Product Description

An embittered Roman General returns from war, having captured the Queen of the Goths and her three sons. Sacrificing the eldest, in memory of his own sons killed in battle, he provokes the queen’s unending hatred. And when she is made empress by the new emperor of Rome, she quickly begins to plot a murderous revenge of barely conceivable cruelty.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #145167 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), dramatist, man of the theatre, and poet. He became involved in the theatre in his local Stratford-upon-Avon and later in London where he gained fame as a playwright, writing comedies, romances, and tragedies. Jacques Berthoud was Professor of English at the University of York. Sonia Massai teaches English at St Mary's University College Twickenham. Stanley Wells is Chairman of the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford and editor of the New Penguin Shakespeare series. Sonia Massai is a Lecturer at King's College London. She has edited Titus Andronicus (New Penguin), The Wise Woman of Hoxton (Globe Quartos), and a collection of essays on World Wide Shakespeares (Routledge). Her current projects include a book on Shakespeare and the Rise of English Drama in Print.

Customer Reviews

Give Titus A Chance
After seeing this play on stage in Stratford as part of their Complete Works Festival, I can say that this play has been the best theatre experience I have had. I do not understand how or why critics and academics over the ages have slated this piece whilst lauding inpenetrable plays as works of genius. Deservedly, the play is having somewhat of a comeback as it is also playing in the Globe in London, and it is deserved. I saw the 1999 film "Titus" and hated it, I had to watch it on fast forward, but seeing the play in it's full force, has made me re-evaluate this play, and a wonderful work it is. Buy it, see it or act in it, but ignore those that dismiss it as early Shakespearian gore, and look beyond that to see the aching sadness and injustness and love in this play.

A Neglected Masterpiece
Titus Andronicus is Shakespeare's neglected masterpiece. This play usually gets dismissed because of its hyperbolic imitation of the gore and horror of Senecan tragedy, but there is so much more to the play than 16th century Grand Guignol. The poetry of this early Shakespearean tragedy is muscular and sensuous - it should be seen as a forerunner to the kind of stately, opulent verse we see in Antony & Cleopatra. The depiction of the madness of Titus is wonderfully convincing and is clearly a precursor to Hamlet and Macbeth. (You can get a real sense of the savage grandeur of this role in Anthony Hopkins' performance in the Julie Taymor film version if you remain unconvinced.) The anti-hero Aaron is also a superbly realised figure - one who excites loathing and sympathy in equal measure. The violence is, of course, integral to the play; indeed, the entire drama is a meditation upon the nature of violence. This play is not cruel; it is about the nature of cruelty. Its most winning quality is, however, the deliciously dark humour that pervades the proceedings. It is a rich, strange and wonderful piece of work.