Titus Andronicus may be
Shakespeare'sWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
earliest
tragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that, paradoxically, offers its audience pleasure...
; it is believed to have been written in the early 1590s. It depicts a
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
general who is engaged in a cycle of
revengeThe revenge play or revenge tragedy is a form of tragedy which was extremely popular in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. The best-known of these are Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy and William Shakespeare's Hamlet...
with his enemy Tamora, the Queen of the
GothsThe Goths were a heterogeneous East Germanic tribe. The historian Jordanes claimed that the Goths arrived from semi-legendary Scandza, believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland , and that a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century, lending their name to the region of...
. The play is by far Shakespeare's bloodiest work. It lost popularity during the Victorian era because of its gore, and it has only recently seen its fortunes revive.
Date and text
Most scholars date the play to the early 1590s. In his Arden edition,
Jonathan BateJonathan Bate CBE FBA FRSL is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, novelist and scholar of Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism....
proposes that the play was written in late 1593, pointing out that on 24 January 1594, it was apparently listed as a new play in
Philip HenslowePhilip Henslowe was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his "Diary", a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance London.-Life:...
's diary. However another school of opinion has doubted the play's newness in 1594, given that the induction of
Ben JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
's
Bartholomew Fair (1614) seems to suggest that
Titus Andronicus is about 25 years old, which would date it to ca. 1589.
The play was published in three separate
quartoQuarto could refer to:* Quarto, a size or format of a book in which four leaves of a book are created from a standard size sheet of paper* For specific information about quarto texts of William Shakespeare's works, see:...
editions prior to the
First FolioMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
of 1623, which are referred to as Q1, Q2, and Q3 by Shakespeare scholars. The play was entered into the
RegisterThe Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including printers, bookbinders, booksellers, and publishers in England...
of the
Stationers CompanyThe Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was founded in 1403; it received a Royal Charter in 1557...
on 6 February 1594, by the printer John Danter. Danter sold the rights to the booksellers
Thomas MillingtonThomas Millington was a London publisher of the Elizabethan era, who published first editions of three Shakespearean plays...
and Edward White; they issued the first
quartoThe size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf , or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
edition (Q1) later that year, with printing done by Danter. The title page is unusual in that it assigns the play to three different companies of actors—
Pembroke's MenThe Earl of Pembroke's Men was an Elizabethan era playing company, or troupe of actors, in English Renaissance theatre. They functioned under the patronage of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Early and equivocal mentions of a Pembroke's company reach as far back as 1575; but the company is...
,
Derby's MenLord Strange's Men was an Elizabethan playing company, comprising retainers of the household of Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange . They are best known in their final phase of activity in the late 1580s and early 1590s. After Sept...
, and
Sussex's MenThe Earl of Sussex's Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, most notable for their connection with the early career of William Shakespeare.-First phase:...
. White published Q2 in 1600 (printed by James Roberts), and Q3 in 1611 (printed by
Edward AlldeEdward Allde, or Alde was an English printer in London during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. He was responsible for a number of significant texts in English Renaissance drama, including some of the early editions of plays by William Shakespeare.-Life:Edward Allde was part of a family of...
). The First Folio text (1623) was printed from Q3 with an additional scene, III, ii.
Q1 is regarded as a reasonably "good" (complete and reliable) text, and is the basis for most modern editions, although it does not include some material found in the First Folio. Only a single copy is known to exist today. Q2 appears to be based on a damaged copy of Q1, as it is a good reproduction of the Q1 text, but is missing a number of lines. Two copies are known to exist today. Q3 appears to be a further degradation of the Q2 text: it includes a number of corrections to Q2, but introduces even more errors. The First Folio text of 1623 seems to be based on the Q3 text, but also includes material found in none of the quarto editions, including the entirety of Act 3, Scene 2 (in which Titus seems to be losing his sanity). This scene is generally regarded as authentic and included in modern editions of the play.
None of the three quarto editions name the author (as was normal in the publication of playtexts in the early 1590s). However,
Francis MeresFrancis Meres was an English churchman and author.He was born at Kirton in the Holland division of Lincolnshire in 1565. He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he received a B.A. in 1587 and an M.A. in 1591. Two years later he was incorporated an M.A. of Oxford...
lists the play as one of Shakespeare's tragedies in a publication of 1598, and the editors of the
First FolioMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
included it among his works. Despite this, Shakespeare's full authorship has been doubted. In the introduction to his 1678 adaptation of the play (printed nine years later, in 1687),
Edward RavenscroftEdward Ravenscroft , English dramatist, belonged to an ancient Flintshire family.He was entered at the Middle Temple, but devoted his attention mainly to literature. Among his pieces are...
states: "I have been told by some anciently conversant with the Stage, that it was not Originally his, but brought by a private Author to be Acted, and he only gave some Master-touches to one or two Principal Parts or Characters". There are problems with Ravenscroft's statement: the old men "conversant with the Stage" could not have been more than children when
Titus was written, and Ravenscroft may be biased, since he uses the story to justify his alterations of Shakespeare's play. However, the story has been used to bolster arguments that another author was partly responsible.
The principal candidate is the dramatist
George PeeleGeorge Peele , was an English dramatist.-Life:Peele was christened on 25 July 1556. His father, who appears to have belonged to a Devonshire family, was clerk of Christ's Hospital, and wrote two treatises on bookkeeping...
, whose linguistic characteristics have been detected in both the first act, and the scene in which Lavinia uses
OvidPublius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who wrote about love, seduction, and mythological transformation....
's
Metamorphoses to explain that she has been raped. The assertion of Peele's hand in the play remains controversial, however, and those who admire the play tend to argue against it. It has even been posited that Shakespeare did not write
Titus Andronicus at all; for example, the 19th century
Globe Illustrated Shakespeare goes so far as to claim there was a general agreement on the matter due to the un-Shakespearean "barbarity" of the play's action.
Performance
Although
Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's earliest plays, it is hard to say exactly how early it is. The anonymous play
A Knack to Know a Knave, acted in 1592, alludes to Titus and the Goths, which clearly indicates Shakespeare's play, since other versions of the Titus story involve
MoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
, not Goths.
Philip HenslowePhilip Henslowe was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his "Diary", a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance London.-Life:...
's diary records performances of a
Titus and Vespasian in 1592-93, and some critics have identified this with Shakespeare's play.
In January and February of 1594, Sussex's Men gave three performances of
Titus Andronicus; two more performances followed in June of the same year, at the
Newington ButtsNewington Butts is a short road in Southwark, London, England, leading south-west from the Elephant and Castle. The road forks into Kennington Park Road leading to Kennington and Kennington Lane leading to Vauxhall Bridge.In previous centuries, Newington was a village that lay about a mile to the...
theatre, by either the
Admiral's MenThe Admiral's Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in the Elizabethan and Stuart eras...
or the
Lord Chamberlain's MenThe Lord Chamberlain's Men was a playing company at which William Shakespeare worked as an actor and playwright for most of his career. Formed at the end of a period of flux in the theatrical world of London, it had become, by 1603, one of the two leading companies of the city and was subsequently...
. A private performance occurred in 1596 at
Sir John HaringtonJohn Harington was an English courtier and politician.-Life:He was the son of James Harington and was knighted in 1584...
's house in Rutland.
In the
RestorationThe English Restoration, often shortened to the Restoration, began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Commonwealth of England that followed the English Civil War...
, the play was performed in 1678 at
Drury LaneThe Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, in an adaptation by
Edward RavenscroftEdward Ravenscroft , English dramatist, belonged to an ancient Flintshire family.He was entered at the Middle Temple, but devoted his attention mainly to literature. Among his pieces are...
. The eighteenth-century actor
James QuinJames Quin was an English actor of Irish descent.Quin was born in London. He was educated at Dublin, and probably spent a short time at Trinity College....
considered Aaron, the villain in
Titus, one of his favourite roles.
Characters
- Titus Andronicus, a noble Roman, General against the Goths.
- Children of Titus Andronicus:
- Lucius
- Young Lucius, a Boy, Son to Lucius.
- Quintus
- Martius
- Mutius
- Lavinia, Daughter to Titus Andronicus.
- Marcus Andronicus, Tribune of the People, and Brother to Titus.
- Publius, Son to Marcus the Tribune.
- Tamora, Queen of the Goths.
- Sons to Tamora:
- Alarbus (non-speaking role)
- Demetrius
- Chiron
- Saturninus, Son to the late Emperor of Rome, and afterwards declared Emperor.
- Bassianus, Brother to Saturninus, in love with Lavinia.
- A Nurse, and a black Child(illegitimate son of Tamora and Aaron).
- Ǣmilius, a noble Roman.
- Aaron, a Moor beloved by Tamora.
- A Captain, Tribune, Messenger, and a Clown: Romans.
Synopsis
The Emperor of Rome has died, and his sons Saturninus and Bassianus are squabbling over who will succeed him. The
Tribune of the PeopleTribune was a title shared by 10 elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. Also, the tribune could summon the Senate and lay proposals before it...
, Marcus Andronicus, announces that the people's choice for new emperor is his brother, Titus Andronicus, a Roman general newly returned from ten years' campaigning against the empire's foes, the
GothsThe Goths were a heterogeneous East Germanic tribe. The historian Jordanes claimed that the Goths arrived from semi-legendary Scandza, believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland , and that a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century, lending their name to the region of...
. Titus enters Rome to much fanfare, bearing with him Tamora, Queen of the Goths, her sons, and Aaron the Moor. Titus feels a religious duty to sacrifice Tamora’s eldest son Alarbus, in order to avenge his sons, dead from the war, and allow them to rest in peace. Tamora begs for the life of Alarbus, but Titus refuses her pleas. Tamora secretly plans for horrible revenge on Titus and all of his remaining sons.
Titus Andronicus refuses the throne in favour of the late emperor's eldest son Saturninus, much to Saturninus' delight. The two agree that Saturninus will marry Titus' daughter Lavinia. However, Bassianus was previously
betrothedBetrothal is a formal state of engagement to be married.Historically betrothal was a formal contract, blessed or officiated by a religious authority. Betrothal was binding as marriage and a divorce was necessary to terminate a betrothal...
to the girl. Titus' surviving sons help them escape the marriage. In the fighting, Titus kills his son Mutius. Titus is at first angry at his sons for bringing what he sees as dishonor upon his name, but his anger is eventually softened by Saturninus. The new emperor, Saturninus, marries Tamora instead.
During a hunting party the next day, Tamora's lover, Aaron the Moor, meets Tamora's sons Chiron and Demetrius. The two are arguing over which should take sexual advantage of the newlywed Lavinia. They are easily persuaded by Aaron to ambush Bassianus and kill him in the presence of Tamora and Lavinia, in order to have their way with her. Lavinia begs Tamora to stop her sons, but Tamora refuses. Chiron and Demetrius throw Bassianus's body in a pit, as Aaron had directed them, then take Lavinia away and
rapeRape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or without sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent....
her. To keep her from revealing what she has seen and endured, they cut out her tongue and cut off her hands.
Aaron brings Titus' sons Martius and Quintus to the scene and frames them for the murder of Bassianus with a forged letter outlining their plan to kill him. Angry, the Emperor arrests them. Marcus then discovers Lavinia and takes her to her father. When she and Titus are reunited, he is overcome with grief. He and his remaining son Lucius have begged for the lives of Martius and Quintus, but the two are found guilty and are marched off to execution. Aaron enters, and falsely tells Titus, Lucius, and Marcus that the emperor will spare the prisoners if one of the three sacrifices a hand. Each demands the right to do so, but it is Titus who has Aaron cut off his (Titus') hand and take it to the emperor. In return, a messenger brings Titus the heads of his sons. Desperate for revenge, Titus orders Lucius to flee Rome and raise an army among their former enemy, the Goths.
Later, Titus' grandson (Lucius' son), who has been helping Titus read to Lavinia, complains that she will not leave his book alone. In the book, she indicates to Titus and Marcus the story of Philomela, in which a similarly mute victim "wrote" the name of her wrongdoer. Marcus gives her a stick to hold with her mouth and stumps and she writes the names of her attackers in the dirt. Titus vows revenge. Feigning madness, he ties written prayers for justice to arrows and commands his kinsmen to aim them at the sky. Marcus directs the arrows to land inside the palace of Saturninus, who is enraged by this. He confronts the Andronici and orders the execution of a Clown who had delivered a further supplication from Titus.
Tamora delivers a mixed-race child, and the nurse can tell it must have been fathered by Aaron. Aaron kills the nurse and flees with the baby to save it from the Emperor's inevitable wrath. Later, Lucius, marching on Rome with an army, captures Aaron and threatens to hang the infant. To save the baby, Aaron reveals the entire plot to Lucius, relishing every murder, rape, and dismemberment.
Tamora, convinced of Titus' madness, approaches him along with her two sons, dressed as the spirits of Revenge, Murder, and Rape. She tells Titus that she (as a supernatural spirit) will grant him revenge if he will convince Lucius to stop attacking Rome. Titus agrees, sending Marcus to invite Lucius to a feast. "Revenge" (Tamora) offers to invite the Emperor and Tamora, and is about to leave, but Titus insists that "Rape" and "Murder" (Chiron and Demetrius) stay with him. She agrees. When she is gone Titus' servants bind Chiron and Demetrius, and Titus cuts their throats, while Lavinia holds a basin in her stumps to catch their blood. He plans to cook them into a pie for their mother. This is the same revenge
ProcneProcne may refer to:*In Greek mythology, Procne was sister to Philomela, wife of Tereus, and mother of Itys*194 Prokne, an asteroid*In the Golden Sun videogame series, one summon is Procne, described as "a goddess in bird form"...
took for the rape of her sister Philomela.
The next day, during the feast at his house, Titus asks Saturninus whether a father should kill his daughter if she has been raped. When the Emperor agrees, Titus kills Lavinia and tells Saturninus what Tamora's sons had done. When the Emperor asks for Chiron and Demetrius, Titus reveals that they were in the pie Tamora has just been enjoying, and then kills Tamora. Saturninus kills Titus just as Lucius arrives, and Lucius kills Saturninus to avenge his father's death.
Lucius tells his family's story to the people and is proclaimed Emperor. He orders that Saturninus be given a proper burial, that Tamora's body be thrown to the wild beasts, and that Aaron be buried chest-deep and left to die of
thirstThirst is the craving for fluids, resulting in the basic instinct of animals to drink. It is an essential mechanism involved in fluid balance. It arises from a lack of fluids and/or an increase in the concentration of certain osmolites such as salt...
and starvation. Aaron, however, is unrepentant to the end, proclaiming:
"If one good Deed in all my life I did,
I do repent it from my very Soule."
Language
The language of Titus Andronicus adds greatly to the grisly action of the play. Jack Reese notes that, as a result of its gruesome nature, the play is often disregarded "as an immature exercise in sensationalism" (78). He says that this is the fault of the readers who are unaware of the literary elements and techniques present throughout the work. Reese suggests that the horrific fates of the characters are not even so horrific because the characters lack any human quality that would lead the readers to identify with them. In the example of Lavinia, he refers to her as "an emblematic figure representing Injured Innocence" (79). There are greater implications to her brutal experience than what is simply written on the page. Reese mentions that the audience is further disconnected from the violence onstage through its various descriptions. The language used in these descriptions serves to "further emphasize the artificiality of the play; in a sense, they suggest to the audience that it is hearing a poem read rather than seeing the events of that poem put into dramatic form" (83). Peter Sacks comments on the imagery conveyed through the play’s language as marked by "an artificial and heavily emblematic style, and above all, a revoltingly grotesque series of horrors which seem to have little function but to ironize man's inadequate expressions of pain and loss" (587). Shakespeare's mastery of language stylizes the brutality seen in Titus Andronicus. Gillian Kendall follows a similar line of thought, stating that rhetorical devices, such as metaphor, augment the violent imagery, also elevating it. She discusses how the figurative use of certain words complements their literal counterparts. This, however, "disrupts the way the audience perceives imagery" (300). An example of this is seen in the body politic/dead body imagery in the beginning; the two images soon become interchangeable, as do others through the course of the play.
Critic Mary Fawcett looks not only at the language of the play, but also at language as a theme. She comments on the communication methods of Lavinia, post-rape, looking first at the term "scrowl" used by Demetrius in Act 2 Scene 4. Fawcett suggests that this word is a fusion of "scowl" and "scroll"; Demetrius “locates an area of language that is not spoken and not written” (261). She then goes on to address an incident where Titus offers his hand to Lavinia so that she may attempt to use it as a substitute tongue. This scene raises issues of patriarchy since Titus is facilitating his daughter’s speech; the “patriarchal nature of language” is illustrated. The scene also recalls Lavinia’s earlier request for paternal blessing when she asks her father to bless her with his hand in Act 1 Scene 1. Fawcett says that “the frightful literalization of this request reminds us of the etymology of blessing: a bleeding or wounding” (262). When he finally kills Lavinia, Titus is adhering to ideas set forth by his predecessor Livy; to Titus, “words point to a pre-existing text which alone originates and sanctions action” (269). The significance of language to the characters and to the play as a whole is unmistakable.
Dramatic structure
Written between 1589 and 1592, Titus Andronicus
may be Shakespeare's earliest tragedy and is written in the form of a revenge tragedy. The play has characteristics similar to the work of SenecaLucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
, specifically his play ThyestesIn Greek mythology, Thyestes was the son of Pelops, King of Olympia, and Hippodamia and father of Pelopia and Aegisthus. Thyestes and his twin brother, Atreus, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother, Chrysippus in their desire for the throne of Olympia...
, which included horrific scenes of severed hands, cannibalism, and rape. Although violence was not uncommon in Elizabethan plays, Titus Andronicus
stands out due to the volume and extremity of the violent acts committed. Unlike his other works, the play contains an uncanny number of crude and savage moments, which has sparked debate among critics as to whether or not the play was actually composed by Shakespeare. However this was not Shakespeare's only revenge tragedy, as his work Hamlet
is considered one of the best examples of Elizabethan revenge tragedies and his works Julius CaesarJulius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator of the same name, his assassination and its aftermath...
and MacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth, commonly just Macbeth, is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
have elements of the revenge tragedy. However, neither of these works contains the volume or the vivid descriptions of violence that one finds in Titus Andronicus.
Critic S. Clark Hulse even went as far as to calculate the number of atrocities occurring in the play and concluded that, “It (the play) has 14 killings, 9 of them on stage, 6 severed members, 1 rape (or 2 or 3 depending on how you count), 1 live burial, 1 case of insanity, and 1 of cannibalism—-an average of 5.2 atrocities per act, or one for every 97 lines.” The vivid descriptions that Shakespeare uses to describe these violent acts certainly stand out to critics.
T. S. EliotThomas Stearns Eliot, OM , was a poet, playwright, and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Among his most famous writings are The Love Song of J...
claimed that the play was the "worst play ever written" (Bate 27). Shakespearean critic Harold Bloom, in his work Shakespeare: Invention of the Human
, says that Shakespeare must have intended the work as a parody of the violent plays of colleague Christopher MarloweChristopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. The foremost Elizabethan tragedian next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious and untimely death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest...
, who was writing at the same time as Shakespeare.
What stands out about the dramatic structure of the play is that unlike Shakespeare's other works, such as Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet and Macbeth, is...
which shifts between comedy and tragedy, Titus Andronicus
continuously remains a revenge tragedy throughout. The play cannot be considered a history play, as it combines various names and events from different points in Roman history, such as the Lucrece story, which Shakespeare likely would have been familiar with from OvidPublius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who wrote about love, seduction, and mythological transformation....
's work, FastiOvid's Fasti is a long, possibly unfinished Latin poem by the Roman poet Ovid. It is believed that Ovid wrote the poem during his exile in Tomis towards the end of his life....
or LivyTitus Livius , known as Livy in English, was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
's work The History of Rome
. It has been noted by critics that the play contains very few subplots in contrast to other works by Shakespeare such as Twelfth Night
and A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare. It was suggested by "The Knight's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and written around 1594 to 1596...
.
Themes
This Roman
tragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that, paradoxically, offers its audience pleasure...
is based on the mythological story of Procne and Philomela found in
OvidPublius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who wrote about love, seduction, and mythological transformation....
's Metamorphoses. Alan Hughes, a Shakespearean critic, believes that Procne's revenge is a conspicuous theme in this Shakespearean play. Procne avenges the dismemberment of her sister Philomela, whose tongue is cut out after she is raped by Procne's husband Tereus, by killing her son and feeding him to her husband. Just as Procne is driven by revenge, the characters in Titus Andronicus are driven by revenge fueling the rape and carnage that occurs throughout the play. Some of Titus' sons are killed during the war with the Goths, and as a result Titus sacrifices Alarbus, the oldest of Tamora's sons, perpetuating the conflict between the Andronicus family and Tamora. With the intention of revenge, Tamora orders her sons Chiron and Demetrius to rape Lavinia, Titus' daughter. Not only is Lavinia raped, but she is brutally dismembered as her tongue and hands are cut off. Titus eventually takes revenge on Tamora by killing and then cooking Chiron and Demetrius into a pie and serving it to the Queen.
Even though the hateful relationship between Tamora and Titus provides the main revenge plot in this tragedy, Bellyse Baildon states that this play is also a conglomeration of two themes which were popular in England before Shakespeare's time. The first theme is known as "the Wicked Moor" theme in which the Moor, Aaron, commits murder and rape out of revenge and pure malice (Baildon 17). For example, Aaron murders the nurse who brings him his illegitimate son out of pure malice as he doesn't want news of the illegitimate relationship between him and Tamora to leak. The second theme may be known as "the White Lady and Moor" theme which focuses on the lustful relationship between the white queen and a black slave. Aaron is Tamora's slave, yet they conceive a child together, but he then goes against her wishes as she wants their illegitimate son to be killed while he wants to raise him. Along with the previous two critics, Deborah Willis also adds that this play is different from other revenge plays because women, and not just men, are also fueled by revenge. Revenge acts as a leveling agent as men, sons, fathers, women, and slaves all follow the path of revenge to defend honor and their families. To save the honor of the Goths, Tamora wages a personal war with the Andronicus family. While Lavinia represents the view of women as objects, Tamora uses excess cruelty and violence, therefore disturbing the
patriarchal systemPatriarchy is the structuring of family units based on the man, as father figure, having primary authority over the rest of the family members. Patriarchy also refers to the role of men in society more generally where men take primary responsibility over the welfare of the community as a whole...
. Also, Titus assumes the feminine role of Procne as he avenges his daughter's honor. Not only does revenge lead to the eventual destruction and death of most of the main characters, but it also acts as an equalizer between men and women.
Reputation
As Shakespeare's most gruesome play, Titus Andronicus
has also been his most derided. Critics from Lewis TheobaldLewis Theobald , British textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire...
and Edmond MaloneEdmond Malone , was an Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare. His first name is sometimes spelled Edmund.- Biography :...
to J. M. RobertsonJohn Mackinnon Robertson was a prolific journalist, advocate of rationalism and secularism, and Liberal Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Tyneside from 1906 to 1918.- Biography :...
doubted Shakespeare's authorship because of its lurid violence and generally uninspired verse. However, it was an extremely popular play in its day, on a par with such plays as MarloweChristopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. The foremost Elizabethan tragedian next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious and untimely death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest...
's TamburlaineTamburlaine the Great is the name of a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. It is loosely based on the life of the Central Asian emperor, Timur 'the lame'...
and Thomas KydThomas Kyd was an English dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama....
's The Spanish TragedyThe Spanish Tragedy is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, The Spanish Tragedy established a new genre in English theatre, the revenge play or revenge tragedy. Its plot contains several violent murders and includes as one...
.
Shakespeare scholar Harold BloomHarold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, currently Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University...
has claimed that the play cannot be taken seriously and that the best imaginable production would be one directed by Mel BrooksMelvin "Mel" Kaminsky , better known by his stage name Mel Brooks, is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer, best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. Brooks is a member of the short list of entertainers with the distinction...
.
The character of Titus has been played by actors such as Brian CoxBrian Denis Cox, CBE is a Scottish actor.-Early life:Cox was born in Dundee, Scotland, the youngest of five children. His mother, Mary Ann Guillerline , was a spinner who worked in the jute mills and suffered several nervous breakdowns during Cox's childhood. His father, Charles McArdle Campbell...
, Anthony Sher, Anthony HopkinsSir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE is a Welsh film, stage and television actor. Considered to be one of film's greatest living actors, he is known for his portrayal of cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, its sequel, Hannibal, and its prequel, Red Dragon...
and Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
.
Adaptations
Die Schändung
by German author Botho Strauss
Titus Andronicus. Komödie nach Shakespeare
by Swiss author Friedrich DürrenmattFriedrich Dürrenmatt was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theater whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire...
The 1998 film Titus Andronicus
, directed by Chris Dunne. Stars Bob Reese as Titus, and costars Tom DennisTom A. Dennis was an English professional snooker and billiards player.Dennis reached the finale of the World Championship in 1927, 1929, 1930 and 1931 but was beaten every time by Joe Davis. The closest Dennis came to defeating Davis was in the 1931 tournament, when the pair were the only two...
, Levi-David Tinker, Candy Kane and Lexton Raliegh.
TitusTitus is a 1999 film adaptation of Shakespeare's revenge tragedy Titus Andronicus, about the downfall of a Roman general. It was the first film of the play . The film was made by Overseas Filmgroup and Clear Blue Sky Productions and released by 20th Century Fox. It was the directorial debut of...
(1999), directed by Julie TaymorJulie Taymor is an American director of theater, opera and film. Taymor's work has received many accolades from critics, and she has earned two Tony Awards out of four nominations, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, an Emmy Award, and an Academy Award nomination for Original Song...
. Stars Anthony HopkinsSir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE is a Welsh film, stage and television actor. Considered to be one of film's greatest living actors, he is known for his portrayal of cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, its sequel, Hannibal, and its prequel, Red Dragon...
and Jessica LangeJessica Phyllis Lange is an American stage and screen actress. With a career that has spanned thirty-five years and six Academy Award nominations , she may be most notable for her performances in Frances, Tootsie, Sweet Dreams, Blue Sky, and Grey Gardens.-Early life:Lange, the third of four...
as Titus and Tamora.
Titus Andronicus
(1985): a TV movie directed by Jane Howell, last of the BBC Shakespeare series. Stars Trevor PeacockTrevor Peacock is an English character actor who has had roles such as Jim Trott in The Vicar of Dibley, Rouault in Madame Bovary , Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop and Old Bailey in Neverwhere...
and Eileen AtkinsDame Eileen June Atkins, DBE is an English actress and occasional screenwriter.- Early life :Atkins was born in a Salvation Army women's hostel in East London , the cockney daughter of Annie Ellen , a barmaid who was 46 when Eileen was born, and Arthur Thomas Atkins, a gas-meter reader who was...
as Titus and Tamora, with Hugh QuarshieHugh Quarshie is a British actor.Quarshie was born in Accra, Ghana, and emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom when he was aged three. He was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, where he was Head of School, and then read PPE at Christ Church, University of Oxford...
as Aaron.
Anatomie Titus Fall of Rome. Ein Shakespearekommentar
, a 1984 play by (East) German author Heiner MüllerHeiner Müller was a German dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. Described as "the theatre's greatest living poet" since Samuel Beckett, Müller is arguably the most important German dramatist of the 20th century after Bertolt Brecht...
Titus Andronicus: The Musical!
, written by Brian Colonna, Erik Edborg, Hannah Duggan, Erin Rollman, Matt Petraglia, and Samantha Schmitz, was staged by the Buntport TheaterBuntport Theater Company is a non-profit, professional theater group based in Denver, Colorado. Intent on creating innovative and affordable entertainment, the six members of the troupe write and produce all of their work...
of Denver, Colorado three times between 2005 and 2007.
The Reduced Shakespeare CompanyThe Reduced Shakespeare Company is an American acting troupe that writes and performs unsubtle, fast-paced, seemingly improvisational condensations of huge topics.- Overview :...
rendered Titus Andronicus
as a cooking show and referred to the time of its writing as Shakespeare's "Quentin TarantinoQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s he was an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticization of violence...
phase".
Tragedy! A Musical Comedy, written by Michael Johnson and Mary Davenport was performed at the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival.
External links