Titus Andronicus Villain

The question of who one is meant to sympathize with in the play Titus Andronicus is a confusing one. The titular character is responsible for most of the deaths that take place within the play and other characters commit equally as atrocious acts. Thus it is difficult to decide upon any singular character or group being the “villain” of the play. Traditionally Tamora and Aaron are declared the villains or at the very least the antagonists since they are the driving force against Titus. However this is still a questionable judgement. In the standard formula of a revenge tragedy, Tamora more justifiably fits the role of the character enacting revenge. Her oldest son is sacrificed by Titus for the loss of his own sons even though she was not personally responsible for their deaths (Titus Andronicus, 1.1.121-26). She is flung into the political world of Rome through not only this but future actions throughout the play. Tamora and her consort Aaron are continuously othered by the narrative of Titus; Tamora is the former queen of the Goths and Aaron is a Moor. Their gradual rise to power throughout the play is meant to be threatening to the autonomy of Roman culture that Titus Andronicus is so immersed within. The two characters’ roles as villains is not because of either of their actions by

Her kingdom had just been conquered by the Romans and she and her family were captured (1.1.109-11). The way she begs Titus to spare her oldest son by calling him “Roman brethren” implies an attempt to connect with the Romans despite being a foreign queen (1.1.104). The rest of her speech is meant to relate her role as a mother to Titus’s role as a father, but Titus carries out the sacrifice anyway. Shortly after Tamora is made the queen of Rome through becoming Saturninus’s wife, once more becoming enveloped into Roman society and culture whether she wishes it or not