Act 1, Scene 1 Summary
The Roman emperor has recently died, and his two sons, Saturninus and Bassianus, come to the Capitol Hill, each with a group of followers, to claim the right of succession. Saturninus is the elder, but Bassianus claims to be the more deserving. The struggle is about to become violent when Marcus Andronicus, Tribune of the People, enters, carrying the crown. He announces that the people of Rome have chosen neither of the princes to succeed their father but have voted to give the crown to Titus Andronicus, Marcus’s brother, for his many years of public service—including a ten-year battle with the Goths, from which he is about to return victorious. Both Saturninus and Bassianus accept Titus Andronicus’s claim and dismiss their followers, quickly defusing the situation.
Titus Andronicus enters, heralded by a captain, to the sound of drums and trumpets. He is attended by a procession, which includes prisoners he has taken in his war with the Goths, and the coffin of one of his sons. Titus salutes the city of Rome. He laments the death of his son, saying that of the twenty-five sons he once had, all but four have given their lives for Rome. He then opens his family vault and buries the latest casualty.
Lucius, the eldest surviving son of Titus, asks for “the proudest prisoner of the Goths” in order to perform a human sacrifice for his dead brother. Titus grants him the right to sacrifice Alarbus, the eldest son of Tamora, queen of the Goths. Tamora pleads for her son’s life, but Titus is obdurate, and the sacrifice is made as Alarbus’s brothers, Chiron and Demetrius, swear to be revenged. Lavinia, Titus’s daughter, enters to welcome her father back to Rome, and Marcus Andronicus then announces that the people have chosen Titus to be emperor. Titus protests that he is too old, and ill-suited to rule. He asks the tribunes to award the crown to Saturninus, which they do. Saturninus thanks Titus and promises to honor his family, beginning by marrying Lavinia and making her empress.
Titus hands over his prisoners to the new emperor, and Saturninus promptly sets them free. Bassianus then protests that he is betrothed to Lavinia and will not give her up. He departs with Lavinia, and when Titus goes after them, his son Mutius tries to stop him. Titus angrily stabs Mutius, who dies. Saturninus then announces that he will not marry Lavinia in any case, since he has decided to marry Tamora, queen of the Goths. They go to perform the marriage rites, leaving Titus alone.
Marcus Andronicus returns with Titus’s three surviving sons and rebukes him for killing Mutius. Titus angrily disowns not only the son he has just killed, but his other sons and Marcus as well. He refuses to allow Mutius to be buried in the family vault. Finally, after they kneel to him, their entreaties prevail, and Mutius is interred with Titus’s other deceased sons.
Saturninus and Tamora return, and the new empress asks her husband to pardon Titus for his violence and anger. Privately, she explains to Saturninus that she intends to kill Titus and his family, but the emperor must appear to treat them honorably in public. Saturninus reluctantly agrees, and an uneasy peace prevails.
Analysis
Unlike Shakespeare’s other Roman plays, Titus Andronicus is not based on history, not even the shadowy, semi-legendary history of Coriolanus . It is set during the Roman empire, but Shakespeare does not appear to have given much thought to the historical context or even to the Roman culture of public virtue that is such a feature...
(This entire section contains 858 words.)
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ofJulius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. The play’s characters resemble the feuding Montagues and Capulets in Romeo and Juliet more closely than any of Shakespeare’s other Romans, though they are more brutal and less convincing. The play is one of Shakespeare’s earliest works, probably written in 1593 and first performed early the following year, though it is sometimes dated as early as 1590. It was written in collaboration with George Peele, one of the University Wits, a term used to refer to a group of young playwrights educated at Oxford or Cambridge, and resembles their work in its bloodthirsty melodrama.
This long single scene, with various entrances and exits en masse, is not so skilfully handled as it would have been in a work written even a year or two later. The psychology of the characters often appears arbitrary and illogical, particularly in the case of Saturninus, who already seems like a disastrous choice of emperor. Titus’s preference for him is bewildering, as is Saturninus’s sudden abandonment of both Titus and Lavinia, particularly given the universal respect which Titus’s name evokes at the beginning of the play. Titus’s relationship with both his brother and his sons is extremely volatile, and his sudden conflict with Mutius is highly contrived. It is aspects such as these that have led some critics, including Harold Bloom, to conclude that Titus Andronicus is an elaborate parody of Elizabethan revenge tragedy, never intended to be taken seriously by its audience.