Reviews with content warning for Rape - Titus Andronicus

This is the 6th Shakespeare play read as part of the #UpstartCrows2023 readalong and definitely the most gory and violent to date.

Titus Andronicus returns to Rome victorious after war, with Tamora Queen of the Goths as his prisoner, but having lost twenty-one of his sons. His own losses do not soften him and he sacrifices Tamora's son as a ritual requirement. Thus Tamora's campaign of revenge ensues, ably abetted by Aaron her lover and her two remaining sons.

There is rape, mutilation, murder and madness until Titus is pushed to the brink and exacts his own bloody retribution.

Not for the faint hearted, all of this violence takes place against the backdrop of Rome and Roman customs and expectations. Titus is ill rewarded for his loyalty and sees his family destroyed by the Empress and "justice" of his homeland.

Issues such as honour, virtue and nobility abound and the question of what it takes for civilisation to turn into barbarianism is brought to the fore.

A violent and at times shocking read, definitely one that would be interesting to see staged.

Content Warnings

emma_s14's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Was it a mess? yes. Was it entertaining? also yes. My lit teacher recommended this to me, and i’m happy she did.

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dasnook_arts's review

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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kygpub's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

this play is fucking exhausting. somehow, that is a good thing.

okay. to be frank, a lot of things about this suck. misogyny and racism run rampant. characters get put on stage without logic or justification (

what were lavinia and bassanius even doing there?

). all but 3 of them have something utterly hateable about them. but i can't bring myself to hate the play itself. it's too interesting of a historical case study, too crafty in its machinations, too utterly outrageous in the lengths it is willing to go to elicit the reaction it desires. it's probably blasphemy to prefer this to the greats of tragedy, but i've never been a fan of supernatural horror and this fell right in my niche: overt classical references, revenges that actually come to fruition, and buckets upon buckets of blood. borders on too nasty for its own good (for other people i'm sure it crosses that line entirely); for me, it pulls enough punches to make it bearable—if, as i said, exhausting.

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thepalaceofchallis's review against another edition

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