Titus Andronicus: Revised Edition

Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's earliest and bloodiest tragedies and was hugely successful in his lifetime. Subsequent generations have struggled with its bold confrontation of violence but in the 20th and 21st centuries the play has chimed with audiences again, perhaps because of its simultaneously shocking and playful approach to violent revenge and bodily mutilation. Jonathan Bate's original Arden edition was first published in 1995 and has had a significant influence on how the play has been performed and studied in the past 20 years. This revised edition includes a new 10,000 word introductory essay in which Bate reassess his views on the play's co-authorship with George Peele in the light of contemporary textual scholarship and updates his lively account of the play's performance history, on the international stage and screen. With detailed on-page commentary notes this will continue to be the edition of choice for students, scholars and theatre-makers.

Review: A revised version that takes deeper account of George Peele's possible coauthorship and discusses the surge in performances of the play over the past two decades, including Julie Taymor's film and Lucy Bailey's visceral Globe production. Bate's lucid and unstinting 1995 edition has been a mainstay in the classroom, and it is a relief to find that work augmented instead of replaced in this excellent update. * Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *