Titus Andronicus

William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781501126598
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

Titus Andronicus is the earliest tragedy and the earliest Roman play attributed to Shakespeare. Titus, a model Roman, has led twenty-one of his twenty-five sons to death in Rome's wars; he stabs another son to death for what he views as disloyalty to Rome. Yet Rome has become "a wilderness of tigers." After a death sentence is imposed on two of his three remaining sons, and his daughter is raped and mutilated, Titus turns his loyalty toward his family.Aaron the Moor, a magnificent villain and the empress's secret lover, makes a similar transition. After the empress bears him a child, Aaron devotes himself to preserving the baby. Retaining his thirst for evil, he shows great tenderness to his little family—a tenderness that also characterizes Titus before the terrifying conclusion.The authoritative edition of Titus Andronicus from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes: -The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference
-Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently linked to the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play's famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further readingEssay by Alexander LeggattThe Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

TITUS

ANDRONICUS

TITUS
ANDRONICUS

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ACT 1

⟨ACT 1⟩

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⟨Scene 1⟩

⟨Flourish.⟩ Enter the Tribunes (<including Marcus Andronicus>) and Senators aloft. And then enter, <below,> Saturninus and his followers at one door, and Bassianus and his followers <at another door,> with <other Romans,> Drums, and Trumpets.

SATURNINUS
Noble patricians, patrons of my right,	1
Defend the justice of my cause with arms.	2
And countrymen, my loving followers,	3
Plead my successive title with your swords.	4
I am his firstborn son that was the last	5
That wore the imperial diadem of Rome.	6
Then let my father’s honors live in me,	7
Nor wrong mine age with this indignity.	8
BASSIANUS
Romans, friends, followers, favorers of my right,	9
If ever Bassianus, Caesar’s son,	10
Were gracious in the eyes of royal Rome,	11
Keep, then, this passage to the Ca...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Editors’ Preface
• Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus
• Reading Shakespeare’s Language: Titus Andronicus
• Shakespeare’s Life
• Shakespeare’s Theater
• The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays
• An Introduction to This Text
• Characters in the Play
• Titus Andronicus: Text of the Play with Commentary
• Longer Notes
• Textual Notes
• Appendix: Ovid’s Tale of Philomela
• Titus Andronicus: A Modern Perspective by Alexander Leggatt
• Further Reading
• Key to Famous Lines and Phrases
• Commentary
• Copyright