Question

What does the peot want to express in the following. Explain in your own words.

Why, tis no matter, man; if they did hear,
They would not mark me, or if they did mark,
They would not pity me, yet plead I must;
Therefore I tell my sorrows to the stones;
Who, though they cannot answer my distress,
Yet in some sort they are better than the tribunes,
For that they will not intercept my tale:
When I do weep, they humbly at my feet
Receive my tears and seem to weep with me;
And, were they but attired in grave weeds,
Rome could afford no tribune like to these.
A stone is soft as wax,—tribunes more hard than stones;
A stone is silent, and offendeth not,
And tribunes with their tongues doom men to death.

Answer 1

This expert from Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus third act and first scene depicts how Titus is pleading to the Roman judges to reconsider executing his sons. He is begging the cold tribune to reconsider their decision but as they have gone, he is pleading to the “stones” as they seem warmer and less harsh that the judges. Thus, he is voicing his anguish and comparing the emperor’s cold heart with inanimate beings. Titus’ laments to the stones may border madness. However, he may be addressing the audience to arouse their sympathy.