5 Gruesome Moments in Shakespeare's Plays...

I personally love Shakespeare. A lot of my degrees were centred around Shakespeare and dissecting his plays. It was such an enjoyable task to read, watch and experience different plays done in different ways and a lot of the time, I have been able to pick up and gage the intricacies of a great play. From the 1590s onwards, people far and wide have been enjoying Shakespeare and his plays, the mysteries of his life and whether, just whether, Prospero's speech at the end of The Tempest really is Shakespeare's own goodbye to the stage as he steps into retirement.

Anyways, here are 5 gruesome moments from Shakespeare's plays that make you wonder how he got these on to a stage in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.

5 Gruesome Moments in Shakespeare's Plays

5. Richard III: Act 1, Scene 4

Who? = Clarence

By? = Richard III

How? = Drowned

In the play that famously cost the long-dead Richard III his reputation, this depiction of the death of Edward IV's brother is both gruesome and horrifying, but also ironic. The Duke of Clarence, George Plantagenet is drowned in wine by men sent to kill him by Richard, Duke of Gloucester (soon to be Richard III). A horrific murder and a most unjust crime, it seeks to be one of the most gruesome moments in a Shakespeare play not just because of its nature, but because of how early it happens in the play as well.

4. Julius Caesar: Act 3, Scene 1

Who? = Julius Caesar

By? = Brutus, Cassius and the Conspirators

How? = Ambushed and stabbed to death

Julius Caesar believes the men around him are somewhat dangerous, but no matter how hard he tries to see through them, he doesn't see the real truths there. On the 15th March, Julius Caesar is ambushed and stabbed over 40 times by the conspirators who seek to save Rome from his tyranny. Cassius and Brutus plus men they worked with the whole time. Throughout the play there may be gruesome deaths but this is one of the most memorable of the lot.

3. King Lear: Act 3, Scene 7

Who? = Gloucester

By? = Regan and Cornwall

How? = Eyes plucked out

One of the more gruesome deaths in Shakespeare's plays is that of Gloucester in the play King Lear. After being accused of aiding Lear and the army, Gloucester refuses to betray his king in front of Regan and Cornwall. In response to this flamboyant loyalty, Cornwall orders one of his servants to gouge out the eyes of Gloucester and the audience are given every gory and disgusting detail.

2. Titus Andronicus: Act 5, Scene 3

Who? = Chiron and Demetrius

By? = Titus Andronicus

How? = Baked into a pie

A horrific play and a terrifying part of it, Titus Andronicus has many scary and chilling moments and if you watch it on stage, it is even more horrifying. Chiron and Demetrius have been invited to a banquet with their mother, Tamora. They are ultimately killed and baked into a pie which their mother proceeds to eat. Shortly after, the mother is killed in what is one of the great acts of revenge in the play. Yes, they are baked into a pie and fed to their mother.

Notable Mention:

Julius Caesar: Act 4, Scene 3

Who? = Portia

By? = Portia

How? = Suicide

In Julius Caesar there are many awful deaths but this one is one of those that takes the cake. Portia dies off stage but is described as having "swallowed fire". This quite possibly means that she committed suicide by shoving hot coals down her throat to kill herself. It is a horrific way to go and even though it is not shown on stage, it is still pretty gruesome.

1. Titus Andronicus: Act 2, Scene 4

Who? = Lavinia

By? = Chiron and Demetrius

How? = Succumbing to her injuries after being defiled and mutilated

The defiling and mutilation happen in Act 2, Scene 4 and she succumbs to her injuries later. She is horribly defiled by these two men and then, has her hands and her tongue cut off so that she may never reveal to anyone what happened during this incident that even I would rather not watch on the stage again. Titus Andronicus is known to be Shakespeare's most brutal play which explores rape, horrific murder, suicide and cannibalism. A terrifying play, it strikes the very heart of Shakespeare fans everywhere as coming as close as the bard ever got to what true horror actually is.