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Botho Strauss Schändung: Nach dem "Titus Andronicus" von Shakespeare. Munich. Hanser. 2005. 89 pages. euro 13.90. ISBN 3-446-20626-4
SCHÄNDUNG, the latest drama from Germany's leading playwright, Botho Strauss, is arguably the author's most controversial drama in years. The play's title, which conjures images of personal violation, rape, and desecration, barely prepares viewers and readers for the ensuing orgy of violence, aggression, and revenge. Loosely based un Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, the play is set in Rome, yet comparisons with contemporary society and views on violence are difficult, if not impossible to avoid.
The drama begins with an ironic twist: having defeated the pagan and barbaric Goths, General Titus returns to Rome only to find the city, once the center of civilization, in political turmoil and chaos. He refuses to be named kaiser and defers to Saturnin, the legitimate heir. Saturnin, who suffers...