Quote:
“Ten thousand evils worse than ever yet I did
Would I perform, if I might have my will:
If one good deed in all my life I did,
I do repent it from my very soul”
In Current Language:
Titus Andronicus is the grisliest, bloodiest and most gruesome among Shakespeare’s plays. Uttering these words is Aaron, top arch-villain among the other archvillains of the play. These lines, with which the play is concluded, almost need no translation – still here it is:
“I would perform ten thousand evils worse than all my previous ones, if I had my will. If through my life I did just one good deed, I repent of having done it, from the core of my soul.”
Suggestions For Use:
Given the imminent Christmas, it may seem inappropriate to quote these horrifying lines. But….
(1) One more edition of the Limeys is planned before Christmas. And
(2) As we are approaching the season of good will, shared by Christianity at large, we can see on television, (at least on uncensored television), the horrifying scenes in Gaza, being played almost in real time, along with the apocalyptic destruction of entire inhabited apartments and city blocks, by those who will remain unnamed in the name of freedom of expression.
Therefore, the grisly words that Shakespeare puts in the mouth of the grisliest character in the play, establish a kind of mental association between the Shakespeare-created killer and those who, so far, have killed over 18,000 citizens of Gaza, among whom at least half or more are/were women and children.
Some may correctly object that the characterization of the killers and destroyers of Gaza should exclude those, among the occupying nation or the ethnic group, those who do not agree with what is happening.
They are, of course, excluded, though many suspect that the dissenters are but a minority among the chosen people.
As for the actual use of the Shakespearean quote, since 1948 this dissenting minority has had no consequence on the acting and behavior of the majority of the ethno-state in question.
Even so, the presence of this dissenting minority enables the state that occupies Palestine to call itself ‘democratic’. Therefore, the parallel between the Shakespearean monster and those who bring death and destruction to a country and render it uninhabitable, is not a complete exaggeration.
What Happens in the Actual Play:
In the play there are 14 assassinations of which some are multiple – meaning that there are multiple victims in one recorded assassination, plus various mutilations and rapes, throat cutting, one episode of unwitting cannibalism and finally the punishment of the arch-villain Aaron by slow starvation.
It seems that in the 1500 what we would call horror-plays were popular and Shakespeare, with Titus Andronicus, conformed to the perceived popular taste.
Jimmie’s Comment.
Historically speaking, the mass slaughter and ethnic cleansing of a country is not a unique occurrence in the history or folklore of the current perpetrators in Gaza, as reported in a good number of episodes of the Old Testament.
Personally, I was mostly ignorant of the history of the Middle East until my work caused me to visit – for varying times – most of the countries, except Yemen.
During a trip to Israel I took a day off and decided to visit the Orthodox Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai. To reach it was necessary to fly to Sharm-el-Sheikh at the lowest point of the Sinai on the shores of the Red Sea. From there a bus took visitors to the monastery after a 40 miles drive. One of the memories related to the trip has to do with the bus trip.
Upon greeting the passengers on board, the guide said, “Welcome to the Sinai, now and forever the land of Israel.” This followed the Israeli invasion of Arab nations during the 1967 6-day war.
I made a note of that ‘introduction’ in my diary. And it signaled the beginning of my interest in the history of the countries that I was now connected-with through my work, including, in the instance Egypt. As well as in the history of the nation that invaded those Middle-East countries “to protect herself” quote-unquote.
As we know, thanks to historical writings, including of course Andy’s “The Synagogue of Satan” we are aware of the history and objectives of the heroes of the current Gaza’s genocide.
Here I will just add a few other related notes, perhaps not widely known to the public at large.
The first note has to do with Peter the Venerable, abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny in France in the 11th century. In a letter to the king of France Louis VII, Peter the Venerable complains that “if we take issue with the Arabs, who believe with us in many things concerning Christ, how about those who despise Christ?” After this introduction Peter the Venerable lists all the problems related to the chosen people, many of which are still unresolved 1200 years later.
The first Papal Bull on the same subject – giving instructions and restrictions on how to deal with the palpable and often severe related problems – was issued by Pope Innocent IV in 1244 AD. A bull could be considered as a guide for handling various critical problems, affecting the Church and religion at large.
By the way and as we know, the term ‘ghetto,’ which today we associate with the run-down section of a city, was the quarter assigned to the sect in question, where they had to reside by law at night – so as to reduce the problems associated with their presence among Christians. The first ghetto was established in Venice in 1519. The words, in the Venetian dialect means ‘foundry’. In the instance the ghetto was established in an island of the Venetian lagoon. Originally, there was a foundry in that island – hence the name.
And although the stipulations about residing in the ghetto were gradually abolished, the general regulation regarding interaction between Catholics and the chosen people, remained in place until 1961.
In 1961 the Second Vatican council turned upside-down the doctrine of the Catholic church, including the relationship between Catholics and the chosen people.
For instance, we have a papal bull issued in 1981 titled, “The ancient alliance never revoked.” Then a declaration in 1986 states that Judaism is “The elder and favorite brother (of the Catholics) in the faith of Abraham.” And a letter from the Vatican to the bishops warns them about “the importance of the Shoah (referred to Nazism), in order to be able to properly exercise lawfully the episcopal office!” In other words, without the Shoah, Christian teachings are not good enough.
And, lastly, in a Catholic prayer (issued in 2009) the Shoah is equated to the hell of the Gospels and (probably) to the hell made classic by Milton in his masterwork, “Paradise Lost.”
On the same subject, a few years ago I researched the issue of the Shoah for an article I was writing for a blog. Here is a telegraphic report of the main points, notably regarding the famous “6 million”.
THE OPEN COURT – An American Monthly Magazine,– May 1897
The article refers to a Jewish revolt in 132 AD, led by Bar-Cocheba, the pseudo-Messiah, in which nearly 6,000,000 Jews lost their lives. That is the first reference to 6-million victims (reported as having occurred 2000 before), makes its first modern and official appearance in 1897.
The New York Times, October 31, 1911
“The 6,000,000 Jews of Russia are singled out for systematic oppression and for persecution by due process of law”
The American Jewish Year Book #5672
September 23, 1911, to September 11, 1912
“Russia has since 1890 adopted a plan to expel or exterminate 6,000,000 of its people for no other reason that they refused to become members of the Greek church, but preferred to remain Jews…”
The New York Times, May 9, 1920
“It is Imperative to help 6,000,000 (Jews) Facing Starvation And Disease (in Russia)”
The Chicago Tribune, July 19, 1921
6,000,000 Jews in Bread Lines – “Massacre Threatens All Jews as Soviet Power Wanes” (which – my comment – is a telling statement about the Soviet revolution and its influence on the prospects of the sect. That is they were afraid for their safety if the Soviets were to lose power)
The Palm Beach Post – Tuesday Morning June 25, 1940
Dr. Nahum Goldmann, administrative committee chairman of the World Jewish Congress, said today that if the Nazis should achieve final victory, 6,000,000 Jews in Europe are doomed to destruction.”
I hope that the information provided in today’s segment may give additional food for thought, aimed at placing the current Palestinian genocide in Gaza in a tenable historical context – with the hope that the genocide may end soon.
After all, as Peter the Venerable observed – for the Arabs, and therefore also for the Palestinians, Christ was (at least) a prophet.