Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus is a tragedy generally thought to have been written between 1588 and 1593 and is usually credited to William Shakespeare. The play is set in an undefined time in imperial Rome. Roman General Titus Andronicus returns victorious from a long war. Tamora, Queen of the Goths, is his prisoner, along with her family and retinue. He authorizes the execution of one of her sons by his sons. This begins a vicious cycle of escalating violence as each party seeks revenge. As the casualties mount up, Titus is driven to extreme mental anguish, and the play culminates in an onstage bloodbath.

A ballad version and a prose version also exist, dating from a similar period. The story is fictional, unlike Shakespeare’s other Roman history plays. The play draws on a mix of known sources and may also draw on other, unknown sources.

This guide uses the 1995 Arden Shakespeare Edition edited by Jonathan Bate.

Content Warning: The source text contains graphic violence, rape, murder, mutilation, self-harm, cannibalism, mental health conditions, racism, misogyny, and ableism. These topics appear throughout the entire play.

Plot Summary

Saturninus and Bassianus argue over who will succeed to the position of emperor after their father’s death. Civil disorder threatens to break out. Marcus, a tribune representing the people, says they wish to elect his brother: Titus Andronicus. Titus is a general who has been away for years fighting the Goths.

Titus enters with his four surviving sons: Lucius, Quintus, Martius, and Mutius. He also brings prisoners, such as Tamora, Queen of the Goths; her sons Alarbus, Chiron, and Demetrius; and her companion Aaron the Moor, who is secretly her lover. Titus’s sons demand to sacrifice a prisoner in retribution for Roman and Andronici losses. Despite Tamora’s pleading, he allows them to kill Alarbus.

Titus’s daughter, Lavinia, pays her respects to their return party. Marcus tells Titus the people wish to elect him. He declines but asks them to elect his chosen candidate: Saturninus. He gifts Saturninus his prisoners, and Saturninus promises to marry Lavinia to cement their alliance. However, Saturninus immediately releases the prisoners and praises Tamora. Bassianus seizes Lavinia, who was originally betrothed to him. He takes her away with the help of Titus’s sons, who support his claim to her. Titus kills Mutius. Saturninus announces that he doesn’t need Titus and his family and proposes to Tamora, who accepts.

Everyone regroups onstage, tensions high. Tamora tells Saturninus that as a new emperor, he must maintain tactical alliances, but she promises to plot revenge behind the scenes. She publicly entreats everyone to reconcile, and a celebratory hunt is planned. Later, Aaron finds Demetrius and Chiron squabbling over their attraction to Lavinia. He encourages them to rape her at the hunt the next day.

During the hunt, Aaron and Tamora prepare for revenge. Newlyweds Bassianus and Lavinia enter. Aaron fetches Chiron and Demetrius, who kill Bassianus at Tamora’s prompting. Lavinia pleads for death too, but they drag her off to rape her with Tamora’s encouragement. Aaron and Tamora frame Martius and Quintus for Bassianus’s murder. Titus asks for due process, but Saturninus vows revenge. Tamora reassures Titus that she will help him.

Chiron and Demetrius have raped Lavinia and cut off her hands and tongue so she can’t reveal their crime. When they leave, Marcus finds her. He is appalled by her injuries and realizes what happened, referencing the story of Philomel.

Titus pleads with the stones for his sons to be given due process, as the tribunes won’t listen. Marcus brings in Lavinia, and Titus and Lucius are horrified. Titus suggests they all chop off their own hands and tongues or else plot revenge. Aaron enters and says the emperor offers a deal: He will return Titus's sons for the ransom of an Andronici hand. Titus sends his hand, but a messenger returns it along with the heads of Titus’s sons. Titus leads the family in a ritualistic vow of retribution. They leave the stage carrying the dismembered body parts. Lucius has been banished from Rome for trying to rescue his brothers, so he plans to form an alliance with the Goths and raise an army.

Titus, Marcus, and Lavinia eat, along with Lucius’s young son. Titus raves about their injuries and offers interpretations of Lavinia’s gestures. He squabbles with Marcus over colloquialisms referencing hands and over the killing of a fly. He retires to read Lavinia stories with Lucius’s son. Later, Lucius’s son flees from Lavinia to Marcus and Titus, afraid of her. She communicates that she was raped by more than one attacker, using gestures and a book, which she opens on the story of Philomel. Marcus encourages her to write their names by holding a stick in her mouth. Titus plans revenge. He sends Lucius’s son to Chiron and Demetrius with gifts of weaponry.

Chiron and Demetrius are happy with the gifts. Aaron realizes Titus is on to them but doesn’t tell them. A nurse brings Tamora’s baby. His skin color reveals that Aaron, not Saturninus, is his father. Tamora, Demetrius, and Chiron all think the baby should be killed, but Aaron kills the nurse to protect the secret, planning to swap in another baby and raise his child as a warrior among the Goths.

Titus gets the Andronici to shoot arrows with letters to the gods attached toward the court. He sends a letter to Saturninus via a passing Clown. Saturninus has the Clown hanged, angry that Titus protests his sons’ deaths. A messenger tells him that Lucius is leading an army of Goths to Rome, which leaves him feeling shaken. Tamora promises to resolve everything and sends the messenger to arrange a parley with Lucius at Titus’s house.

Meanwhile, Lucius and the Goths anticipate their martial success. A soldier brings in Aaron and his baby as captives. Lucius commands them to hang Aaron and the child from a tree, but Aaron strikes a deal to reveal everything in return for his baby’s life. He incriminates Tamora and her sons but places most responsibility upon himself, expressing cruel urges. Lucius decides his fate should be worse than hanging. A messenger arrives and invites Lucius to parley at Titus’s house.

Tamora and her sons call on Titus in disguise. They claim to be Revenge, Rape, and Murder. Tamora plans to win his compliancy and then find a way to regain control over the Goths. He pretends to go along with this. When she leaves to get Saturninus, he makes Chiron and Demetrius stay behind. His people tie them up, and Titus reveals his plan to bake them into pies that he will feed to their mother. He cuts their throats, draining their blood into a basin held by Lavinia.

Saturninus, Tamora, Lucius, and Marcus gather around a table. Titus enters dressed as a cook, with Lucius’s son and Lavinia in a veil. He urges his guests to eat. He asks Saturninus’s opinion of the story of Virginius killing his daughter, who had been raped. When Saturninus states his approval, Titus unveils Lavinia and kills her. He reveals that Chiron and Demetrius raped her and that they are cooked into the pie Tamora is eating. He kills Tamora. Saturninus kills him. Lucius kills Saturninus. There is uproar.

Marcus and Lucius address the people of Rome, offering their account of events. Lucius is made emperor. He encourages his son to join his public display of grief for Titus. He has Aaron buried up to his chest and left to die. Titus and Lavinia are buried in the family tomb, and Tamora’s body is thrown to wild beasts.