which period it appears to have been written. Mr. Malone has marked with double inverted commas those passages, in which he supposes the hand of Shakspeare may be traced. 'All the editors and critics,' remarks Dr. Johnson, 'agree in supposing this play spurious. I see no reason for differing from them; for the color of the style is wholly different from that of the other plays; and there is an attempt at regular versification, and artificial closes, not always inelegant, yet seldom pleasing. The barbarity of the spectacles, and the general massacre, which are here exhibited, can scarcely be conceived tolerable to any audience; yet we are told by Jonson, that they were not only borne, but praised. That Shakspeare wrote any part, though Theobald declares it incontestable, I see no reason for believing.' 275 ARGUMENT. Titus Andronicus, a Roman general, in a successful campaign against the Goths, takes captive their queen Tamora with her three sons, and conveys them to Rome in triumph, where one of the youths is inhumanly sacrificed by the conqueror at the tomb of his children who had been slain in battle. Eager for revenge, the artful Tamora makes a favorable impression on the heart of the emperor Saturninus, and becomes the partner of his throne. By the contrivance of her two sons, and a Moorish paramour named Aaron, she procures the assassination of Bassianus, the emperor's brother; while his wife Lavinia, the daughter of Titus, is deprived of her tongue and hands by the Gothic princes, in order to prevent a discovery of the ill usage which she had previously sustained. Two sons of Titus shortly after suffer death for their supposed participation in the murder of Bassianus: the real perpetrators are at length discovered; and the enraged father, having decoyed the young men to his house, puts a period to their existence, and serves up their mangled relics to their mother in a banquet. The unfortunate Lavinia falls by the hand of her father, who afterwards sacrifices the empress to his fury, for which he is slain by Saturninus, who in his turn loses his crown and life by the sword of Lucius, the only surviving son of Titus, who procures a repeal of his banishment by means of a Gothic army, and is proclaimed emperor by the senate and people. 276 PERSONS REPRESENTED. SATURNINUS, son to the late emperor of Rome, and afterwards declared emperor himself. BASSIANUS, brother to Saturninus; in love with Lavinia. TITUS ANDRONICUS, a noble Roman, general against the Goths. MARCUS ANDRONICUS, tribune of the people; and brother to Titus. DEMETRIUS, AARON, a Moor, beloved by Tamora. CAPTAIN, TRIBUNE, MESSENGER, and CLOWN; Romans. Goths and Romans. TAMORA, queen of the Goths. LAVINIA, daughter to Titus Andronicus. NURSE, and a black Child. Kinsmen of Titus, Senators, Tribunes, Officers, Soldiers, and Attendants. SCENE, Rome, and the country near it. TITUS ANDRONICUS. ACT I. SCENE I. Rome. Before the Capitol. The tomb of the Andronici appearing; the Tribunes and Senators aloft, as in the senate. Enter, below, SATURNINUS and his followers on one side, and BASSIANUS and his followers on the other, with drum and colors. Sat. Noble patricians, patrons of my right, Defend the justice of my cause with arms; And, countrymen, my loving followers, Plead my successive title 1 with your swords. I am his first-born son, that was the last That ware the imperial diadem of Rome; Then let my father's honors live in me, Nor wrong mine age 2 with this indignity. Bas. Romans, friends, followers, favorers of my right, My title to the succession. i. e. my seniority in point of age. If ever Bassianus, Cæsar's son, Were gracious in the eyes of royal Rome, "But let desert in pure election shine; And, Romans, fight for freedom in your choice. Enter MARCUS ANDRONICUS aloft, with the crown. Mar. Princes,-that strive by factions and by friends Ambitiously for rule and empery,— Know, that the people of Rome, for whom we stand Lives not this day within the city walls: From weary wars against the barbarous Goths; Summoned. |