Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus is an early, experimental tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is believed to be written sometime in 1589–92 and published in a quarto edition from an incomplete draft in 1594. The First Folio version was prepared from a copy of the quarto, with additions from a manuscript that had been used as a promptbook. The play’s crude, melodramatic style and its numerous savage incidents led many critics to believe it was not written by Shakespeare. Modern criticism, however, tends to regard the play as authentic. Although not ranked with Shakespeare’s other great Roman plays, Titus Andronicus relates its story of revenge and political strife with a uniformity of tone and consistency of dramatic structure.