Titus Andronicus

Introduction

Shakespeare’s career begins with a bloodletting the likes of which he will never return to again. There will be blood a plenty in many of his plays but not on the scale of this. Two such revenge plays had recently made it big on the London stage and Shakespeare answered the call with Titus Andronicus, which would make Stephen King proud.

The play begins with a crisis of succession, a topic near and dear to the hearts of Elizabethan England.  Saturninus has the tightest claim, as he was the previous emperor’s first son, but his brother, Bassianus, is also making a bid for the throne.  Then Marcus Adronicus, tribune of the people and brother to Titus, suddenly announces that “a special party, by common voice”, has chosen Titus as emperor, for “so noble a man and so brave a warrior lives not”.  Lucius, returning from war, is the son to Titus,and demands that they “hue the limbs off the proudest Goth prisoner”, a son to Tamara, Queen of the Goths.  Tamora begs Titus to spare her son but Titus refuses.  This is only the first of many graphically suggested murders, as Lucius soon returns declaring “the limbs are lopped and the entrails feed the sacrificial fire”. Tamora’s other sons, Chiron and Demetrius, remind their mother to “stand resolved with opportunity of sharp revenge”.  Next Titus declares that having been a soldier for forty years and burying some twenty-one sons makes him yearn more for “a staff of honour for his age rather than a scepter to control the world”.  When Saturninus rails at Titus for stealing the peoples’ hearts from him Titus orders the tribunes to crown Saturninus and say “long live the emperor”.  Saturninus thanks Titus and takes his daughter, Lavinia, to be his queen.  However, the new emperor’s brother, Bassianus, roughly grabs and claims Lavinia as his wife.  At this point Saturninus chooses Tamara, Queen of the Goths, as his Queen.  While she sues for peace with Titus (“this day all quarrels end, Andronicus”) she swears to her emperor husband, “I’ll find a day to massacre them all”.

In this, Shakespeare’s earliest play, he has learned from the outset that you must be very careful how royalty and leadership of a country is portrayed on the London stage.  By setting Titus in the distant ancient Roman Empire Shakespeare now has a free hand to depict the gruesome revenge these leaders of Rome are about to visit upon one another on the heels of a succession crisis.  In fact, London in 1590 was an extraordinarily violent city with an impending succession crisis stemming from an aged Queen without issue.  So we can rightfully assume that Rome is a sometimes thinly veiled Elizabethan London.  In the Goths, contemporary audiences might have noticed a resemblance to England’s volatile relations with Spain and in Saturninus they would witness the grave perils of autocratic, absolute government.

Shakespeare also expertly depicts the dubious influences that leadership often falls under the sway of in his plays, whether it is Macbeth’s witches, Hamlet’s Ghost or Lear’s daughters.  In this case Tamora, who the emperor marries, is a ruthless Goth, with equally as ruthless a pair of sons and most ruthless of all, the evil to the core Moor lover, Aaron, Shakespeare’s first of many great villains.  If Titus has been made weary by forty years of warfare and the sacrifice of twenty-one sons, he will descend into a final madness as he exchanges blows with the likes of Tamora and her brood. 

Act I (one scene)

Scene i

Rome, before the Capitol

Enter Saturninus and his brother, Bassianus

Saturninus: “Noble patricians, defend the justice of my cause with arms: and countrymen, plead my successive title with your swords. I am his first born son; then let my father’s honours live in me.”

Bassianus: “Romans, If ever Bassianus, Caesar’s son, were gracious in the eyes of royal Rome, keep then this passage to the capitol.”

Enter Marcus, brother to Titus

Marcus: “Princes, know that the people of Rome have by common voice chosen Titus Andronicus, for many good and great deserts to Rome. A nobler man, a braver warrior, lives not. From weary wars against the barbarous Goths, ten years are spent since first he undertook this cause of Rome, five times he hath returned bleeding to Rome, bearing his valiant sons in coffins from the field; and now at last, laden with honour’s spoils, returns the good Andronicus to Rome, renowned Titus, flourishing in arms.”

Saturninus: “How fare the Tribune speaks .”

Bassianus: ” Marcus Andronicus, so I love and honour thee and thine.”

Saturninus: “Friends, I thank you all and here dismiss you all.”

Titus: “Hail, Rome, cometh Andronicus, to re-salute his country with his terms, tears of true joy for his return to Rome.”

Lucius: (son of Titus) “Give us the proudest prisoner of the Goths, that we may hew his limbs.”

Titus: “I give you him – the eldest son of this distressed queen.”

Tamora: (Queen of the Goths) “Victorious Titus, if thy sons were ever dear to thee, O, think my son to be as dear to me! Must my sons be slaughtered in the streets for valiant doings in their enemy’s cause? Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge. Thrice noble Titus; spare my first born son.”

Titus: “For their brethren slain religiously they ask a sacrifice. To this your son is marked, and die he must.”

Lucius: “Away with him, and make a fire straight. Let’s hew his limbs till they be clean consumed.”

Tamora: “O cruel, irreligious piety!”

Demetrius: (Tamora’s son) “Madam, stand resolved, with opportunity of sharp revenge.”

Titus’ sons return with bloody swords

Lucius: “See, lord and father, how we have performed our Roman rites: Alarbus’ limbs are lopped, and entrails feed the sacrificing fire, whose smoke, like incense, doth perfume the sky. Remaineth nought but to inter our brethren.”

Titus: “Let it be so, and let Andronicus make this his latest farewell to their souls. In peace and honour, rest you here, my sons; secure from worldly chances and mishaps! Here lurks no treason, here no evil swells, no noise, but silence and eternal sleep.

Lavinia: (Titus’ daughter) “In peace and honour live lord Titus.”

Titus: “Lavinia, live; outlive thy father’s days. Rome, I have been thy soldier forty years, and buried one and twenty valiant sons. Give me a staff of honour for mine age, but not a sceptre to control the world.”

Saturninus: “Romans, do me right. Patricians, draw your sword till Saturninus be Rome’s Emperor. Andronicus, would thou were shipped to hell rather than rob me of the people’s hearts!”

Titus: “Content thee, Prince; I will restore to thee the peoples’ hearts. Tribunes, this suit I make, that you create our emperor’s eldest son , Lord Saturninus; crown him and say ‘long live our emperor!'”

Saturninus: “Titus Andronicus, I give thee thanks. Lavinia will I make my empress. Andronicus, does this motion please thee?”

Titus: “It doth, my worthy lord.

“Saturninus: “Lavinia, you are not displeased with this?”

Lavinia: “Not I, my lord.”

Bassianus: “Lord Titus, by your leave, this maid is mine.” (seizing Lavinia)

Titus: “Traitors, avaunt! Where is the Emperor’s guard? Treason my lord!”

Saturninus: “Titus, no; the Emperor needs her not. Lovely Tamora, Queen of the Goths, behold, I choose thee, Tamora, for my bride and will create thee Empress of Rome.”

Tamora: (aside) “I’ll find a day to massacre them all, and raze their faction and their family, the cruel father and his traitorous sons, to whom I sued for my dear son’s life.”
(To Titus) “Titus, this day all quarrels end, Andronicus.” (To Saturninus) “Sweet Emperor, we must all be friends.”

Analysis

Shakespeare’s opening acts always masterfully set up the drama that is to unfold in subsequent acts.  In Titus the lines get drawn and the bloody exchanges begin between Titus and Tamora in act one’s only scene.  “I will find a day to massacre them all” is a shocking predilection of what’s to come, although Tamora assures Titus of her desire for peace and reconciliation.  In Shakespeare plays we often know more about characters than they know of each other.  We get inside scoop that draws us in and binds us tight to the drama, as it unfolds lifelike, from scene to scene and act to act.

We can be certain by the end of act I, scene i that the bitter and fickle emperor, his revenge obsessed Goth wife, her loyal sons and the yet unseen ‘evil personified’ Aaron will be more than any comedy could ever reconcile.  This is the essential stuff of tragedy.  We also have a clear sense of Titus as a man of honour, who will be tested by evil incarnate.  Indeed, Shakespeare begins his young career as a playwright with a terrifying tragedy.  It will be his last tragedy for the next ten years, a period rich with English history and comedy.  His great compendium of tragedies will follow only then.

Act II (four scenes)

Scene I

Rome, before the palace

Aaron: (Tamora’s Moor lover) “Now climbeth Tamora Olympus’ top, advanced above pale envy’s threatening reach. Then, Aaron, arm thy heart and fit thy thoughts to mount aloft with thy imperial mistress. I will be bright and shine in pearl and gold, to wait upon this newly made empress. To wanton with this queen, this goddess, this nymph, this siren that will charm Rome’s Saturninus and see his shipwreck.”

Enter Chiron and Demetrius, Tamara’s sons

Demetrius: “Chiron, thy years want wit, thy wits want edge and manners. I am as able and fit as thou and plead my passions for Lavinia’s love.”

Chiron: “I love Lavinia more than all the world.”

Aaron: “For shame, be friends. Must you resolve that what you cannot as you would achieve, you must perforce accomplish as you may. The forest walks are wide and spacious, fitted by kind for rape and villainy. Come, come, our Empress, with her sacred wit to villainy and vengeance consecrate, will we acquaint with all what we intend. The woods are ruthless, dreadful, deaf and dull. There speak and strike, brave boys, and take your turns: there serve your lust and revel in Lavinia’s treasury.”

Anaylsis

Shakespeare is a master at plot development and the plot advances with clarity and purpose, in act II, scene i of Titus Andronicus.  Tamora, her sons, Aaron and the emperor are all very poetically quoted in the diabolical nature of their intention.  Aaron, the foremost agent of vengeance in the play, goes so far as to admit that Tamora will make a shipwreck of Rome itself, not just exact revenge upon Titus.  But with the Andronicus family they must begin.  In order to facilitate the lust Tamora’s sons feel for Bassanius’ wife and Titus’ daughter, Lavinia, Aaron encourages them to take her together and ‘revel in her treasure.’

Act II

Scene ii

A forest near Rome

Titus: “The hunt is up, wake the emperor and his lovely bride.”

Saturninus: “Come on then, horse and chariots let us have, and to our sport. Tamora, now shall ye see our Roman hunting.”

Demetrius: “Chiron, we hunt not, we, with horse nor hound, but hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground.”

Analysis

The court is going hunting and so are Tamara’s sons, but not for any other than Lavinia and Bassianus. The trap is set. The hunt is on. Aaron’s plan is in motion. Woe to Titus and his family.

Act II

Scene iii

A lonely part of the forest

Aaron: “He who had wit would think that I had none. Madam, vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, blood and revenge are hammering in my head. Hark, Tamora, the Empress of my soul; this is the day of doom for Bassianus; His Philomel must lose her tongue today, thy sons make pillage of her chastity, and wash their hands in Bassianus’ blood.”

Tamora: “Ah, my sweet Moor, sweeter to me than life!”

Aaron: “Bassianus comes. Be cross with him; and I’ll go fetch thy sons to back thy quarrels.”

Demetrius: “How now, gracious mother! Why doth your highness look so pale?

Tamora: “Have I not reason, think you, to look pale? These two (Bassianus and Lavinia) have enticed me hither to this place and showed me this abhorred pit; they told me, here, at dead time of the night, a thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes, ten thousand swelling toads, as many urchins, would make such fearful and confused cries as any mortal body hearing it should straight fall mad or else die suddenly. They told me they would bind me here and leave me to this miserable death. And then they called me foul adulteress, and had you not by wondrous fortune come, this vengeance on me had they executed. Revenge it, as you love your mother’s life, or be ye not henceforth called my children.”

Demetrius: “This is a witness that I am thy son.” (stabs Bassianus)

Chiron: “And this from me.” (also stabs Bassianus)

Bassianus is dead

Lavinia: “Barbarous Tamora, for no name fits thy nature but thy own!”

Tamora: “You shall know my boys!”

Chiron: “Drag hence her husband to some secret hole, and make his dead trunk pillow to our lust.”

Tamora: “But when ye have the honey we desire, let not this wasp outlive us both to sting.”

Chiron: “I warrant you. madam, we will make that sure.”

Lavinia: “O Tamora! Thou bearest a woman’s face -“

Tamora: “I will not hear her speak; away with her. Remember boys, I poured forth tears in vain to save your brother from the sacrifice, but fierce Andronicus would not relent. Therefore, away with her, and use her as you will; the worst to her the better loved of me.”

Lavinia: “O Tamora, be called a gentle queen, and with thine own hands kill me in this place. Tis present death I beg; O keep me from their worst than killing lust, and tumble me into some loathsome pit, where never man’s eye may behold my body; do this and be a charitable murderer.”

Tamora: “So should I rob my sweet sons of their fee: no, let them satisfy their lust on thee. Farewell, my sons, see that you make her sure never to let my heart know merry cheer indeed till all the Andronici be made away. Now will I hence to seek my lovely Moor, and let my spleenful sons this trull deflower.”

Aaron: “Come on, my Lords, straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit where I spied the panther fat asleep.”

Quintus and Martius (Titus’s sons) fall into the pit containing the body of Bassianus.

Aaron: (an aside) “Now I will fetch the king to find them here, that he thereby may have a likely guess how these were they that made away his brother.”

Quintus: “My heart suspects more than mine eye can see.”

Martius: “Lord Bassianus lies in blood, all in a heap, in this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit.”

Enter Emperor Saturninus and Aaron

Saturninus: Say, who art thou that lately did descend into this gaping hollow of the earth?”

Martius: “The unhappy sons of old Andronicus, brought hither, to find thy brother Bassianus dead.”

Tamora: “Where is thy brother, Bassianus?”

Saturninus: “Poor Bassianus lies here murdered. Titus, two of thy whelps have here bereft my brother of his life. Sir, drag them from the pit unto the prison; there let them bide until we have devised some never heard of torturing pain for them.”

Tamora: “How easily murder is discovered!”

Saturninus: “The guilt is plain.”

Analysis

Aaron arranges the murder of Bassianus, the emperor’s brother, and then manages to have it seem to the emperor that Titus’ two sons are the perpetrators of so foul a deed.  The emperor is incensed and the two Andronicus boys are taken away for some ‘never heard of torturing pain’. Often Shakespeare’s villains are extremely cunning, like Iago in Othello.  Of himself Aaron reflects in act two that “he that had wit would think that I had none”.  Shakespeare is always the master of reality and illusion.  

Act II

Scene iv

Another part of the forest

Enter Demetrius and Chiron with Lavinia, who has been raped and has had her hands cut off and tongue cut out.

Demetrius: “So, now go tell, and if thy tongue can speak, who ’twas that cut thy tongue and ravished thee.”

Chiron: “If thy stumps will let thee play the scribe, go home, call for sweet water, wash thy hands.”

Demetrius: “She hath no tongue to call, nor hands to wash; and so let’s leave her to her silent walks.”

Analysis

With the grotesque rape and dismemberment of Lavinia Shakespeare goes further in the direction of horror than he will ever go again… but he is just beginning in this play.

Act III (two scenes)

Scene i

Rome, a street

Titus: “Hear me, noble Tribunes! For pity of mine age , whose youth was spent in dangerous wars whilst you securely slept; for all my blood in Rome’s great quarrel shed, and for these bitter tears, which now you see. Be pitiful to my condemned sons, whose souls are not corrupted as ’tis thought. O reverend Tribunes! O gentle aged men! Unbind my sons, reverse the doom of death, and let me say, that never wept before, my tears are now prevailing orators.”

Lucius: “O noble father, you lament in vain; the Tribunes hear you not, and you recount your sorrows to a stone.”

Titus: “Ah, Lucius, for thy brothers let me plead!”

Lucius: “My gracious lord, no Tribune hears you speak.”

Titus: “Yet plead I must. Therefore I tell my sorrows to the stones. A stone is silent and offenders not and Tribunes with their tongues doom men to death. But wherefore stand’st thou with thy weapon drawn?”

Lucius: “To rescue my two brothers from their death; for which attempt the judges have announced my everlasting doom of banishment.”

Titus: “Why, foolish Lucius, dost thou not perceive that Rome is but a wilderness of tigers? How happy art thou then from these devourers to be banished!”

Enter Marcus and Lavinia

Marcus: “Titus, prepare thy aged eyes to weep, or if not so, thy noble heart to break. This was thy daughter.”

Titus: “Speak, Lavinia, what accursed hand hath made thee handless in thy father’s sight? My grief was at the height before thou cam’st, and now it disdaineth bounds. Give me a sword, I’ll chop off my hands too, for they have fought for Rome, and all in vain; they have served me to effortless use. Now all the service I require of them is that the one will help to cut the other. ‘Tis well, Lavinia, that thou hast no hands; for hands to do Rome’s service is but vain.”

Lucius: “Who hath done this deed?

Marcus: “O, thus I found her straying in the park, seeking to hide herself as doth the deer that hath received some unrecuring wound.”

Titus: “It was my dear, and he that wounded her hath hurt me more than had he killed me dead. This way to death, my wretched sons are gone; here stands my other son, a banished man, and here my brother, weeping at my woes. But that which gives my soul the greatest spurn is dear Lavinia, dearer than my soul. What shall I do now I behold thy lively body so? Thou hast no hands to wipe away thy tears, nor tongue to all me who hath martyred thee; Thy husband he is dead, and for his death thy brothers are condemned, and dead by this. What shall we do? Let us that have our tongues plot some device of further misery to make us wondered at in time to come.”

Lucius: “Sweet father, cease your tears, for at your grief see how my wretched sister sobs and weeps.”

Enter Aaron the Moor

Aaron: “Titus Andronicus, my lord the Emperor sends thee this word, that, if thou loves thy sons let Marcus, Lucius or thyself, old Titus, chop off your hand and send it to the King; he for the same will send thee hither both thy sons alive, and that shall be the ransom for their fault.”

Titus: “O gracious Emperor! O gentle Aaron! Did ever raven sing so like a lark. With all my heart I’ll send the Emperor my hand. Good Aaron, wilt thou help to chop it off?”

Lucius: “Stay, father! My hand will serve the turn.”

Marcus: “My hand hath been but idle; let it serve to ransom my two nephews from their death.”

Aaron: “Nay, come, agree whose hand shall go along, for fear they die before their pardon come.”

Titus: “Agree between you; I will spare my hand.”

Lucius: Then I’ll go fetch an axe.”

Marcus: “But I will use the axe.”

Exit Lucius and Marcus

Titus: “Come hither, Aaron. I’ll deceive them both; lend me thy hand, and I will give thee mine.”

Aaron cuts of Titus’ hand

Re-enter Lucius and Marcus

Titus: “Good Aaron, give his Majesty my hand; tell him it was a hand that warded him from a thousand dangers; as for my sons, say I account of them as jewels purchased at an easy price.”

Aaron: “I go, Andronicus, and for thy hand look by and by to have thy sons with thee.” (aside) “Their heads I mean. Let fools do good, and fair men call for grace: Aaron will have his soul black like his face.”

Exit Aaron

Marcus: “Yet let reason govern thy lament.”

Titus: “If there were reasons for these miseries, then into limits could I bind my woes.”

Enter a messenger with two heads and a hand

Messenger: “Worthy Andronicus, ill art thou repaid for that good hand thou sent the Emperor. Here are the heads of thy two noble sons; and here is thy hand, in scorn to thee sent back – thy griefs their sports, thy resolution mocked, that woe is me to think upon thy woes.”

Marcus: “These miseries are more than may be borne.”

Titus: “When will this fearful slumber have an end?”

Marcus: “Andronicus, thou dost not slumber: see thy two son’s heads, thy warlike hand, thy mangled daughter here; thy other banished son with this dear sight struck pale and bloodless; and thy brother, I, cold and numb. Now is a time to storm; why art thou still?”

Titus: “Ha, ha, ha!”

Marcus: “Why dost thou laugh? It fits not with this hour.”

Titus: “Why, I have not another tear to shed; besides, this sorrow is an enemy. Which way shall I find revenge? And threat me I shall never come to bliss till all these mischiefs be returned again even in their throats that have committed them. Come, let us see what tasks I have to do. And swear unto my soul to right your wrongs. The vow is made. Come, brother, take a head, and in this hand the other will I bear. And, Lavinia, bear thou my hand, sweet wench, between thy teeth. As for thee, boy, go, get thee from my sight; thou art an exile, and thou must not stay. Go to the Goths and raise an army there; and if ye love me, as I think you do, let’s kiss and part, for we have much to do.”

Exit all but Lucius

Lucius: “Farewell, Andronicus, my noble father, the woefullest man that ever lived in Rome. Farewell, proud Rome; till Lucius come again.”

Analysis

Once again, the plot advances rapidly in act III, scene i and the revenge thickens and characters are exposed for who they are, as Titus’s brother Marcus shows Titus what has become of his daughter, Lavinia.  “Prepare thy aged eyes to weep and thy noble heart to break, for this was your daughter.”  Aaron informs Titus that the emperor will spare his sons if Titus will just chop off his own hand.  “O gentle Aaron, did ever a raven sing so like a lark.  With all my heart I will send the emperor my hand.  Good Aaron, wilt thou help to chop it off?”  Aaron chops it off alright but soon a messenger arrives with two heads and a hand.  “Worthy Andronicus, ill art thou repaid for that good hand thou sent to the emperor.  Here are the heads of thy two noble sons and here is the hand, in scorn to thee sent back.”  Marcus finds his brother in a fit of laughter.  “Why dost thou laugh? It fits not with this hour.”  Titus responds, “Why?  I have not another tear to shed.”  This scene plunges us into the utter horror of the play. Noble Titus is devastated. Evil Aaron is exposed for who he truly is. And we know that the Emperor and his Goth wife and her two children are also at work with Aaron. Tamora wasn’t kidding when she earlier claimed that she would find a day to massacre them all. She is well on her way.

Act III

Scene ii

Rome, Titus’ house

Titus: “What dost thou strike at Marcus?”

Marcus: “At that that I have killed, my lord, a fly.”

Titus: “Out on thee, murderer, thou killest my heart! A deed of death done on the innocent becomes not Titus’ brother. Get thee gone.”

Marcus: “Alas, my lord, I have but killed a fly.”

Titus: “But! How if that fly had a father and a mother? Poor harmless fly.”

Marcus: “Pardon me, sir, it was a black, ill-favoured fly, like to the Empress’ Moor; therefore I killed him.”

Titus: “O, O, O! Then pardon me for reprehending thee, for thou hast done a charitable deed.”

Marcus: “Alas, poor man! Grief has so wrought on him, he takes false shadows for true substances.”

Analysis

 A curious scene in which Marcus swats and kills a fly and Titus erupts: “Get out murderer…  What if that fly had a father and a mother?  Poor harmless fly.”  Marcus informs him that it was a black ill-favoured fly and Titus says  “Oh, Oh, Oh… then pardon me… for thou hast done a charitable deed.”  Clearly Titus has turned the corner and entered into a madness.  More than once Shakespeare will have certain of his tragic characters descend into a madness.  Polonius describes the process of said journey in Hamlet: “He fell into a sadness, then into a fast, thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, thence to a lightness, and, by this declension, into the madness wherein he now raves and we all mourn for.”  Naturally, the rape and mutilation of Titus’ only daughter and the betrayal of seeing his son’s heads on pikes after he sacrificed his own hand to spare them is a bit much for anyone. It can hardly get darker, except that two acts remain and few of Shakespeare’s villains can match Aaron.  Indeed, the cycle of revenge is all consuming.

Act IV (four scenes)

Scene i

Titus’ gardens

Titus: “How now, Lavinia! Marcus, what means this?”

Marcus: “That we may know the traitors and the truth!”

Lavinia takes a staff in her mouth and guides it with her stumps, and writes.

Marcus: “O, do you read, my lord, what she hath writ?”

Titus: “Chiron – Demetrius”

Marcus: “What, what! The lustful sons of Tamora; performers of this heinous bloody deed? We will prosecute mortal revenge upon these traitorous Goths.”

Titus: ‘Tis sure enough.”

Analysis

A turning point, to be sure. Titus now knows who defiled his daughter. The cycle of revenge will surely advance yet another turn on this wheel of madness.

Act IV

Scene ii

Rome, the palace

Demetrius: “Come, let us go and pray to all the gods for our beloved mother in her pains.”

Aaron: (aside) “Pray to the devils; the gods have given us over.”

Chiron: “The Emperor hath a son.”

Enter the nurse with a black child

Nurse: “O gentle Aaron, we are all undone!”

Aaron: “What dost thou wrap and fumble in thy arms?”

Nurse: “Our Empress’ shame and stately Rome’s disgrace!”

Aaron: “God give her good rest! What hath he sent her?”

Nurse: “A devil. A joyless, dismal, black and sorrowful issue! Here is the babe, as loathsome as a toad amongst the fair-faced breeders of our clime. The Empress sends it thee, thy stamp, thy seal, and bids thee Christen it with thy dagger’s point.”

Aaron: “Zounds, ye whore! Is black so base a hue?”

Demetrius: “Villain, what hast thou done?”

Chiron: “Thou hast undone our mother.”

Aaron: “Viallain, I have done thy mother.”

Demetrius: “And, therein, hellish dog, thou hast undone her.”

Chiron: “It shall not live.”

Aaron: “It shall not die.”

Nurse: “Aaron it must; the mother wills it so.”

Demetrius: “I’ll broach the tadpole on my rapier’s point. Nurse, give it me; my sword shall soon dispatch it.”

Aaron: “Sooner this sword shall plough thy bowels up. Stay, murderous villains, will you kill your brother! He dies upon my scimitar’s sharp point that touches this my first-born son and heir. Tell the Empress of me I am of age to keep mine own – excuse it how she can.”

Demetrius: “Wilt thou betray thy noble mistress thus?”

Aaron: “My mistress is my mistress: this my self, the visor and picture of my youth. This before all the world do I prefer.”

Demetrius: “By this our mother is forever shamed.”

Nurse: “The Emperor in his rage will doom her death.”

Aaron: “Look how the black slave smiles upon the father, as who should say ‘Old lad, I am thy own.’ He is your brother, lords, and from your womb where you imprisoned were he is enfranchised and has come to light. Nay, he is your brother, although my seal be stamped in his face. How many saw this child?”

Nurse: “Cornelia, the midwife and myself.”

Aaron kills the nurse

Demetrius: “What means thou, Aaron? Wherefore didst thou this?”

Aaron: “Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours? Now to the Goths, there to dispose this treasure in mine arms. Come, I’ll bear you hence. I’ll make you feed on berries and on roots, and feed on curds and whey. and suck the goat, and cabin in a cave, and bring you up to be a warrior and command a camp.”

Aaron exits with the child

Analysis

At some point Shakespeare simply had to address the race card and here it is. Aaron’s son is black, which is unacceptable at this point in history and amongst these people. The emperor will doom Tamora, his wife. Hence Tamora sends word to have the child dispatched. However, we see another side of Aaron in this scene. Here is a tender Aaron, very much attached to his infant son. Perhaps we gain insight into Aaron’s character and background. He has always been treated as victim to a racist society. Could this not be the source of his solitary rage? Shakespeare’s character’s are seldom one dimensional.

Act IV

Scene iii

Rome, a public place

Enter Titus bearing arrows with messages attached to them

Titus: “We will solicit heaven and move the gods to send down justice. There is not a god left unsolicited.”

Analysis

Having done all he can do as a person, Titus now appeals to the heavens for redress. As futile as we know this to be, the arrows nonetheless rain down upon the court of the emperor who reads of his own crimes and is made furious. Titus is littering Rome with word of the injustices he has been made to endure. The power of words is all he has left.

Act iv

Scene iv

Rome, before the palace

Saturninus: “And what if his sorrows have so overwhelmed his wits, shall we be thus afflicted in his wreaks, his fits, his frenzy, and his bitterness? And now he writes to heaven for his redress.”

Aemilius: (a Lord) “The Goths have gathered with a power of high resolved men; they hither march under conduct of Lucius, son to old Andronicus.”

Saturninus: “Is warlike Lucius general of the Goths? The citizens favour Lucius, and will revolt from me to succour him.”

Tamora: “King, be thy thoughts imperious, like thy name! I can smooth and fill his ancient ears with golden promises, that, were his heart almost impregnable, his old ears deaf, yet should both ear and heart obey my tongue. Now will I to that old Andronicus, and temper him with all the arts I have, to pluck proud Lucius from the warlike Goths and bury all thy fear in my devices.”

Analysis

Saturninus is fearful that Titus is so distraught with grief that the words his arrows rain down upon Rome will instruct the masses toward rebellion. He is also concerned about the Goth army that Lucius is leading against the Emperor. Tamora calms him with assurance that she can soothe Titus with promises that will bend his ear to her will and dissuade Lucius from his Goth army. The stage is set for act five.

Act V (3 scenes)

Scene i

Plains near Rome

Lucius: “Approved warriors and my faithful friends, I have received letters from great Rome which signifies what hate they bear their Emperor and how desirous of our sight they are.”

1 Goth: “Brave slip, sprung from the great Andronicus, whose name was once our terror, now our comfort, be bold in us: we’ll follow where thou leadest, and be avenged on cursed Tamora.”

All the Goths: “As he has said, so say we all!”

Lucius: “I thank you all.”

2 Goth: “Renowned Lucius, I heard a child cry underneath a wall, when soon I heard the crying babe controlled with the discourse: ‘had nature lent thee but thy mother’s look, villain, thou lightest have been an emperor. I must bear thee to a trusty Goth, who, when he knows thou art the Empress’ babe, will hold thee dearly for thy mother’s sake’. With this my weapon drawn, I rushed upon him, and brought him hither, to use as you think needful of the man.”

Lucius: “O worthy Goth, this is the incarnate devil that robbed Andronicus of his good hand; This is the pearl that pleased your Empress’ eye; and here is the base fruit of her burning lust. Why dost thou not speak? What, deaf? Not a word? A halter, soldiers! Hang him on this tree, and by his side his fruit of bastardy.”

Aaron: “Touch not the boy, he is of royal blood.”

Lucius: “Too like the sire for ever being good. First hang the child, that he may see it sprawl – a sight to vex the father’s soul withal.”

Aaron: “Lucius, save the child, and bear it from me to the Empress. If you do this, I’ll show thee wondrous things. If thou wilt not, I’ll speak no more but ‘vengeance rot you all’.”

Lucius: “If it please me, thy child shall live, and I will see it nourished.”

Aaron: “And if it please thee! Why, assure thee, Lucius, ’twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak; for I must talk of murders, rapes and massacres, acts of black night, abominable deeds, completes of mischief, treason, villainies, ruthful to hear, yet piteously performed; and this shall all be buried in my death unless thou swear to me my child shall live.”

Lucius: “I say thy child shall live.”

Aaron: “First know thou, I begot him on the Empress.”

Lucius: “O most insatiate and luxurious woman!”

Aaron: “Tut, Lucius, this was but a deed of charity to that which thou shalt hear of me anon. ‘Twas her two sons that murdered Bassianus. They cut thy sister’s tongue, and ravished her, and cut her hands.”

Lucius: “O barbarous beastly villains like thyself!”

Aaron: “Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct them. That bloody mind, I think, they learned from me. Let my deeds be witness of my worth. I trained thy brethren to that guileful hole where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay; I wrote the letter that thy father found, and played the cheater for thy father’s hand, and almost broke my heart with extreme laughter, when for his hand he had his two son’s heads; beheld his tears, and laughed so heartily that both mine eyes were rainy like to his; and when I told the Empress of this sport she swooned, and for my tidings she gave me twenty kisses.”

Goth: “What, canst thou say all of this and never blush?”

Lucius: “Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?“

Aaron: “Ay, that I had not done a thousand more even now I curse the day wherein I did not some notorious ill: as kill a man, or else devise his death; ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it; accuse some innocent, and foreswear myself; set deadly enmity between two friends; make poor men’s cattle break their necks; set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night, and bid the owners quench them with their tears. Often I have dug up dead men from their graves, and set them upright at their dear friend’s door and on their skins have with my knife carved in Roman letters ‘let not your sorrows die, though I am dead’. Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things as willingly as one would kill a fly; and nothing grieves me more heartily indeed but that I cannot do ten thousand more.“

Lucius: “Bring down the devil, for he must not die so sweet a death as hanging presently.”

Aaron: “If there be devils, would I were a devil, to live and burn in everlasting fire, so I might have your company in hell but to torment you with my bitter tongue.”

Lucius: “Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no more.”

Analysis

Whatever empathy we might have developed for Aaron in act four when he demonstrated sincere love for his infant son is evaporated here, where he exposes his true nature to Lucius, as part of the deal to have his son saved. This is likely Shakespeare’s first play and he will create volumes of timeless and devastatingly vindictive and punishing villains, but he will never surpass the villainy of Aaron, expressed in his own words, here in act five. The combination of his self professed villainies combined with his limitless enthusiasm for having committed them is unparalleled. Audiences must have been shocked indeed, which was rather the point.
Often I like to observe just how far Shakespeare will go to drive home his lesson.  In Titus Andronicus, one must wonder with each successive act just how far this revenge will proceed.  How much more can Titus take?  What more are Aaron and Tamora capable of?  Who is bound to crack under the pressure cooker of the first four acts?  Where is Shakespeare leading us?  Generally, act one sets out the essential story and introduces some significant characters.  Acts 2-4 complicate things in a variety of ways, as characters better and better define themselves, new characters are drawn into the drama and they all work the predicaments set before them, each in their way.  Act five is either the great reckoning of reconciliation and marriage in the comedies or the great karmic, cosmic, social and psychological inevitabilities of the tragedies, where everyone gets what they deserve and simply must accept or endure their consequences.  There is a social contract that can only be stretched out just so far before a comedy tends toward tragedy.  Shakespeare’s comedies usually have tragic elements and his tragedies are at times comedic.  There are no fools in Titus and this grim ‘hell on earth’ scenario is clearly headed toward a tragic climax. You can generally tell by the 4^th act if you have a comedy or a tragedy on your hands simply by the degree of reckoning that remains, although some of the comedic 5^th act unravelling scenes defy the imagination and a comedy at times emerges where the seemingly tragic elements are brilliantly resolved to the amazement of the characters as much as the audience.  What appears tragic can turn on a dime in many of his remarkable reconciliation scenes.  In Titus there is no way that even Shakespeare could twist this tale into any less than a tragic misfortune.  It has just gone too far wrong for even Shakespeare to make right.  

Act 5

Scene ii

Rome, before Titus’ house

Enter Tamora and her two sons, disguised

Tamora: “I will encounter Andronicus and say I am Revenge, sent from below to join with him and write his heinous wrongs. Knock on his study, where they say he keeps to ruminate strange plots of dire revenge; tell him Revenge has come to join with him, and work confusion on his enemies.”

They knock

Titus: “Who doth molest my contemplation?”

Tamora: “Titus, I have come to talk with thee.”

Titus: “I am not mad. I know thee well enough: witness this wretched stump; witness the tiring day and heavy night; Mighty Tamora, is not thy coming for my other hand?”

Tamora: “Sad man, I am not Tamora: she is thy enemy and I thy friend. I am Revenge, sent from the infernal kingdom to ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind by working wreakful vengeance on thy foes. Confer with me of murder and of death.”

Titus: :”Art thou Revenge?”

Tamora: :”I am; therefore come down and welcome me. These are my ministers, and they come with me.”

Titus: “Are they thy ministers? What are they called?”

Tamora: “Rape and Murder.”

Titus: “Good lord, how like the Empress’ sons they are! And you the Empress! But we worldly men have miserable, mad, mistaking eyes. O sweet Revenge, now do I come to thee. I will embrace thee by and by.”

Titus exits

Tamora: “He firmly takes me for Revenge. I’ll make him send for Lucius, his son, to scatter and disperse the giddy Goths. Or, at the least, make them his enemies. See, here he comes, and I must ply my theme.”

Enter Titus

Titus: “Welcome, dread fury, to my woeful house. Rape and Murder, you are welcome too. How like the Empress and her sons you are! But welcome as you are. What shall we do?”

Tamora: “Show me a thousand that hath done thee wrong, and I will be revenged on them all.”

Titus: “When thy find a man like thyself, Good Murderer, stab him; he’s a murderer. And when it is thy hap to find another that is like to thee, Good Rape, stab him; he is a ravisher. And in the Emperor’s court there is a queen, attended by a Moor. I pray thee, do on them some violent death; they have been violent to me and mine.”

Tamora: “Well hath thou lessoned us; this shall we do. But would it please thee, good Andronicus, to send for Lucius, thy valiant son, who leads towards Rome a band of warlike Goths, and bid him come and banquet at thy house; when he is here, I will bring in the Empress and her sons, the Emperor himself and all thy foes; and at thy mercy shall they stoop and kneel. What says Andronicus to this device?”

Titus: “Marcus, my brother: go to thy nephew Lucius and bid him repair to me, and bring with him some of the chiefest princes of the Goths. Tell him the Emperor and the Empress are to feast at my houses and he shall feast with them.”

Marcus: “This will I do.”

Tamora: “Now will I hence about my business and take my ministers along with me.”

Titus: “Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with me, or else I’ll call my brother back again and cleave to no revenge but Lucius.”

Tamora: (aside to her sons) “What say you, boys? Will you abide with him? Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair, till I return.”

Titus: (aside) “I knew them all, though they supposed me mad, and will over-reach them in their own devices.”

Demetrius: “Madam, depot at pleasure; leave us here.”

Titus: “Sweet Revenge, farewell.”

Exit Tamora

Titus: “Publius, come hither, Caius and Valentine.”

Publius: “What s your will?”

Titus: “Know you these two?”

Publius: “The Empress’ sons, Chiron and Demetrius.”

Titus: “Fie, Publius, fie! Thou art too much deceived. The one is Murder, and Rape is the other’s name; and therefore, bind them Publius, Caius and Valentine. Often you have heard me wish for such an hour, and now I find it; therefore bind them sure, and stop their mouths if they begin to cry.”

Exit and Re-enter Titus with a knife, and Lavinia with a basin.

Titus: “Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are bound. Stop their mouths and let them not speak to me; but let them hear what fearful words I utter. O villains, Chiron and Demetrius! You killed her husband; and for that vile fault two of her brothers were condemned to death, my hand cut off and made a merry jest; both her sweet hands, her tongue, and that more dear than hands or tongue, her spotless chastity, inhuman traitors, you constrained and forced. Hark wretches! How I mean to martyr you. This one hand yet is left to cut your throats, while Lavinia, between her stumps, doth hold the basin that receives your guilty blood. You know your mother means to feast with me, and calls herself Revenge, and thinks me mad. Hark villains! I will grind your bones to dust, and with your blood I’ll make a paste, and make two pasties of your shameful heads; and bid that strumpet, your unhallowed dam, swallow her own increase. This is the feast that I have bid her to, and this the banquet that she will surfeit on. You used my daughter and I will be revenged. And now prepare your throats. Lavinia, come, receive the blood; and when they are dead, let me go grind their bones to powder small, and with this hateful liquor temper it; and in that paste let their vile heads be baked.“

Titus cuts their throats

Titus: “Now bring them in, for I will play the cook and see them ready when their mother comes.

Analysis

Tamora determines to torment delirious Titus in the disguise of “Revenge” but Titus recognizes her for who she is and plays along.  Her sons appear in the charade as “Rape” and “Murder”.  Ironically, their disguised names reveal them for who they truly are. He exhorts Rape and Murder to wreak righteous vengeance on his tormentors and Vengence assures him that this will happen when Titus and Lucius host a dinner which Vengence will ensure that Tamora and her sons attend.   As they are departing in their disguises Titus insists that Rape and Murder remain with him until Revenge returns for the dinner with Tamora and her sons.  It is agreed.  Titus has them where he wants them: “I knew them all, though they supposed me mad.”  In one of the most QA2QqAA~!!!AAQQaqclassic scenes in any Shakespeare play, portrayed brilliantly by Anthony Hopkins in the movie ‘Titus’, Titus emerges as an enthusiastic chef, joined by his brother Marcus and son Lucius, preparing the dinner for his guests.  Only he invites Lavinia to “to look upon your foes… Chiron and Demetrius, who are bound”.   He directly accuses the sons of their crimes and declares his gruesome intention: “This one hand yet is left to cut your throats… Your mother means to feast with me… and thinks me mad.  Hark, villains!  I will grind your bones to dust and with your blood will make a paste… and make two pasties from your shameful heads; and bid that strumpet, your unhallowed dam, swallow her own increase… and I will play the cook”.  Titus is going to serve Tamora her sons in a pie!  The womb of the mother becomes the tomb of the sons!

Act V

Scene iii

Titus’ house

Enter Lucius, Marcus and the Goths, with Aaron and the child

Lucius: Uncle Marcus, since ’tis my father’s mind that I repair to Rome, I am content. Good uncle, take this barbarous Moor, this ravenous tiger, this accursed devil; let him receive no sustenance, fetter him, till he be brought unto the Empress’ face for testimony of her foul proceedings.”

Aaron: “Some devil whisper curses in my ear, and promptS me that my tongue may utter forth the venomous malice of my swelling heart.”

Lucius: “Away, inhuman dog, unhallowed slave.”

Exit Goths with Aaron

Enter the Emperor, Empress, with Tribunes, Senators and attendants

Marcus: “The feast is ready which the careful Titus hath ordained to an honourable end, for peace, for love. Please, therefore, draw nigh and take your places.”

Saturninus: “Marcus, we will.”

Titus, dressed like a cook, placing the dishes

Titus: “Welcome, my lord; welcome, dread Queen: welcome ye warlike Goths; welcome Lucius; and welcome all. Although the cheer be poor, I will fill your stomachs. Please eat of it.”

Saturninus: “Why art thou thus attired, Andronicus?”

Titus: “Because I would be sure to have all well to entertain your Highness and you’re Empress.”

Tamora: “We are beholding to you, good Andronicus.”

Titus: “My lord the Emperor, resolve me this: was it well done of rash Virginius to slay his daughter with his own right hand because she was enforced, stained and deflowered?”

Saturnunus: “It was, Andronicus, because the girl should not survive her shame and by her presence still renew his sorrows.”

Titus: “A reason mighty, strong and effectual. Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee.”

Titus kills Lavinia

Titus: “And with thy shame thy father’s sorrows die.”

Saturninus: “What hast thou done, unnatural and unkind? Was she ravished? Tell who did the deed.”

Titus: “Will it please you eat?”

Tamora: “Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus?”

Titus: “Not I; ’twas Chiron and Demetrius. They ravished her, and cut away her tongue; ’twas they that did her all this wrong.”

Saturninus: “Go fetch them hither to us presently.”

Titus: “Why, they are here, both baked in this pie, whereof their mother daintily hath fed, eating the flesh that she herself hath bred. ‘Tis true, ’tis true: witness my knife’s sharp point.”

Titus stabs and kills the Empress

Saturninus: “Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed.”

Saturninus stabs and kills Titus

Lucius: “Can the son’s eye behold his father bleed?”

Lucius stabs and kills Saturninus

Marcus: “Here is Rome’s young captain. Let him tell the tale while I stand by and weep to hear him speak.”

Lucius: “Then, be it known to you that Chiron and Demetrius were they that murdered our Emperor’s brother; and they it were that ravished our sister. For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded, our father’s tears despised, and basely cozened of that true hand that fought Rome’s quarrels and sent her enemies unto the grave. Lastly, myself unkindly banished , the gates shut on me, to beg relief among Rome’s enemies; who drowned their enmity in my true tears, and opened their arms to embrace me as a friend. My report is just and full of truth.”

Marcus: “Now is my turn to speak. Behold the child. Of this was Tamora delivered, the issue of an irreligious Moor, chief architect and plotter of these woes. The villain is alive in Titus’ house. Now judge what cause had Titus to revenge these wrongs unspeakable, past patience, or more than any living man could bear. Now have you heard the truth: what say you, Romans? Have we done aught amiss, show us wherein. Speak, Romans, speak; and if you say we shall Lucius and I will fall.”

Amelius: “Lucius, our Emperor!”

All: “Lucius, all hail, Rome’s royal Emperor!”

Marcus: “Go, go into Titus’ sorrowful house and hither hail that misbelieving Moor to be adjudged some direful slaughtering death, as punishment for his most wicked life.”

All: “Lucius, all hail, Rome’s gracious governor!”

Lucius: “Thanks, gentle Romans! May I govern so to heal Rome’s harms and wipe away her woe.”

Enter attendant with Aaron

A Roman: “You sad Andronici, have done with woes; give sentence on this execrable wretch that hath been breeder of these dire events.”

Lucius: “Set him breast-deep in earth and famish him; there let him stand and rave and cry for food. If anyone relieves or pities him he dies.”

Aaron: “I am no baby, I, that with base prayers I should repent the evils I have done. Ten thousand worse than ever yet I did would I perform, if I might have my will. If one good deed in all my life I did, I do repent it from my very soul.”

Lucius: “My father and Lavinia shall forthwith be closed in our household’s monument. As for that ravenous tiger, Tamora, no funeral rite, nor no mourning bell shall ring her burial; but throw her forth to beasts and birds of prey. Her life was beastly and devoid of pity, and being dead, let birds on her take pity.”

Analysis

When she arrives for dinner with her husband, emperor Saturninus, they are heartily welcomed by their delighted host, chef Titus.  After a flurry of kind and civil exchanges between them during which the dinner is consumed he suddenly and mercifully kills his own daughter, Lavinia, right in front of the assemblage.  In the uproar that follows Titus is very clear: “Eat, please.  It was Chiron and Demetrius who ravished her and cut away her hands and tongue.”  Saturninus demands that the two sons be brought present and Titus comes clean: “Why, they are here, both baked into this pie, whereof their mother daintily hath fed, eating the flesh that she herself hath bred. Tis true, tis true: witness my knife’s sharp point.” And with this he stabs and kills Tamora, Saturninus kills Titus and Lucius kills Saturninus in rapid succession. Afterwards Marcus appears before the people of Rome, speaking of the “wrongs unspeakable” committed by Saturninus, Tamora, her sons and Aaron against the Andronicus family.  They proclaim Lucius their emperor and Marcus asks that Aaron be brought forth so that the “misbelieving Moor be adjudged some direful slaughtering death, as punishment for his most wicked life.”  Emperor Lucius passes final judgement on Aaron: “Set him breast deep in the earth and famish him.  Let him stand and rave and cry for food.”  Aaron goes to his death as his life suggests: “Ten thousand worse than ever yet I did would I perform, if I might have my will. If one good deed in all my life I did, I do repent it from my very soul.”  As for Tamora: “no funeral right… but throw her forth to beasts… as her life was beastly and devoid of pity, and being dead, let birds on her take pity.”  Those are the final words of the play.  A tragedy indeed, yet moving forward, there is hope in Lucius, the new emperor: “Gentle Romans, may I govern so to heal Rome’s harms and wipe away her woe.” Rome has been cleansed and the cycle of revenge has consumed itself. Are we to be encouraged by Emperor Lucius’ words that the future of Rome has been restored to dignity or is there no lesson here and way too much bloodletting for any good to come?

Act five is always the great reckoning.  It all gets sorted out one way or another, depending on whether or not this is comedy or tragedy and this is definitive tragedy.  Shakespeare set out to outdo Marlow with a bloody revenge play and there is evidence of his early genius here in the clarity and pace of plot development, in the penetrating portrayal of characters, the working with deep resonating themes developed throughout the five acts and in the language already, in his very first attempt at drama, surpassing anything yet delivered in English.  Yet he would surge ahead, never again presenting so gratuitous a violent revenge play.  This seems merely a trifle compared to what is to come.  And yet, Aaron is a masterful villain who manages to display a deep love for a child before descending once again into his savage bitterness.  

There is often a turning point in a Shakespeare play, where you can ask, “what if this had been different?”  In this case, had Titus spared Tamora’s son, who might Tamora have become?  Or if Titus had accepted the role of emperor when it was granted him?  What then becomes of this man of apparent honour?  These pivot points tend to come early since once the wheels get turning and gain downhill momentum it can be hard to control or predict, even for Shakespeare.  Sometimes we secure our tickets and simply must endure the ride.  This is a lesson Shakespeare will expose time and time again.  Often enough a heroic individual, under immense stress, at times bordering on madness, can use what remaining wit he still possesses, to right a wrong and exact revenge.  When Tamora plots further revenge on the Andronicus family Titus engineers his finest deceit, pretending to fall for Tamora as Revenge and hence murdering her sons and feeding them to her in a baked pie.  I always find that the most shocking scene is when Titus impulsively mercy kills his daughter at the great revenge dinner.  I also regard Saturninus’ killing of Titus a mercy killing as well.  How could he live?  The extreme blood-letting and the serving of Tamora’s sons in a pie exceed all that sane individuals could endure.  One must wonder if Lucius has enough wit left to rule Rome effectively, having lost twenty-one brothers to war with the same Goths who then defiled and dismembered his sister, murdered his remaining brothers and drove his very father to his death.  We must remember, as well, that Ancient Rome can logically represent violent Elizabethan London at a time of an impending succession crisis.  The audiences would not have missed these parallels and neither should we.  Again, Shakespeare has played it safe by dealing with issues relevant to his audiences but in a setting far, far away and long, long ago.  He would continue this tendency throughout his career, especially with the devastating tragedies to come.

Final Thoughts

Titus Andronicus is the earliest, the bloodiest and the most under-rated of Shakespeare’s tragedies and a wonderfuly nasty piece of entertainment. One might suspect that he was warning his contemporaries in this play about the dangers of absolute monarchy and the suspression of the popular voice. After all, the English Civil War lies just ahead. This was an original Shakespeare play, influenced by Seneca’s Roman tragedies, and by the success of Marlowe’s popular blood-letting, Tamberlaine, and by Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy.

Shakespeare will experiment in all of the theatrical genres in these apprentice years with history (Henry VI), romance (The Two Gentlemen of Verona), farce (The Comedy of Errors), comedy and wit (Love’s Labour’s Lost), and tragic revenge (Titus Andronicus).  He is learning his trade by practicing it.  The violent revenge plays needed to be spectacular in order to work and Titus Andronicus did not disappoint, and it was a robust hit in its day. However, after Shakespeare’s time it was virtually unstaged for three centuries.  There was a 1955 Peter Brook’s production, starring Laurence Olivier, and a notable, highly recommended 1999 performance by Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange in the film Titus, available on youtube, along with several other full theatrical productions of the play and much synopsis, analysis and many clips.