1. Titus Andronicus AN INTRODUCTION

2. A few words…  Shakespeare's blood thirsty drama of Titus Andronicus is a sordid tale of revenge and political turmoil, overflowing with bloodshed and unthinkable brutality including countless murders, rape, terrible acts of mutilation and threats of human sacrifice.

3. The original whodunnit…  There are a few theories about the authorship of Titus Andronicus, although they are a little tough to prove either way.  Co-authorship?  Pen name?  Full authorship?

4. A few solid facts (sort of)  Published and performed in 1594 as Shakespeare’s first tragedy. Romeo and Juliet was the year after.  Shakespeare was still learning his craft and modelled a lot of this work after the bloody tragic works being written in Spain at the time.

5. Too violent?  Although it is violent (and it certainly is), many feel that the violence and bloodshed is part of the craft.  Alarbus’ death illustrates the strange importance humans may place on tradition and contrasts it with a mother’s love.  Titus’ vengeance (no spoiler) shows us true revenge and/or madness. The strange antics of Chiron and Demetrius serve as character development. These two are truly insane.  Contrast their style of badness with Aaron the Moor and they serve as a foil to his brilliant evil.

6. Context  Titus Andronicus has a lot of things to say inside the confines of a play, and this becomes difficult at times. In order to fill in the blanks, he relies on a lot of the common knowledge and beliefs of the time.  Aaron is a black man (contrast this to Othello, a title character just 6 years later).  References to Greek Mythology. Assuming the audience was familiar with these stories means at least one major plot development.

7. Context (cont)  At the time, violent plays and stories were fashionable, and Titus Andronicus was wildly popular. Shakespeare was writing for his audience. As time went on and world views changed, the play started to be reviewed as grotesque but is now coming back into favour.

8. Setting – these points are important to hear.  The play begins just after the Emperor of Rome has died and his two sons, Saturninus (eldest, selfish, weak) and Bassianus (average good guy) are fighting for his throne.  Although Bassianus would be a better ruler of the people, Roman tradition states that the oldest son should be Emperor. What to do, what to do…  To make things even more interesting, Bassianus is engaged to Titus’ daughter, Lavinia.

9. Setting – these points are important to hear.  Titus, a Roman General, is returning from a VERY successful campaign of wars against the Goths.  As slaves, Titus has brought back Tamora, Queen of the Goths and her sons Chiron and Demetrius (dirty little punks…you’ll grow to really dislike these guys) and Alarbus (her oldest…that’s all you need to know about him). He also has captured Aaron the Moor, a black man and Tamora’s secret lover.  For some reason, T had 26 kids – 25 sons and a daughter. Unfortunately, 21 of the boys dies in battle. The only important ones you need to remember are his oldest, Lucius, and his daughter Lavinia.

10. There are a LOT of characters. These are the main ones…  Titus Andronicus: Rome first, everything else second. Intelligent General.  Lucius Andronicus: Fiery. Good leader.  Lavinia: Chaste. This is her thing.  Saturninus: dink. Selfish, weak, needs approval.  Bassianus: Generally good fella. Solid wingman.  Aaron: Evil genius. But mainly evil.  Tamora: Queen of Goths. Bent on revenge.  Chiron/Demetrius: Tamora’s sons. Wild. Animalistic. Not to be trusted.