Titus Andronicus - Softcover

Shakespeare, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1460951581 ISBN 13: 9781460951583

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011

Synopsis

In his earliest and most graphic bloody tragedy, William Shakespeare brings us a depiction of the cycle of revenge that takes place between the Roman general Titus and his enemy Tamora, the Queen of the Goths.

About this title

Review:

Shakespeare's most violent and gory play, Titus Andronicus was written in 1592, and represents the dramatist's first foray into the popular genre of revenge tragedy (many editors argue with at least one other collaborator). The result was spectacular, including scenes of murder, human sacrifice, rape, bodily mutilation and cannibalism. Set in late-imperial Rome, the action begins with the Roman general Titus Andronicus and his triumphant return from wars with the Goths. Leading Queen Tamora and her sons as prisoners, Titus stumbles into a power struggle between Saturninus and his brother Bassianus. Titus fatally backs Saturninus, who rapidly turns on the old general and marries Tamora. The implications for the Andronicus family are disastrous. More of Titus' sons are killed, his daughter Lavinia is brutally raped by Tamora's sons, and as Titus begins his descent into madness and despair he even has his own hand cut off in an act of awful trickery. As Titus plots his bloody revenge, he reflects that "Rome is but a wilderness of tigers". The ending is one of the most gruesome conclusions to any dramatic tragedy, and leaves Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs looking quite restrained. Although the play has put audiences off for centuries due to its apparently gratuitous violence, more recently critics have discerned something more to it than pure shock, but that might say more about us than the Elizabethans. .--Jerry Brotton

Review:

"ƯAn¨ excellent edition."--Linda Anderson, Virginia Tech
"[An] excellent edition."--Linda Anderson, Virginia Tech
"[An] excellent edition."--Linda Anderson, Virginia Tech
"[An] excellent edition."--Linda Anderson, Virginia Tech

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1460951581
• ISBN 13: 9781460951583
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 110