William Shakespeare

Volume 37. Tragedy. Saturninus and Bassianus, sons of the deceased emperor, vie for his succession. The influential Titus Andronicus, who has just returned victorious from his campaign against the Goths, declines the crown offered to him and, for legal reasons, supports his personal enemy Saturninus. Saturninus agrees to the offer and wishes to honor Titus by marrying his daughter Lavinia. However, when his brother Bassianus claims her, Saturninus quickly takes the Gothic queen Tamora as his wife. She seeks revenge with the help of her malicious lover Aaron against Titus, who had their eldest son killed as a sacrificial victim: Her sons Demetrius and Chiron murder Bassianus and violate and mutilate Lavinia. The suspicion of murder falls on Titus's sons Quintus and Martius, while his remaining son, Lucius, is banished. Quintus and Martius are executed. Titus is desperate, but when Lavinia reveals her tormentors, he is able to take revenge on Demetrius and Chiron and kills them. From their bodies, he makes a pie. During a banquet where Tamora eats the pie, she is murdered by him. Following this, Saturninus stabs Titus but is himself killed by Lucius, who is crowned as the new emperor as the sole survivor. Bilingual edition with notes from the translator, a report from the translator's workshop, and an introductory essay by Werner von Koppenfels. Languages: German, English.