Why Not Have a Few Dozen Kids so They Can Join Your Army? Contrasting Representations of Parenthood in Titus Andronicus Kellie Veltri College

William Shakespeare is not well-known for presenting perfectly typical, well-functioning, Leave It to Beaver-esque families, which made his work much more appealing to audiences who were enthralled by unpredictable drama. His representations of both emotionally realistic loving and hate-filled familial dynamics have contributed to his works’ lasting literary and cultural significance, and they often have the same effects on contemporary audiences that they did on their original viewers. Titus Andronicus, which was written in the early 1590s, was Shakespeare’s first tragedy. The revenge play certainly set a precedent for his dysfunctional families to come. In Titus Andronicus, Titus, Tamora, and Aaron each have remarkably different relationships with their children that have significant effects on their individual characterizations.

The tragic hero of the play, Titus Andronicus, is a Roman general who has just successfully defeated the Goths at the start of the first act. Early on, it appears as though Titus is not primarily concerned with preserving the livelihoods of his children. He tells his Roman audience that he took “five-and-twenty valiant sons” to war with him, twenty-one of whom died in battle (1.1.82). Titus views...