Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

First produced: 1594; first published, 1594

Type of work: Drama

Type of plot: Tragedy

Time of plot: Early Christian era

Locale: Rome and vicinity

Principal characters

• Saturninus, the emperor of Rome
• Bassianus, his brother
• Titus Andronicus, a Roman general
• Lavinia, his only daughter
• Marcus, his brother, a tribune
• Tamora, the queen of the Goths
• Aaron, her lover, a Moor
• Alarbus, ,
• Demetrius, and
• Chiron, her sons

The Story:

Early in the Christian era, Saturninus and Bassianus, sons of the late emperor, contend for the crown of the Roman Empire. Both men are leaders of strong factions. Another candidate, a popular one, is Titus Andronicus, a Roman famed for his victories over the barbarian Goths to the north. Marcus Andronicus, brother of Titus, states in the forum that Titus is the popular choice to succeed the late emperor. The sons, willing to abide by the desires of the populace, dismiss their factions.

As the prominent men of the city go into the senate house, Titus makes his triumphant entry into Rome. He is accompanied by his surviving sons and by a casket containing the bodies of other sons. In his train also are Tamora, the queen of the Goths; her sons, Alarbus, Demetrius, and Chiron, and her lover, Aaron, a Moor. Before the senate house, Lucius, one of Titus’s sons, demands that a Gothic prisoner be sacrificed to appease the spirits of his dead brothers in the casket. When Titus offers as sacrifice the oldest son of Tamora, the queen pleads for mercy, reminding Titus that her sons are as precious to her as his are to him. Titus pays her no heed. Alarbus is sacrificed, and the casket is then laid in the tomb of the Andronici. At that moment Lavinia, Titus’s only daughter, appears to greet her father and brothers and to pay her respects to her fallen brothers.

Marcus comes out of the senate house, greets Titus, and informs him that he is the choice of the people for the emperorship. Titus, unwilling to take on that responsibility at his age, persuades the people to name Saturninus emperor instead. Saturninus, in gratitude, asks for and receives the hand of Lavinia to become his queen. Bassianus, however, to whom Lavinia gives her heart, seizes the maid with the help of Marcus and the sons of Titus and carries her away. Titus’s son, Mutius, who stays behind to cover their flight, is killed by his father.

Saturninus, who begrudges Titus his popularity with the people, disavows all allegiance and debt to the general and plans to take Tamora as his wife. Titus, deserted by his emperor, his brother, and his sons, is deeply shaken.

Marcus and Titus’s sons return and express the desire to bury Mutius in the family vault. Titus at first refuses, saying that Mutius was a traitor; then he relents after his brother and his sons argue effectively for proper burial. When Bassianus appears with Lavinia, Saturninus vows that he will avenge the stealing of the maid who was given him by her father. Bassianus speaks in Titus’s behalf, but Titus declares that he can plead his own case before the emperor. Tamora openly advises Saturninus to be gracious to Titus, but secretly she advises him to gain Titus’s friendship only because Titus is so popular in Rome. She assures Saturninus that she will destroy Titus and his family for their having sacrificed one of her own sons. Saturninus therefore pardons the Andronici and declares his intention of marrying Tamora. Believing their differences reconciled, Titus invites Saturninus to hunt with him the next day.

Aaron, contemplating Tamora’s good fortune and the imminent downfall of Saturninus and of Rome as well, comes upon Chiron and Demetrius, disputing and about to draw their swords over their chances of winning the favors of Lavinia. Advising the youths to contain themselves, he tells them that both can enjoy Lavinia by seizing her in the forest during the hunt, which will be attended by the lords and ladies of the court.

Later, while the hunt is under way, Aaron hides a sack of gold at the foot of a large tree in the forest. He previously arranged to have a pit dug near the tree; this pit he covered over with undergrowth. There Tamora finds him and learns that both Bassianus and Lavinia will come to grief that day. Before Aaron leaves Tamora, he gives her a letter with directions that the message should reach the hands of Saturninus. Bassianus and Lavinia approach and, seeing that the Moor and Tamora are together, chafe Tamora and threaten to tell Saturninus of her dalliance in the forest. Chiron and Demetrius come upon the scene. Informed by Tamora that Bassianus and Lavinia insulted her, they stab Bassianus to death. When Tamora urges them to stab Lavinia they refuse, saying that they will enjoy her first. Lavinia then appeals to Tamora to remember that Titus spared her life. Tamora, recalling how Titus ignored her pleas to spare her son from sacrifice, is determined that her sons should have their lustful pleasure. The brothers, after throwing the body of Bassianus into the pit, drag Lavinia away to rape her.

Meanwhile, Aaron, on the pretext that he trapped a panther, brings two of Titus’s sons, Quintus and Martius, to the pit and leave them there. Martius falls into the trap, where he recognizes the murdered Bassianus by a ring he wears on his finger. When Quintus tries to pull Martius out of the pit, he loses his balance and tumbles into it. Aaron, returning with Saturninus, claims that Titus’s sons murdered Bassianus. Tamora then gives Saturninus the letter that Aaron gave her. The letter, written ostensibly by one of the Andronici, outlines a plot to assassinate Bassianus, to bury him in a pit, and then to collect payment, which is a bag of gold hidden near the pit. When the bag of gold is found where Aaron placed it, Saturninus is convinced of the brothers’ guilt. Despite Titus’s offer of his own person as security for his sons, Saturninus sentences them to be tortured. Tamora assures Titus that she will speak to Saturninus on his behalf.

In another part of the forest, Chiron and Demetrius, their evil deed accomplished, cut off Lavinia’s hands and tongue so that she will be able neither to write nor to tell of what befell her. Alone in the forest, Lavinia is joined at last by her uncle, Marcus, who leads her to her father.

Later, in Rome, Titus recalls his years of faithful military service to the state and begs the tribunes to spare his sons, but they will not listen to him. Another son, Lucius, a great favorite with the people, attempts unsuccessfully to rescue his brothers. He is banished from the city. As Titus pleads in vain, Marcus brings the ravished Lavinia to him. The sight of his daughter leads Titus to wonder to what infinite depths of grief a man can come. Aaron announces to the grieving Andronici that Saturninus will release Martius and Quintus if one of the family will cut off his hand and send it to the court. Titus agrees to let Lucius and Marcus decide between them; when they go to get an ax, Titus directs Aaron to cut off his hand. Later, a messenger brings Titus his hand and the heads of Martius and Quintus as well. Having suffered as much as a man can suffer, Titus vows revenge. He directs the banished Lucius to raise an invading force among the Goths.

At his home, Titus appears to be demented. Even so, it is clear to him one day that Lavinia is trying desperately to tell him something. She indicates in Ovid’s Metamorphoses the section in which the story of Tereus’s brutal rape of Philomela is recounted. Suddenly, it occurs to Marcus that he can, by holding a staff in his teeth and between his knees, write in the sand on the floor. Lavinia takes the staff thus and writes in the sand that Chiron and Demetrius are her violators.

Titus now sends his grandson Lucius with a bundle of weapons to present to Tamora’s sons. The youths do not understand the message that Titus attached to the gift, but Aaron quickly sees that Titus knows who Lavinia’s ravishers are. As the brothers admire their gift, a blast of trumpets announces the birth of a child to Tamora. A nurse enters with the newborn baby, who is black, and states that Tamora, fearful lest Saturninus see it, should send the child to Aaron. Chiron and Demetrius, aware of their mother’s shame, insist that the infant be killed immediately. When they offer to do the murder, Aaron, the father, defies them. As a precaution, he kills the nurse, one of three women who know the baby’s color. Then he has a fair-skinned baby, newly born, taken to Tamora before he flees to the Goths.

Titus, now reputed to be utterly demented, writes messages to the gods, attaches them to arrows, and, with Marcus and his grandson, shoots the arrows into the court. He persuades a passing farmer to deliver a letter to Saturninus. The emperor is already disturbed because the messages carried by the arrows state Titus’s grievances against the state. When Saturninus threatens to execute justice on old Titus, Tamora, feeling her revenge complete, advises him to treat the distracted old soldier gently. The farmer, meanwhile, delivers Titus’s letter. Enraged by its mocking message, Saturninus commands that Titus be brought to him to be executed.

A messenger then brings word that the Goths, led by Lucius, threaten to sack Rome. Knowing Lucius’s popularity with the Romans, Saturninus is fearful. Tamora, however, confident of her ability to save the city, directs the messenger to arrange a conference with Lucius at the house of Titus.

In the camp of the Goths, Aaron and his child are brought before Lucius. Aaron’s captor discloses that he came upon the Moor in a ruined monastery and heard him state aloud that the baby’s mother was Tamora. At Lucius’s promise to preserve the life of the child, Aaron confesses to his crimes against the Andronici. Lucius decrees that the Moor must die a horrible death.

Tamora, meanwhile, believing that Titus is demented beyond all reason, disguises herself as Revenge and with her sons, also disguised, presents herself to Titus. Although Titus recognizes her, she insists that she is Revenge, his friend. Titus, for his own purposes, pretends to be taken in by the disguises; he tells Rapine and Murder, Revenge’s cohorts, to seek out two such as themselves and destroy them. At Tamora’s bidding, Titus directs Marcus to invite Lucius to a banquet, to which Saturninus and Tamora and her sons will also come.

Titus persuades Chiron and Demetrius to stay with him while their companion, Revenge, goes to perform other duties. He then calls in his kinsmen, who seize and bind the brothers. Titus tells them that he intends to kill them and feed to their mother a paste made of their bones and blood. Lavinia holds a bowl between the stumps of her arms to catch their blood as Titus cuts their throats.

Lucius, accompanied by a guard of Goths, comes to his father’s house, where he puts Aaron in the charge of Marcus. Saturninus and Tamora make their appearance and are ushered to a banquet served by Titus, dressed as a cook. Titus, hearing from Saturninus that Virginius, in the legend, did well to kill his ravished daughter, stabs Lavinia. The startled Saturninus asks if Lavinia was raped and by whom. When Titus discloses that Tamora’s sons did the evil deed, Saturninus asks to see the youths at once. Titus, declaring that Tamora is eating their remains, stabs her. Saturninus stabs Titus, and Lucius, in turn, stabs Saturninus. A general fight ensues. Lucius and Marcus, with their followers, retire to a balcony to tell the people of Rome of the manifold evils wrought by Tamora, her sons, and Aaron. After the people choose him as their new emperor, Lucius sentences Aaron to be buried waist deep and left to starve. He also decrees that Tamora’s body be fed to wild beasts.

Bibliography

Bartels, Emily C. “’Incorporate in Rome’: Titus Andronicus and the Consequence of Conquest.” In Speaking of the Moor: From Alcazar to Othello. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, as England expanded its influence around the globe, the Moor became a central character in Titus Andronicus and other English plays. Bartels analyzes the depiction of Moorish characters in these plays, as well as in contemporary historical writings and the letters of Elizabeth I.

Bessen, Alan C. Shakespeare in Performance: “Titus Andronicus.” New York: Manchester University Press, 1989. Follows the stage history of the play, noting that the watershed performance was the highly successful 1955 production by Peter Brook, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Addresses the numerous staging problems involved in a production of Titus Andronicus.

Bowers, Fredson T. Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy, 1587-1642. 1940. Rev. ed. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1966. Although somewhat old, this book is still useful and enjoyable. It traces the origins of the revenge tragedy to the plays of Seneca. Bowers shows how Titus Andronicus follows a pattern first formulated in English by Thomas Kyd in The Spanish Tragedy.

Leggatt, Alexander. “Titus Andronicus: This Was Thy Daughter.” In Shakespeare’s Tragedies: Violation and Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Examines how acts of violence in Titus Andronicus and six other tragedies generate questions about the identities of the victims, the perpetrators, and the acts themselves.

Metz, G. Harold. Shakespeare’s Earliest Tragedy: Studies in “Titus Andronicus.” Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996. Discusses the play’s authorship, sources, origins, influence, date of composition, and use of music. Provides an overview of twentieth century criticism and of stage productions from 1970 through 1994.

Rozett, Martha Tuck. The Doctrine of Election and the Emergence of Elizabethan Tragedy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984. Argues that the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination and election was influential upon Elizabethan tragedy.

Vickers, Brian. Shakespeare, Co-author: A Historical Study of Five Collaborative Plays. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Seeks to develop a coherent system for identifying Shakespeare’s collaborative works. Discusses concepts of authorship in English Renaissance drama and describes methods used to determine authorship since the nineteenth century. Closely analyzes five collaborative plays, including Titus Andronicus, which Vickers attributes to Shakespeare and George Peele.

Wells, Stanley, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986. This is where all studies of Shakespeare should begin. Includes excellent chapters introducing the poet’s biography, conventions and beliefs of Elizabethan England, and reviews of scholarship in the field.