4 - Titus

I think that looking at Titus through the scope of parody, pastiche and camp helps greatly in determining Shakespeare's intention, which would not have been taken into consideration otherwise, rather believed to be another great play by the "greatest playwright of all time." Though I still disagree with you that Journey's "Separate Ways" is camp, I think it's harder to define Shakespeare's first tragedy. It seems to have aspects of all genres which, in itself, might infer that Shakespeare failed miserably at his attempt, rendering itself campy. However, I believe that his play was a mix of parody and pastiche. The hyperbolous nature of the play - Titus's many sons, the extremely gory elements, the too-swift plot line - all lend itself to parody. But that isn't too say that Shakespeare wasn't impressed with his counterparts' productions or that he didn't have fun with this play. In fact, it might be that he was both condemning the tragedy for its overwrought plot structure but venerating it for its entertainment value at the same time. Can a piece of art not be both a parody and a pastiche at the same time?