Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus, the eponymous protagonist of the play, is a Roman military commander who has served the empire faithfully for decades, spending many years on campaign against the enemies of Rome. He has made great sacrifices for his public duty, including the loss of all but four of his twenty-five sons in battle. Titus is portrayed at the beginning of the play as an honorable, modest, plain-spoken old man. He has no particular ambitions and refuses the imperial crown when it is offered to him. Over the course of the play, as he loses everything he values, Titus’s character changes, and he becomes first deranged, then obsessed with revenge. Even when the audience first sees him, Titus has an arbitrary nature and a fierce temper when roused, but the wrongs done to him quickly increase his capacity for cruelty.

Marcus Andronicus

Marcus is a Tribune of the People. This would mean that the Andronicus family is of plebeian origin, though Shakespeare does not expand upon this detail. Marcus is generally a statesmanlike and moderate figure, more diplomatic than Titus, but also less resilient.

Lucius

Lucius is the eldest son of Titus Andronicus and the last to survive. His character is not developed to any great extent, but he is portrayed as a loyal son and a dutiful, reasonable person who will wield power responsibly as emperor.

Martius

Martius is another of Titus’s sons, unjustly condemned to death for the murder of Bassianus.

Quintus

Quintus is Martius’s brother, also condemned for the same crime.

Mutius

Mutius is another of Titus’s sons, stabbed by his father in the first act when Titus intends to follow Bassianus and Mutius attempts to bar his way. There is no clear explanation of why Mutius decides to do this.

Lavinia

Lavinia, the daughter of Titus and the child for whom he seems to care the most, is pure and chaste, though verbally rather coarse and censorious in her accusations against Tamora when she and Bassianus encounter her in the forest. As her tongue is cut out soon after this, Lavinia is silent for most of the play. She is often compared to the legendary Lucretia for her virtue, but it is notable that she continues to live after her rape and mutilation, and it is Titus himself who eventually kills her. This suggests that she, like him, is motivated by revenge and that, unlike Lucretia, she is not too appalled by her shame to live with it, at least for a while.

Saturninus

Saturninus is the elder of the former emperor’s two sons and becomes emperor himself at the beginning of the play. His temperament is both fickle and peevish. He pledges to marry Lavinia, then quickly changes his mind and marries Tamora instead, turning against Titus, to whose loyalty he owes his crown. Later, when Lucius is marching on Rome, he immediately realizes that Lucius is a more popular leader than he is. Saturninus’s speeches often have a tone of self-pity and paranoia, accentuating the weakness of his leadership.

Bassianus

Bassianus is the brother of Saturninus, with whom he has a stormy relationship. He loves Lavinia and takes Titus’s side in the quarrel with his brother, even though Titus is not well-disposed toward him. Bassianus dies early in the play and is never given much psychological development, even by the standards of Titus Andronicus. He performs a series of actions to suit the exigencies of the plot rather than appearing to be an organic character.

Aemilius

Aemilius is a Roman lord who, at the end of the play, bears messages to Saturninus...