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Titus Andronicus
General of Rome and father of Lavinia and Lucius, among others. Titus has spent the last ten years fighting Rome’s enemies and winning honor for his country. 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. Feigning grief-stricken madness, he pursues revenge to the end and dies in the process.
Read an in-depth analysis of Titus Andronicus.
Tamora
Queen of the Goths and mother of Chiron and Demetrius. We first meet her as a distressed mother begging for her son’s life. However, Tamora quickly becomes associated with barbarism, savagery, and unrestrained lasciviousness in her pursuit of vengeance against the Andronici.
Read an in-depth analysis of Tamora.
Aaron
Tamora’s Moorish lover. Aaron presents himself as an irremediable villain, one who delights in fashioning meticulous plots that lead to bloodshed. Other characters in the play associate his dark skin color with villainy, and Aaron proudly affirms the stereotype.
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Lavinia
The only daughter of Titus Andronicus. Lavinia gets caught up in political affairs when Saturninus offers to make her his empress. But because she’s already engaged to Bassianus, she spurns him. As part of the revenge plot against Titus, she is brutally raped and mutilated by Tamora’s sons. Thereafter, she is a mute yet significant presence on stage, a complement to her father’s loquacious sufferings and an accomplice to his bloody vengeance.
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Saturninus
The eldest son of the late emperor of Rome. Titus enables his ascent to the throne, but Saturninus shows no gratitude. Instead, he feels threatened by the people’s political support for the Andronici. However, he does attempt to broker peace by offering to marry Lavinia. But when she spurns him for his brother Bassianus, Saturninus grows eager to get the family out of his way. In marrying and thereby empowering the captive Tamora, he helps set the play’s plot of spiraling vengeance in motion.
Read an in-depth analysis of Saturninus.
Bassianus
The younger brother of Saturninus. He steals Lavinia 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.
Lucius
Titus’s son, and the only one to survive by the end of the play. 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.
Young Lucius
Lucius’s son. He remains in Rome when his father goes into exile.
Mutius, Martius, and Quintius
Titus’s sons, among the four who survived the Roman war with Scythia. Titus kills Mutius when he blocks his father from pursuing Lavinia and Bassianus. Later, Martius and Quintius are framed for the murder of Bassianus, and Saturninus has them beheaded.
Marcus Andronicus
Roman tribune of the People and brother of Titus Andronicus. Unlike the other Andronici, he’s a politician rather than a soldier. Every time he speaks, he is the voice of reason and calmness, standing in stark contrast to the ravenous and crazed speeches of the other characters.
Publius
Marcus Andronicus’s son.
Chiron and Demetrius
Tamora’s sons. 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.
Aemilius
A Roman nobleman in Saturninus’s service.
Nurse
Midwife to Tamora. Aaron kills her after she delivers his and Tamora’s dark-skinned lovechild.
