Titus Andronicus
General of Rome and tragic hero of the play.
Father of Lavinia and Lucius. Titus has spent the last ten years fighting
Rome's enemies and winning honor for his country, yet his heroic deeds have
taken so much out of him that he feels incapable of leading his country despite
its desire that he be its new emperor. He is first held up as a model of piety
for his staunch reverence for traditions, but it is this strict adherence to
tradition that causes his enemies to take revenge against him. A Senecan hero,
he pursues revenge to the end, and dies in the process.
Tamora
Queen of the Goths, mother of Chiron and Demetrius. Though
her very first speech shows her to be a caring mother who has an appreciation
of the nobility of mercy, Tamora is associated with barbarism, savagery, and
unrestrained lasciviousness. Indeed, Tamora exhibits extreme ruthlessness,
particularly when she encourages her sons to rape Lavinia, and says that she
knows not the meaning of pity. Even though she is opposite in everything to the
archetypal victim Lavinia, feminist theorists like to cast her in the position
of a victim of a male law of order. In this light, she becomes the dartboard
for misogynistic fear of sexual appetite.
Tamora's Moorish lover. Shakespeare only created four other
black characters before the tragic hero Othello, and Aaron is the most
substantial of the four. As he himself admits, there is not a crime in Titus
in which he has not had a hand. He is practically the engine of action in Act
II, bringing Tamora's dream of revenge to reality. This simplistic, depthless
portraiture of evil is a descendant of the "Devil" or
"Vice" from early Elizabethan morality plays, created only to move
the audience to contempt. For that reason, there is little about Aaron to win
our sympathy or to even explain the motivation for his evil. His protectiveness
of his child presents an interesting contrast in parenthood to Tamora and Titus.
The only daughter of Titus Andronicus, she spurns
Saturninus's offer to make her his empress because she is in love with
Bassianus. She is brutally raped and disfigured by Chiron and Demetrius in the
forest during the hunt. Thereafter, she is a mute and horrifying presence
constantly on stage, complement to her father's loquacious sufferings, and
accomplice to his bloody vengeance. Deprived of every means of communication,
and robbed of her most precious chastity, she comes across as one of
Shakespeare's most incapacitated heroines. Yet, as she is physically pared
down, her narrative and thematic importance escalates, drawing our attention to
the importance of pantomime on the stage. The rape of Lavinia is undoubtedly
the central and most horrific crime of the play, which is why Edward
Ravenscroft's adaptation of the play has the alternate name of "The Rape
of Lavinia." For this reason, her character invites especially careful
scrutiny.
Roman Tribune of the People. Brother of Titus Andronicus.
Unlike the other Andronici, he never participates in the war. Where everyone
else has had a hand in at least one murder or crime, he remains conspicuously
removed from the bloodshed. Every time he speaks, he is the sound of reason and
calmness, standing in stark contrast to the ravenous and crazed speeches of the
other characters.
The eldest son of the late Emperor of Rome. Titus
successfully advocates for him to be the new emperor. However, Saturninus shows
no gratitude. He is impatient with the Andronici and would rather have them out
of his way; he feels threatened by the genuine honor and people's support that
they have won for themselves. He chooses the captive Tamora, Queen of the
Goths, for his empress, thereby giving her the power to wreak havoc on Rome and
Titus's family.
- The younger brother of Saturninus. It is to him that
Lavinia is betrothed. He steals her away when Saturninus wants to make her his
empress, which sets into motion the events that lead Titus to kill his own son,
and Saturninus to despise the Andronici. He is murdered by Chiron and
Demetrius, but Quintus and Martius are framed for his murder, which leads to
their beheadings. As the representative of grace and virtue, his failure to
become emperor in the first act is the sign of a degenerate Rome.
- Titus's only surviving son. He defends his sister, Lavinia,
from their father after she runs away with Bassianus. He tries to free his
captive brothers Quintus and Martius, for which he is banished from Rome. The
people of Rome support him over Saturninus. He is probably the one character to
undergo a substantial psychological transformation over the course of the play,
moving from bloodthirsty youth to sober leader.
- Two Goth princes. Sons of Tamora. They squabble over who
loves Lavinia more, when really they are merely guided by lust. They murder
Bassianus and then brutally rape and disfigure Lavinia. They are shown in this
play to be nothing more than engines of lust, destruction, and depravity, empty
of even the basic wit that makes Aaron a more compelling villain. They are
finally killed by Titus, who has their blood and bones made into a pastry to be
fed to their mother.
Martius
One of Titus' sons, falsely executed by Saturninus.
Messenger
A bearer of bad news.
Mutius
One of Titus' sons. When he defends Bassianus' right to flee with
Lavinia, Titus kills him in the streets of Rome.
Nurse
A woman who brings Aaron's newborn son to him, asking him to kill
it. Aaron kills her instead.
Publius
Marcus Andronicus' son.
Quintus
Another of Titus' sons, also executed by Saturninus after being
framed by Aaron.
.
Sempronius
A kinsman of Titus'.
Valentine
A kinsman of Titus'.
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