History Theatre / TitusAndronicus

* GenreBlindness: Chiron and Demetrius should have known that preventing Lavinia from speaking or writing wouldn't be enough to stop her from accusing them; [[Literature/TheMetamorphoses Philomela didn't need hands or a tongue to tell her sister what had happened to her]]...

At the start of the play, there is a SuccessionCrisis for the Imperial Throne. The brothers Saturninus and Bassianus compete for the crown, seeking the support and backing of the popular general Titus Andronicus, currently on campaign against the Goths. When Titus returns from his campaign, he brings as captives Tamora, the Queen of the Goths, and her sons Chiron, Demetrius, Alarbus, and Aaron the Moor. He has lost all but four of his twenty-five sons in the war with the Goths. On arriving in Rome, to honour his dead sons' spirits, Titus sacrifices Tamora's eldest son, Alarbus. Titus declines the Crown and backs Saturninus, consenting to a marriage alliance between the new Emperor and his daughter Lavinia. Lavinia is already betrothed to Bassianus, and the latter elopes with her. Her brothers support Bassianus against their father's wishes, and in a scuffle, Titus kills one of his own sons, Mutius. In the wake of this, Saturninus announces that he will wed the captive Queen Tamora, who counsels pardon and peace. But now having suddenly gone from captive to queen, she seeks to plot her revenge on the House of Andronicus, aided in part by the scheming Aaron the Moor, who has his own agenda and drive. The resulting GambitPileup will bring rot and ruin to Rome itself.

* TorturePorn: With all the violence, gore, and torture that occurs this play, it makes a good candidate for the JustForFun/ZerothLawOfTropeExamples here.

At the start of the play, there is a SuccessionCrisis for the Imperial Throne. The brothers Saturnius and Bassianus compete for the crown, seeking the support and backing of the popular general Titus Andronicus, currently on campaign against the Goths. When Titus returns from his campaign, he brings as captives Tamora, the Queen of the Goths, and her sons Chiron, Demetrius, Alarbus, and Aaron the Moor. He has lost all but four of his twenty-five sons in the war with the Goths. To honour his dead sons' spirits, Titus sacrifices Tamora's eldest son, Alarbus. On arriving in Rome, Titus declines the Crown and backs Saturninus and consents to a marriage alliance between the new Emperor and his daughter Lavinia. Lavinia is already betrothed to Bassianus, and the latter elopes with her. Her brothers support Bassianus against their father's wishes, and in a scuffle, Titus kills one of his own sons, Mutius. In the wake of this, Saturninus announces that he will wed the captive Queen Tamora, who counsels pardon and peace. But now having suddenly gone from captive to queen, she seeks to plot her revenge on the House of Andronicus, aided in part by the scheming Aaron the Moor, who has his own agenda and drive. The resulting GambitPileup will bring rot and ruin to Rome itself.

* AnachronismStew: There was no Roman emperor who fought a war against the Goths (who invaded during the declining years of the Empire)[[labelnote:*]]strictly speaking, no emperor fought them and ''survived'' - both Claudius II and Valens led armies against the Goths, but both died on the battlefield. At any rate, the idea of a victorious emperor dragging a captive Gothic princess back to Rome is complete fiction[[/labelnote]], and a Tribune (a political office from the era of the Roman Republic) wouldn't have served alongside the emperor. Possibly justified in some cases as the chronology of the tragedies places Titus Andronicus "during the reign of a fictional (late?) Roman emperor" with the plays it is between being Cymbeline, early first century AD, and Hamlet, c. ninth-tenth century AD.
* AndIMustScream: Lavinia is raped, has her arms cut off, and then her tongue cut out by Tamora's sons. Despite being unable to speak, she communicates her plight to her father Titus, and uncle Marcus, by alluding to books that refer to what happened to her, and then using her mouth and limbs to draw the names of her assailants in the sand.

** Saturninus and Bassianus were brothers who would have fought a CivilWar against each other had it not been for Titus Andronicus pulling a KingmakerScenario. Titus Andronicus is a pious Roman war hero which means killing and subjugating Goths, performing HumanSacrifice of a captive son of the enemy queen, and killing one of his own sons, Mutius in the first act. Then he kills his own daughter Lavinia, because she is DefiledForever but does so only after she helps him commit and aid his revenge. And in the end, Titus as part of his revenge appoints one of his surviving sons to raise an army among the very Goths he subjugated to march on Rome, which politically marks him out to be just as much a renegade and warlord as the rest of the cast.
** Tamora, Aaron, Chiron, and Demetrius cross the line early on when they rape and mutilate Lavinia. But all of them have some virtues, with Aaron going out of his way to save his son, and Chiron and Demetrius, after some threats and convincing, agree to help save their step-brother.

* CardCarryingVillain: Aaron. In a monologue near the end he states that he did "a thousand dreadful things" and the only thing he regrets that he cannot do "ten thousand more." His only virtue is that he loves his child and does what he can to save them.

-->'''Demetrius:''' So now go tell, an if thy tongue can speak,
--->Who 'twas that cut thy tongue and ravish'd thee.
-->'''Chiron:''' Write down thy mind, bewray thy meaning so,
--->An if thy stumps will let thee play the scribe.
-->'''Demetrius:''' See, how with signs and tokens she can scrawl.
-->'''Chiron:''' Go home, call for sweet water, wash thy hands.
-->'''Demetrius:''' She hath no tongue to call, nor hands to wash,
--->And so let's leave her to her silent walks.
-->'''Chiron:''' An 'twere my case, I should go hang myself.
-->'''Demetrius:''' If thou hadst hands to help thee knit the cord.

-->'''Aaron''': If one good deed in all my life I did\\

* GenreBlindness: Chiron and Demetrius should have known that preventing Lavinia from speaking or writing wouldn't be enough to stop her from accusing them; [[Literature/TheMetamorphoses Io didn't need hands or a tongue to tell her father what had happened to her]]...

-->'''Demetrius:''' Villain, what hast thou done?
-->'''Aaron:''' That which thou canst not undo.
-->'''Chiron:''' Thou hast undone our mother.
-->'''Aaron:''' Villain, I have ''done'' thy mother.

* KnightTemplarParent: Tamora. She will come after you and your children! Mind you Titus is even worse, at least Tamora didn't kill her own children, whereas Titus killed his son Mutius, and his daughter Lavinia.

* OutnumberedSibling: Titus had 25 sons and one daughter. But the ratio is down to 4:1 by the start of the play, and keeps 'improving' (but falls back to 1:0 in the end).

* ShoutOut: The infamous climax of the play is almost definitely an intentional reference to the story of the House of Atreus in [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]], in which the CycleOfRevenge between the brothers Atreus and Thyestes involves--among other things--[[IAteWhat Atreus tricking Thyestes into eating his own sons]].

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'' is considered to be Creator/WilliamShakespeare's first tragedy. It is set in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, albeit a very fantastic and fictional version that is melange of different periods and settings. It is noted to have been produced and performed by 1594. It is arguably one of the few Shakespeare plays (alongside ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' and perhaps ''Theatre/TheTempest'') that is entirely original to Shakespeare[[note]]There is in addition to the play, a prose book on Titus Andronicus, and a popular ballad that has survived, and all three are dated to 1594, but nobody knows for sure whether the play, the prose, or the ballad came first, and which came second, and so on[[/note]]. Some scholars argue that the first parts of the play was co-written by George Peele, though others dispute this.

''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'' is considered to be Creator/WilliamShakespeare's first tragedy. It is set in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, albeit a very fantastic and fictional version that is melange of different periods and settings. It is noted to have been produced and performed by 1594. It is arguably one of the few Shakespeare plays (alongside ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' and perhaps ''Theatre/TheTempest'') that is entirely original to Shakespeare[[note]]There is in addition to the play, a prose book on Titus Andronicus, and a popular ballad that has survived, and all three are dated to 1594, but nobody knows for sure whether the play, the prose, or the ballad came first, and which came second, and so on[[/note]]. Some scholars argue that the first parts of the play was co-written by George Peele, though some dispute this.

* NotSoDifferent: Titus and Tamora. Both "love" their kids. Both power-hungry. Both willing to kill other people's children in revenge. Both sick nut-jobs. Titus kills his own children bear in mind, whereas Tamora doesn't.

''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'' is considered to be Creator/WilliamShakespeare's first tragedy. It is set in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire albeit a very fantastic and fictional version that is melange of different periods and settings. It is noted to have been produced and performed by 1594. It is arguably one of the few Shakespeare plays (alongside ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' and perhaps ''Theatre/TheTempest'') that is entirely original to Shakespeare[[note]]There is in addition to the play, a prose book on Titus Andronicus, and a popular ballad that has survived, and all three are dated to 1594, but nobody knows for sure whether the play, the prose, or the ballad came first, and which came second, and so on[[/note]]. Some scholars argue that the first parts of the play was co-written by George Peele, though some dispute this.

At the start of the play, there is a SuccessionCrisis for the Imperial Throne. The brothers Saturnius and Bassianus compete for the crown, seeking the support and backing of the popular general Titus Andronicus, currently on campaign against the Goths. When Titus returns from his campaign, he brings as captives, Tamora Queen of the Goths, her sons Chiron, Demetrius, Alarbus, and Aaron the Moor. He has lost all but four of his twenty-five sons in the war with the Goths. To honour his dead sons' spirits, Titus sacrifices Tamora's eldest son, Alarbus. On arriving in Rome, Titus declines the Crown and backs Saturninus and consents to a marriage alliance between the new Emperor and his daughter Lavinia. Lavinia is already betrothed to Bassianus, and the latter elopes with her. Her brothers support Bassianus against their father's wishes, and in a scuffle, Titus kills one of his own sons, Mutius. In the wake of this, Saturninus announces that he will wed the captive Queen Tamora, who counsels pardon and peace. But now having suddenly gone from captive to queen, she seeks to plot her revenge on the House of Andronicus, aided in part by the scheming Aaron the Moor, who has his own agenda and drive. The resulting GambitPileup will bring rot and ruin to Rome itself.

''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'' is considered to be Creator/WilliamShakespeare's first tragedy. It is set in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire albeit a very fantastic and fictional version that is melange of different periods and settings. It is noted to have been produced and performed by 1594. It is arguably one of the few Shakespeare plays (alongside ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' and perhaps ''Theatre/TheTempest'') that is entirely original to Shakespeare[[note]]There is in addition to the play, a prose book on Titus Andronicus, and a popular ballad that has survived, and all three are dated to 1594, but nobody knows for sure whether the play, the prose, or the ballad came first, and which came second, and so on[[/note]]. Some scholars argue that the first parts of the play was co-written by George Peele though some dispute this.

At the start of the play, there is a SuccessionCrisis for the Imperial Throne. The brothers Saturnius and Bassianus compete for the crown, seeking the support and backing of the popular general Titus Andronicus, currently on campaign against the Goths. When Titus returns from his campaign, he brings as captives, Tamora Queen of the Goths, her sons Chiron, Demetrius, Alarbus, and Aaron the Moor. He has lost all but four of his twenty-five sons in the war with the Goths. To honour his dead sons' spirits, Titus sacrifices Tamora's eldest son, Alarbus. On arriving in Rome, Titus declines the Crown and backs Saturninus and consents to a marriage alliance between the new Emperor and his daughter Lavinia. Lavinia is already betrothed to Bassianus, and the latter elopes with her. Her brothers support Bassianus against their father's wishes, and in a scuffle, Titus kills one of his own sons, Mutius. In the wake of this, Saturninus announces that he will wed the captive Queen Tamora, who counsels pardon and peace. But now having suddenly gone from captive to queen, she seeks to plot her revenge on the House of Andronicus, aided in part by the scheming Aaron the Moor, who has his own agenda and drive. The resulting GambitPileup will bring rot and ruin to Rome itself.

This is one of Shakespeare's most controversial and contentious plays, albeit for different reasons than say, ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'', owing less to its subject matter, and more to its style, presentation, and heavy sex and violence. It was rarely performed and revived until the second half of the 20th Century, when Peter Brook in 1955 mounted a famous production starring Creator/LaurenceOlivier. More recently, it was adapted by Julie Taymor under the title ''Film/{{Titus}}'', with Creator/AnthonyHopkins in the title role.

* TheChessmaster: Aaron masterminded practically every evil plot in the play, and when he is finally caught, he [[RefugeInAudacity proudly boasts about it.]]

* CycleOfRevenge: Tamora's attempts to avenge her son on Titus lead to Titus's attempts to get revenge on Tamora.... and so on, and so on. This engine essentially drives the entire plot.

* IBangedYourMom: [[JustForFun/ZerothLawOfTropeExamples Yes. Really!]]

* LastOfHisKind: Lucius is the only survivor of his siblings (and Titus' children) at the end of the play. Might we add, [[MassiveNumberedSiblings he had 24 brothers and a sister, though only four of them were still alive at the start of the play]].

* YourMom: The infamous line "I have done thy mother".

** Tamora, Aaron, Chiron, and Demetrius cross the line early on when they [[spoiler: rape and mutilate Lavinia]]. But all of them have some virtues, with Aaron going out of his way to save his son, and Chiron and Demetrius, after some threats and convincing, agree to help save their step-brother.

* DefiledForever: [[spoiler: Lavinia]] is seen this way after becoming the victim of rape, ultimately leading to her [[spoiler: honor-related killing]]. Weirdly enough, Titus Andronicus cites the case of Verginia, an incident in the early Republic from Titus Livy's ''Ab urbe condita'' who was killed by her father in fear of a Patrician pulling DroitDuSeigneur, whereas Titus kills her after the rape, and after she aids his revenge.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Chiron and Demetrius have no compunctions about raping and dismembering Lavinia or [[spoiler: killing Aaron's baby son]], but they are still taken aback when Aaron [[spoiler: murders the nurse]]. And Aaron has no compunctions about [[spoiler: murdering the nurse]] (and practically every other misdeed in the play), but he'll also fight to the death to save his son's life.

** Saturninus and Bassianus were brothers who would have fought a CivilWar against each other had it not been for Titus Andronicus pulling a KingmakerScenario. Titus Andronicus is a pious Roman war hero which means killing and subjugating Goths, performing HumanSacrifice of a captive son of the enemy queen, and killing one of his own sons, Mutius in the first act. Then [[spoiler:he kills his own daughter Lavinia, because she is DefiledForever but does so after she helps him commit and aid his revenge]]. And in the end, Titus as part of his revenge appoints one of his surviving sons to raise an army among the very Goths he subjugated to march on Rome, which politically marks him out to be just as much a renegade and warlord as the rest of the cast.

* BreakTheCutie: Poor Lavinia, about the only innocent character in the play, becomes the victim of [[spoiler: rape, dismemberment, being regarded as DefiledForever, and eventually HonorRelatedAbuse]].

* IAteWhat: Tamora is served a pie baked from [[spoiler: her murdered sons Chiron and Demetrius]] in a ghastly attempt to evoke this reaction.

* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler: Lavinia]] becomes the victim of this. Although she is seen as DefiledForever, it is still regarded as a heinous crime.

* IBangedYourMom: [[ZerothLawOfTropeExamples Yes. Really!]]

* BreakTheCutie: Poor Lavinia, about the only innocent character in the play, becomes the victim of [[spoiler: rape, dismemberment, being regarded as DefiledForever, and eventually HonorRelatedKilling]].

* ForTheEvulz: Aaron. "If one good deed in all my life I did / I do repent it from my very soul."

%%No pictures, please. If there was ever a work we didn't need to see pictures of, this is it.

At the start of the play, there is a SuccessionCrisis for the Imperial Throne. The brothers Saturnius and Bassianus compete for the crown, seeking the support and backing of the popular general Titus Andronicus, currently on campaign against the Goths. When Titus returns from his campaign, he brings as captives, Tamora Queen of the Goths, her sons Chiron, Demetrius, Alarbus, and Aaron the Moor. He has lost all but four of his twenty-five sons in the war with the Goths. To honour his dead sons' spirits, Titus sacrifices Tamora's eldest son, Alarbus. On arriving in Rome, Titus declines the Crown and backs Saturninus and consents to a marriage alliance between the new Emperor and his daughter Lavinia. Lavinia is already betrothed Bassianus, and the latter elopes with her. Her brothers support Bassianus against their father's wishes, and in a scuffle, Titus kills one of his own sons Mutius. In the wake of this, Saturninus announces that he will wed the captive Queen Tamora, who counsels pardon and peace. But now having suddenly gone from captive to queen, she seeks to plot her revenge on the House of Andronicus, aided in part by the scheming Aaron the Moor, who has his own agenda and drive. The resulting GambitPileup will bring rot and ruin to Rome itself.

* AndIMustScream: Lavinia is raped, has her arms cut out, and then her tongue cut out by Tamora's sons. Despite being unable to speak, she communicates her plight to her father Titus, and uncle Marcus, by alluding to books that refer to what happened to her, and then using her mouth and limbs to draw the names of her assailants in the sand.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: This is one of the darkest Shakespeare plays, where there are arguably about three good characters (all of them children): Lavinia, Young Lucius, Aaron's baby.

--->An if they stumps will let thee play the scribe.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Aaron loves [[MoralityPet his baby son.]]

* GenreBlindness: Chiron and Demetrius should have known that preventing Lavinia from speaking or writing wouldn't be enough to stop her from accusing them; [[Literature/TheMetamorphoses Io didn't need hands or a tongue to tell her father what had happened to her...]]

''The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'' is considered to be Creator/WilliamShakespeare's first tragedy. It is set in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire albeit a very fantastic and fictional version that is melange of different periods and settings. It is noted to have been produced and performed by 1594. It is arguably one of the few Shakespeare plays (alongside ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' and perhaps ''Theatre/TheTempest'') that is entirely original to Shakespeare[[note]]There is in addition to the play, a prose book on Titus Andronicus, and a popular ballad that has survived, and all three are dated to 1594, but nobody knows for sure whether the play, the prose, or the ballad came first, and which came second, and so on[[/note]]. Some scholars argue that the first parts of the play was co-written by George Peele though some dispute this.

''The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'' is considered to be Creator/WilliamShakespeare's first tragedy. It is set in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire albeit a very fantastic and fictional version that is melange of different periods and settings. It is noted to have been produced and performed by 1594. It is arguably one of the few Shakespeare plays (alongside ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' and perhaps ''Theatre/TheTempest'') that is entirely original to Shakespeare[[note]]There is in addition to the play, a prose book on Titus Andronicus, and a popular ballad that has survived, and all three are dated to 1594, but nobody knows for sure whether the play, the prose, or the ballad came first, and which came second, and so on[[/note]]. Some scholars argue that the first parts of the play was co-written by George Peele though some dispute tis.

!! Tropes in ''Titus Andronicus'':
* AffectionateParody: Some people think that the reason this play was so violent was because Shakespeare was having a go at Marlowe's often gruesome plays. Indeed, there are some scholars who argue that Shakespeare wrote ''Titus'' with such an outrageous amount of {{Gorn}} (even for the time period) that he actually [[RefugeInAudacity intended for it to be a comedy]]. See the bit about the knife and the fly if you're skeptical. Noted Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt reworked it into a comedy.

* AndIMustScream: Lavinia. Much of the play revolves around her attempts to communicate the names of her attackers.
* AssholeVictim: The majority of the victims in the play are very unpleasant people to begin with (except Lavinia). Chiron and Demetrius deserve special mention.
* BaitTheDog: Chiron and Demetrius are just two teenagers until Aaron gives them an idea.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: Tamora, Aaron, Chiron, and Demetrius cross the [[MoralEventHorizon Moral Event Horizon]] early on when they [[spoiler: rape and mutilate Lavinia]]. But Titus also commits a number of atrocities including ritually killing Tamora's eldest son in front of her, [[spoiler: baking Chiron and Demetrius into pies, tricking Tamora into eating her own sons, and [[ValuesDissonance honor killing Lavinia after she's been raped. Notably, this was considered ValuesDissonance even in Shakespeare's time!]]]]
* BlackComedy: According to some scholars and directors, anyway. Still, even when it's been successfully staged this way, it's a ''very'' dark comedy at best.
* BloodyHilarious: Part of the argument for it being a BlackComedy is that the gory scenes seem meant to be played like this.

%% * CainAndAbel: Bassianus and Saturninus.
* CardCarryingVillain: Aaron. In a monologue, he states that he did "a thousand dreadful things" and the only thing he regrets that he cannot do "ten thousand more."

* DefiledForever: [[spoiler: Lavinia]] is seen this way after becoming the victim of rape, ultimately leading to her [[spoiler: honor-related killing]]. Naturally this is a severe case of ValuesDissonance.
%% * DueToTheDead: In the ''evil'' form.

* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: You would have to be blind, deaf, dumb, and stupid not to know how this trope applies.

* HistoricalFiction: A little bizarre to think of it this way but perfectly true. That said, the "historical" events it is based on [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie are very disputable]].

* KillEmAll: Six named characters are left alive by the end, and one of them gets killed soon after.
* KnightTemplarParent: Tamora. She will come after you and your children!

* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: The question is settled by the ChocolateBaby.
* MercyKill: Titus' explanation for killing Lavinia.
%% * MoralityPet: Aaron's son
%% * NastyParty: The climax.

* NotSoDifferent: Titus and Tamora. Both "love" their kids. Both power-hungry. Both willing to kill other people's children in revenge. Both sick nut-jobs.

* ScaryBlackMan: Aaron is somehow scarier than the other villains. And he's a Moor.

* TorturePorn: About as much as you can get on stage. Proving that even this trope meets TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples.
%% * ThoseTwoGuys: Quintus and Martius.

* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Aaron and Tamora all the way.

''The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'' is considered to be Creator/WilliamShakespeare's first tragedy. It is set in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire albeit a very fantastic and fictional version that is melange of different periods and settings. It is noted to have been produced and performed by 1594. It is arguably one of the few Shakespeare plays (alongside ''Theatre/AMidsummersNightDream'' and perhaps ''Theatre/TheTempest'') that is entirely original to Shakespeare[[note]]There is in addition to the play, a prose book on Titus Andronicus, and a popular ballad that has survived, and all three are dated to 1594, but nobody knows for sure whether the play, the prose, or the ballad came first, and which came second, and so on[[/note]]. Some scholars argue that the first parts of the play was co-written by George Peele though some dispute tis.

Creator/WilliamShakespeare's first and most gruesome, gory, bloody, ''et cetera'', tragedy. As S. Clarke Hulse says, ''Titus Andronicus'' is a play with "14 killings, 9 of them on stage, 6 severed members, 1 rape (or 2 or 3, depending on how you count), 1 live burial, 1 case of insanity and 1 of cannibalism--an average of 5.2 atrocities per act, or one for every 97 lines."

Fun times.

Here's a very basic outline: Titus comes back to Rome with his captives -- Tamora, queen of the Goths, her three sons, and her lover Aaron the Moor -- in tow. He has lost all but four of his twenty-five sons in the war with the Goths. To honour his dead sons' spirits, Titus sacrifices Tamora's eldest son. Tamora, needless to say, ain't happy.

The emperor of Rome, Saturninus, chooses Tamora as his empress, after his brother, Bassianus, runs off with his intended bride Lavinia -- who, by a staggering coincidence, is Titus' daughter. (Her surviving brothers help her escape and now it's twenty-two sons down, three to go. Does it count if Titus kills them himself?)

You still with me?

Marrying Tamora proves to be a really, REALLY dumb idea. Tamora has Bassianus killed and frames two of Titus' sons for it. Tamora is still not satisfied, [[RapeAsDrama so she gets her two surviving sons, Chiron and Demetrius, to gang rape Lavinia.]] [[MoralEventHorizon Then to make sure she can't tell anyone who it was who raped her, Tamora's sons cut out Lavinia's tongue and chop off her hands.]] After Titus's two innocent sons are found and incriminated, Aaron says they will be spared if Titus cuts off his own hand. Titus does this, but they are beheaded anyway. Titus is hit hard by their deaths. His last son Lucius is banished from Rome for trying to bust his brothers out of prison before the execution. He joins the Goths and attempts to attack Rome.

With the revelation of Lavinia's rape and horrific mutilation, Titus sinks lower into despair and begins to act strangely. Many people think he's gone mad.

Turns out he was faking so he could go about snooping. When he finds out who is behind it all, he kills Tamora's last two sons, cooks them in a giant pie ''à la'' SweeneyTodd, and serves them to Tamora without her knowing. The last scene is a bloody battle in which Titus kills Tamora and Lavinia ([[MercyKill for her own good]]) before being killed by Saturninus, at which point Lucius promptly commits regicide. Only a few characters remain alive, one of whom is Lucius, who is then made the new Emperor of Rome, a fair and wise ruler for all.

Oh, and Lucius buries Aaron up to his neck and lets him starve to death. (It was [[PayEvilUntoEvil deserved]], however.)

[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids Why aren't they teaching more Shakespeare in schools?]]

The play was made into a movie by Julie Taymor under the title ''Film/{{Titus}}''.

In troping terms, Titus Andronicus tried to be {{Cincinnatus}} only for it to backfire spectacularly.

%% * EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Chiron and Demetrius.

%% * EvilMatriarch: Tamora
* FamilialCannibilismSurprise: Titus serving Tamora meat pies made from her sons is the TropeCodifier.

%% * HonorRelatedAbuse: Lavinia's death.

Marrying Tamora proves to be a really, REALLY dumb idea. Tamora has Bassianus killed and frames two of Titus' sons for it. Tamora is still not satisfied, [[RapeAsDrama so she gets her two surviving sons, Chiron and Demetrius, to gang rape Lavinia.]] [[MoralEventHorizon Then to make sure she can't tell anyone who it was who raped her, Tamora's sons cut out Lavinia's tongue and chop off her hands.]] After the two sons (sons of Titus - that's the two innocent ones) are found and incriminated, Aaron says they will be spared if Titus cuts off his own hand. Titus does this, but they are beheaded anyway. Titus is hit hard by their deaths. His last son Lucius is banished from Rome for trying to bust his brothers out of prison before the execution. He joins the Goths and attempts to attack Rome.

* AndIMustScream: Lavinia. Much of the play revolves around her attempts to communicate the names of her attackers.

* BreakTheCutie: Poor Lavinia, about the only innocent character in the play, becomes the victim of [[spoiler: rape, dismemberment, being regarded as DefiledForever, and eventually HonorRelatedKilling]].

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: In the scene immediately after they rape Lavinia, Chiron and Demetrius both explain what just happened and demonstrate by that explanation how sadistic they are.