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    Titus Andronicus

    tragedy

    Titus Andronicus is Shakespeare's earliest and most violent tragedy, a brutal revenge story set in a declining Rome. The victorious general Titus makes a fatal enemy of Tamora, queen of the Goths, when he has her son killed. Once she becomes empress, she and her allies take a terrible revenge on Titus and his family, and he answers with horrors of his own. It is a shocking, bloody play that helped make revenge tragedy hugely popular on the Elizabethan stage.

    ▸SCENE I. Rome. Before the Capitol.

    ▸SCENE I. Rome. Before the Palace.▸SCENE II. A forest near Rome. Horns and cry of hounds heard.▸SCENE III. A lonely part of the forest.▸SCENE IV. Another part of the forest.

    ▸SCENE I. Rome. A street.▸SCENE II. A room in Titus's house. A banquet set out.

    ▸SCENE I. Rome. Titus's garden.▸SCENE II. The same. A room in the palace.▸SCENE III. The same. A public place.▸SCENE IV. The same. Before the palace.

    ▸SCENE I. Plains near Rome.▸SCENE II. Rome. Before TITUS's house.▸SCENE III. Court of TITUS's house. A banquet set out.

    Characters

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    Titus AndronicusRoman general, the play's tragic heroTamoraQueen of the Goths, seeks revenge on TitusAaron the MoorTamora's lover, evil genius of the playLaviniaTitus's daughter, victim of the play's central atrocity

    Famous Quotes

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    “She is a woman, therefore may be woo'd; She is a woman, therefore may be won.”

    Demetrius — Act 2, Scene 1

    “I am the sea; hark, how her sighs do blow! She is the weeping welkin, I the earth: Then must my sea be moved with her sighs.”

    Titus — Act 3, Scene 1

    “Tigers must prey, and Rome affords no prey But me and mine: how happy art thou, then, From these devourers to be banished!”

    Titus — Act 3, Scene 1

    Further Reading

    Best Lines by Shakespeare: Quotes on Life, Love and More

    A curated collection of Shakespeare's most famous lines, organised by theme, from love and loss to daily wisdom, sport and celebration. Each quote includes the play it comes from and why it still resonates.

    Who Was William Shakespeare? A Complete Life and Biography

    The life of Shakespeare: born in Stratford 1564, the Globe, his death in 1616, and the First Folio. The facts, checked.

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