before the season began with those made by the Bill James Handbook 2008 and compared them with the stats actually produced up to the All-Star Break.

Here’s how the Yankee hitters are doing compared to those pre-season expectations:

Hideki Matsui

Projected: Games – 79, Average – .293, Home Runs- 15.
Actual: Games – 69, Average – .323, Home Runs – 7.

Two factors here – the first is the inability to hit for power (markedly less home runs), the second is the inability to play the field on a regular basis. Both of these point up the significance of his problems with his legs which may have finished him for the rest of the season. By contrast, his batting average is up as much as his slugging is down. A future as a successful singles hitter and DH (an unusual combination) or early retirement. Time will tell.

Johnny Damon

Projected: Games – 89, Average – .278, Home Runs – 9
Actual: Games – 82, Average – .319, Home Runs – 6

Similar story for Damon. His decline began in the second half of 2006 and is also associated with aging legs. His average has rebounded to 2005 (Boston) heights but power is down and he has his first period on the disabled list. The twist in this is that his injury is a damaged shoulder and nothing to do with his legs. This suggests that there is more hope in him continuing as an outfielder than Matsui but he is another reason for the dramatic reduction in the Yankees’ power production.

Alex Rodriguez

Projected: Games – 93, Average – .300, Home Runs – 28
Actual: Games – 75, Average – .312, Home Runs – 19

Rodriguez’s stint on the disabled list has hampered his home run total but not his slugging pct. (I had him at .586, he is actually 581 – a very minimal difference. Not many people expected A-Rod to still be a Yankee right now. Given the shenanigans of the close season and the off-field rumours as well as the injury, he is doing remarkably well.

Derek Jeter

Projected: Games – 93, Average – .312, Home Runs – 9
Actual: Games – 88, Average – .284, Home Runs – 5

Jeter is just not quite himself at the moment. His figures are still good but he has set a remarkable standard for himself which he is not matching. Difficult to know if this is just a blip or whether it is a sign of a slight downturn.

Bobby Abreu

Projected: Games – 94, Average – .285, Home Runs – 12
Actual: Games – 92, Average – .274, Home Runs – 10

Again, a slight downturn but it is made more significant because there is a trend like this across the team. 10 points off average and only 2 home runs down but we need him to step up as one of the few injury-free players in the squad.

Jorge Posada

Projected: Games – 84, Average – .281, Home Runs – 12
Actual: Games – 49, Average – .272, Home Runs – 3

Posada had a BIG year in 2007. So far, injury and lack of managerial confidence have spiked his year in 2008. He spent a long time out (35 games down on prediction) but despite the fact that Molina didn’t carry the responsibility of being first choice during the actual injury time, part of this is because Girardi has continued to favour Molina since Posada’s return; citing arm strength as his reason. During this period of uncertainty, Posada’s batting average has dropped off markedly but his home run production and slugging has never got out of the doldrums.

Jason Giambi

Projected: Games – 72, Average – .249, Home Runs – 15
Actual: Games – 83, Average – .253, Home Runs – 19

Going into the season, Giambi was going to share DH with Matsui and 1B with a whole range of possible candidates. Not many of those candidates reached expectations and with Mientkiewicz already gone to other pastures and Shelley Duncan failing miserably, Giambi became the most prominent first baseman due primarily to his huge contract – if we’re going to have to pay him, he might as well play somewhere. The remarkable thing is that this undue perseverance actually paid dividends. First, he began to hit for power and then his average perked up as well. Things are a little quieter right now and whilst no-one is going to make this guy a sporting hero (stache or no stache), he is so much more valuable than I expected.

Robinson Cano

Projected: Games – 88, Average – .322, Home Runs – 11
Actual: Games – 93, Average – .246, Home Runs – 6

Robinson is stranded in a season-long funk (so far) and his fall off in every offensive category is more marked than anyone else on the team. The only positive is that his batting average in July (but not his slugging) has taken a marked upturn to .273 on the month. This is still nowhere near what we expect but it is a step in the right direction.

Wilson Betemit

Projected: Games – 77, Average – .263, Home Runs – 10
Actual: Games – 47, Average – .243, Home Runs – 4

It’s hard to be positive about that second line but I’m going to be. Simply put, prior to his time on the disabled list, Betemit was awful. Since that time, he has become our most important bench and utility player. Offensive figures don’t show everything (particularly not the meagre selection presented here) and he has done very well defensively as well as putting up .267 BA in June. So far, July has seen him back in the doldrums with the bat but the mere fact he is still here is quite something after the opening to the season he had.

Melky Cabrera

Projected: Games – 90, Average – .283, Home Runs – 6
Actual: Games – 92, Average – .241, Home Runs – 8

With Cabrera I’m looking for a good day in the field and a clutch of singles. Perversely, his home run hitting is up! Defensively, he has been fine but that 40 point drop in average is part of the general trend but is worrying all by itself. You begin to wonder about the coaching staff when the malaise is this wide spread.

So that it’s for the hitters:

Pluses: Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon,
Minuses: Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera
Surprises: Jason Giambi, Wilson Betemit

All-Star Break # 1 – Adding insult………………….

Posted on July 16, 2008 by twilightdawning

There are many ways to consider the Yankees performance in the first half of the season. One of the main things to influence our performance (and put us in third place) is the extensive list of players who have spent time on the disabled list during this period. Here they are (in alphabetical order):

RHP Jonathan Albaladejo — Out for the season with a stress fracture in his right elbow. Albaladejo was a surprising breakthrough but he will have to do it all over again.

IF Wilson Betemit — Missed 19 games beginning on April 14 with corneal conjunctivitis, then was on the disabled list in May with a strained right hamstring. Fortunately, he’s come back a better player for the examinations he received during that time.

RHP Brian Bruney — Tore a ligament in his right foot in April; avoided surgery and could rejoin the Yankees in late July. We need him back and we need him to be the player that he was this season rather than the player he was at the end of last year.

OF Johnny Damon — Hit the disabled list for the first time in his career on July 6 with a sprain and contusion of the left joint of the left shoulder. His best-case return would be 15 days, and his throwing may be limited. The good money is that he will be out quite a bit longer.

1B Shelley Duncan — Separated his right shoulder while diving for a ball in a game at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and may be out for the season. Let’s face it, he was going nowhere before he was sent to Scranton.

RHP Phil Hughes — Has been on the disabled list since April 30 with a stress fracture in one of his ribs. He could return in August. Let’s hope the 2007 guy show’s up if he does make it back then.

SS Derek Jeter — Was hit in the left hand by a Daniel Cabrera fastball on May 20 and fell into an extended slump immediately after. Things have improved since then but he’s still not the Jeter of old.

RHP Ian Kennedy – Went to disabled list but there’s obviously far more going on here mechanically than a simple injury. I don’t expect to see him making a run at the Major Leagues before Spring Training

DH Hideki Matsui — Aggravated his left knee by playing the outfield for two games in Houston and is currently on the disabled list. Season-ending surgery is a possibility. He was the guy to cover for Damon’s aging legs. He can still hit but his fielding days might be behind him.

RHP Carl Pavano — Continuing to rehab from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery and could be ready for a big league promotion in August. But why would you need to work for a living when you can earn all that money for doing nothing?

C Jorge Posada — Was on the disabled list from April 28 through June 3 with right rotator cuff tendinitis that curtailed his throwing. Since then has done far more at DH and 1B (!) since then. What’s that about? Girardi doesn’t trust his arm.

3B Alex Rodriguez — Missed 16 games with a strained right quadriceps after turning a strain into something more serious by rushing back. It was Rodriguez’s first stint on the DL since 2000. He’s one of the few who’s bounced back from injury.

RHP Humberto Sanchez — Currently pitching in the Minor Leagues, Sanchez (acquired from Detroit in the Gary Sheffield trade) could be considered for his big league debut in September. However, we are not holding our breath.

RHP Chien-Ming Wang — Suffered a partially torn tendon in his right foot on June 15 while running the bases in Houston. He is on crutches and is out until September. Along with Bruney and Damon, one of the three costly on-going absences which might cost us a spot in the post-season.

Questions…. always questions

Posted on July 11, 2008 by twilightdawning

It’s been a good month for getting to talking to some of my favourite musicians. As I have mentioned before I’ve been working hard on an interview project with Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, solo career etc. etc.) We had just about finished this when I mentioned to Richie, it would be nice to get an alternative view on some of the key periods in his life. We came up with the idea of getting Bernie Leadon (Hearts and Flowers, Flying Burrito Brothers, Eagles, Bernie Leadon-Michael Georgiades Band, solo career etc. etc.) to comment on rivalry and admiration between Poco and the early Eagles. I was expecting a few words, enough to mould into a paragraph of the article. Bernie went to town and has written an article of his own about his admiration of Poco. Great stuff!
I’m also hoping for a contribution from Al Perkins who played a particularly important role in developing Richie’s musical and spiritual life.

Next up to the plate is Michael Georgiades who was Bernie’s partner-in-crime in the aforementioned Bernie Leadon-Michael Georgiades band and in the short-lived spin-off, Zoe. I’m going to be speaking to him next Saturday. His album, Natural Progressions, is a particular favourite of mine and interviewing him is the realisation of a long-held ambition.

Looks likely then that the next stage in the on-going project that I have rolling with Mr Leadon will be in August as we talk about his period with Hearts & Flowers.

These articles will appear in Cross Rhythms magazine and Natural Progressions Magazine. The first of these can be located on the web, subscription information on the second can be obtained from me.

The rain doesn’t have to hurry in the city……

Posted on July 10, 2008 by twilightdawning

Joyce lived on her own. She’d pretty much given her life caring for her aging Mum. When Mum died, Joyce lived on her own. Each Sunday, her friends from the local church would come and collect her to take her to a service. Her neighbours avoided her. Joyce lived on her own.

Joyce died on her own. One Sunday, her friends from the local church came to collect her to take her to a service and there was no answer. Her friends from the local church called around the hospitals. The strain of life had given Joyce some mental health problems and it wasn’t unusual for her to need to go away for a week or two. But the hospitals didn’t know. Her friends from the local church called the police. They came and opened the door to Joyce’s lonely house and found her in her bed. The coroner said that she had stopped breathing. Her heart wasn’t in it. He said it was good that her friends from the local church noticed. Joyce died on her own.

When you’re poor and you die on your own, you become less important than you were in life. The local authority had to wait “for a convenient slot” for Joyce to be buried. There was no money in this departure. It was a little inconvenient. Nobody wanted to know. Her friends from the local church felt that this wasn’t right. So they told the local authority so. It didn’t make a lot of difference. They offered to pay for the funeral. The money was declined. But slowly, because they were a nuisance, things began to change. Finally six weeks after her death, Joyce was allowed to be buried. Joyce was not buried unnoticed. Her friends from the local church saw to that.

Some tell me that religion divides and cause war. I think they’re right. But a true faith in God and the proper understanding of the nature and worth of humanity – now that can be something else. It brings dignity and respect in a society that fast seems to be losing those things.

Dark Days at Yankee Stadium – Part 2

Posted on July 8, 2008 by twilightdawning

So now to look at the pitching in June.

Not much to say that is positive here either. However, given the scope of the injuries with both starters (Wang, Hughes, Kennedy) and relievers (Bruney, Britton) out, there is scope for improvement after the All-Star break.

Here’s the figures for the month. I’ve removed a couple of columns that proved confusing for some folks last month.

New York Yankees – Pitching – June

Name GP IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA

Ponson, Sidney         1  6.0  5  0  0  4  4 1 0  0   0.00  .238

Igawa, Kei             1  1.0  2  0  0  0  0 0 0  0   0.00  .500

Britton, Chris         2  2.1  2  0  0  0  2 0 0  0   0.00  .222

Rivera, Mariano       11 11.1  6  2  2  1 18 1 1  7   1.59  .154

Chamberlain, Joba      5 25.0 22  7  5 13 26 1 0  0   1.80  .239

Veras, Jose           13 13.2 12  3  3  7 14 2 0  0   1.98  .235

Mussina, Mike          5 34.0 33 12 12  5 25 2 2  0   3.18  .258

Giese, Dan             6 19.0 15 10  7  6 12 1 3  0   3.32  .208

Farnsworth, Kyle      11 10.2 11  4  4  4 12 1 1  1   3.38  .282

Pettitte, Andy         6 40.2 39 18 17  9 28 4 0  0   3.76  .255

Wang, Chien-Ming       3 16.2 18  8  7  6  9 2 0  0   3.78  .286

Hawkins, LaTroy        7 10.1 11  5  5  5  3 0 0  0   4.35  .289

Robertson, David       1  2.0  4  1  1  0  1 0 0  0   4.50  .500

Rasner, Darrell        6 32.0 47 24 23 11 24 1 5  0   6.47  .341

Patterson, Scott       1  1.1  1  1  1  2  2 0 0  0   6.75  .200

Ramirez, Edwar        11 11.0 10  9  9  6 13 0 0  0   7.36  .244

Ohlendorf, Ross        8  8.1 12  8  8  5  5 0 0  0   8.64  .333

Traber, Billy          3  1.2  2  2  2  0  1 0 0  0  10.80  .286

Pluses

Mariano Rivera. His worst month of the year and he’s still weighing in a 1.59 ERA and the best OBA on the team. Hall of Fame, Monument Park beckons. The best reliever I’ve ever seen.

Jose Veras. His ERA improves to 2.54 on the season as he produced a spartan 1.98 in June. Also took two wins on the month. He has become a vital cog in the machine that leads to Rivera.

Mike Mussina. It can no longer be described as a surprise but Moose is having a helluva comeback year. 2-2 on the month with 3.18 ERA puts him on track for a possible 20 win season. I would have settled for 10 after 2007.

Minuses

Ross Ohlendorf. Simply fell apart in June to the extent that he has had to go back to the minors to work on his pitches. Don’t know what this implies about the coaching staff at the major league level.

Darrell Rasner. In less injury-troubled times, Darrell would have been allowed a break from the starting rotation and gone to long relief. Again, it is troubling that the coaching staff in the Bronx are not able to help him with his confidence and his mechanics.

Edwar Ramirez. For the second season running, Ramirez looks the business on call-up and then wilts visibly as the batters get used to facing him. His 7.36 ERA on the month (compare to 2.90 on the season) is a little unlucky but even bad fortune can’t account for that bloating.

Surprises

Sidney Ponson. Well, he produced a great second debut. We all know that it is all downhill from here but he gave us one good game.

Kyle Farnsworth. Continues to survive the odd bad outing and bounced back from minor injuries to be a good part of a suffering staff. 3.38 ERA on the month.

Joba Chamberlain. Achieved his first win as a starter but the jury is still out on this transition. He only average five innings an outing in the month and most of the time was good enough to keep the Yankees in the game but not much more than that.

Dark Days at Yankee Stadium

Posted on July 6, 2008 by twilightdawning

So after the inter-league play thrust them back into contention, the Yankees have found it tough again against their regular American League opponents. The younger Steinbrenners are now unhappy with their offense and this time they’re right:

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – June

Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG

Duncan, Shelley 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 2.000

Rodriguez, Alex 101 24 37 23 6 0 9 17 19 0 2 5 .366 .693

Damon, Johnny 102 12 37 10 4 2 0 11 15 0 0 5 .363 .441

Giambi, Jason 82 16 25 19 3 1 6 12 18 0 0 1 .305 .585

Jeter, Derek 110 20 33 10 8 0 2 12 13 2 0 1 .300 .427

Cano, Robinson 101 13 29 14 7 0 2 2 6 0 2 0 .287 .416

Matsui, Hideki 61 6 17 8 1 0 1 8 8 0 0 0 .279 .344

Moeller, Chad 11 2 3 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 .273 .545

Posada, Jorge 63 5 17 9 5 0 2 13 13 0 1 0 .270 .444

Betemit, Wilson 45 9 12 9 4 0 3 1 14 0 1 0 .267 .556

Molina, Jose 35 4 9 4 2 0 0 3 8 2 1 0 .257 .314

Abreu, Bobby 103 15 26 17 6 0 3 12 14 0 0 6 .252 .398

Cabrera, Melky 102 8 21 8 2 0 1 12 16 1 0 3 .206 .255

Christian, Justin 15 2 3 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 .200 .267

Rasner, Darrell 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 .000 .000

Pettitte, Andy 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000 .000

Ohlendorf, Ross 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000

Chamberlain, Joba 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 .000 .000

Wang, Chien-Ming 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .000 .000

Gonzalez, Alberto 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000 .000

Mussina, Mike 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000

Ponson, Sidney 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 .000 .000

Gardner, Brett 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .000 .000

Pluses

Alex Rodriguez. With the bat he is once again the best player on the staff. He has hit 9 home runs in June well ahead of everyone on the team including:

Jason Giambi. No longer a surprise. Whether it was the mustache or just the right moment, Giambi broke out of the funk he was in and has become one of the best players on the team. .305 on the month with 6 home runs

Johnny Damon. Mr Damon has proved his ability and his commitment to the team over and over again this 
season. .363 batting average on the month even if his power numbers haven’t really been there.

Minuses

Melky Cabrera. Defensively solid but not pulling his weight with the bat. On the month, .206 batting, .255 slugging. It has to improve.

Alberto Gonzalez. Alberto’s time has almost passed. It’s hard for the Yankees to keep him around. He’s solid enough on defence but with Jeter and Rodriguez ahead of him, he needs to be able to pinch hit. 0 for 9 on the month settles the argument.

Jose Molina. Simply hasn’t repeated his performance of last year. If they decided to reduce the staff to two catchers, they would keep him but it would seem a little unfair on Moeller.

Surprises

Justin Christian. He came, he went. He did well on his debut but then he was gone too quickly. Gardner, his replacement, is not exactly setting the league alight. Thankfully but regrettably, injuries means that one or both of them is going to a real chance to prove himself.

Robinson Cano. Don’t how it became the case that Cano hitting is a surprise but the slump had gone on a long time. Now he’s collecting multi-hit games.

Bobby Abreu. It’s all gone quiet. With Matsui and maybe Damon injured, Abreu needs to rise above that .252 he’s produced on the month.

Song to see you through – or Song to See Through You – or This one’s for you

Posted on July 5, 2008 by twilightdawning

Bye and bye now
We’ll get over
The things we’ve done and the things we said
But not just now when
I can t remember
Exactly what it was I thought we had
’cause I waited so long, girl, and I came so far
To find out you’re not always who you say you are

And there’s a star in the book of liars by your name

Santa Claus came in late last night
Drunk on christmas wine
Fell down hard in the driveway
Hung his bag out on the laundry line
There’s a cobra gunship for his golden boy
And there’s a hello kitty for his pride and joy

And a silver star in the book of liars by your name
They hung a star in the book of liars by your name

Stars imploding
The long night passing
Electrons dancing in the frozen crystal dawn
Here’s one left stranded at the zero crossing
With a hole in its half-life, left to carry on
But now the world’s much larger than it looks today
And if my bad luck ever blows me back this way

Then I’ll just look in my book of liars for your name
I’ll just look in the book of liars for your name

What I do……

Posted on July 1, 2008 by twilightdawning

I’ve mentioned before that I write about music. In a way the internet has made it much more simple to produce articles. It’s way easier to do research. On the other hand there is something about the tone of pieces on the internet which I find very strange. Too much writing is not about the music anymore. I’m glad that some of the musicians feel the same. This from Donald Fagen of Steely Dan:

“I don’t like to visit the fan sites because there’s something creepy about the whole thing to me. I remember when I was a kid I was a big jazz fan and later on there were a few popular singers and groups I liked but I was always interested in the music; I never made a fetish out of their personal lives. I never really got that, you know? I appreciate whatever they do to keep the interest in the band and all that sort of thing but it’s really not part of my world.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

The poor remainder of the Andronici*

Posted on June 30, 2008 by twilightdawning

*quote from Act 5 Scene 3 Line 130

When I started reading and studying Titus Andronicus I thought I would spend about a month with it – in the end I’ve been working with it for more than double that time. When I started life seemed in a reasonable, steady place. At the moment life seems as bad as it can get. Time moves on but it is now time to put the book to bed.

In Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare has produced a play in which the themes and ideas are timeless. This is remarkable given that at times it has all but lost its audience. Moreover, he seems to have conceived that the themes should have a timeless applicability. I have already talked much in previous journal entries about the fact that the play shows that empires and nations rise and fall with the quality and morality of its people. They are not eternal. Consequently, the pattern of the play casts clear links between ancient Greek myth and the events which it sets in ancient Rome. However, the speakers constantly remind us that they are actors in a later day by the allusions to more contemporary events. This is Shakespeare’s way of showing that any society can fall as its people lose their way. Therefore, the players speak in the manner of people living in Reformation times even though they are ostensibly Romans watching their empire fall to the enemy they have defeated and brought within their walls.
Aaron, the villain of the piece, accuses Lucius (the coming emperor) of having a conscience which carries with it “twenty popish tricks and ceremonies” (5.1.76), a clear allusion to the vanquished Catholicism of Shakespeare’s time. At another point, a Goth explains his late arrival by saying that he “stray’d to gaze upon a ruinous monastery” (5.1.21). The “Romans and Goths” are walking in 16th century England and their fall is one that Shakespeare’s generation is also in danger of.

But what is the nature of this fall? As I mentioned in an earlier entry, the Romans have defeated the Goths at the beginning of the play but only by becoming like them. When Tamora (the Queen of the Goths) begs Titus for the life of her sons, he is deaf to her pleas. They are taken away to be sacrificed to the gods. Rome has lost its humanity and its compassion.

But life is not simple, the Goth leaders are as bad as they seem. Rome as indeed become like them. Rule cannot simply pass to them. Tamora and her remaining children and fellows are lost in a web of concealment. She loves the evil Aaron but has married Saturninus and proclaimed love for him in order to gain influence in Rome. When her offspring, Chiron and Demetrius are schooled by Aaron (and by extension by Tamora herself) in the idea of raping and molesting Lavinia, they are taught to cover their actions by the cutting out of Lavinia’s tongue and the cutting off of her hands.
But the plotters have overstepped themselves and Tamora gives birth to a baby who is clearly not Saturninus’ but rather Aaron’s. She describes it to her Nurse as a “dismal, black and sorrowful issue” (4.2.66) and the Nurse repeats her words to her lover, Aaron. She suggests that Aaron should “christen it with thy dagger’s point” (4.2.70). There is a lack of humanity in anyone who can speak like this of anyone especially their own child and even the vile Aaron cannot co-operate.

Consequently, the playwright must find a third party to pass the throne to at the play’s conclusion. After an orgy of death in Act 5 Scene 3 (the plays least convincing scene – all the remaining issues of the play are settled just a little too quickly by too many deaths), it passes to Lucius, the surviving son of Titus, who is watched from above by “the poor remainder of the Andronici” as he takes the crown. Ominously, he is watched also by the Goth army who remain silent – perhaps watching how things develop before deciding whether to support or overthrow him.

Ironically, whether the Empire of Rome will stand depends on whether the prominent leaders can regain their humanity and their compassion. Titus’ family departed from this when they sacrificed prisoners from among the Goths foolishly believing that the gods would be pleased with them (again, there are echoes of this in our own day). The new generation must now choose whether or not to hear the plea which Tamora gave at the outset of the tragedy: “Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods? Draw near them in being merciful”. (1.1.120-121).