Titus Andronicus recap

Titus Andronicus returns to Rome after defeating the Goths and sacrifices Tamora's eldest son. When Tamora becomes empress, she and her lover Aaron organize revenge. Her sons Chiron and Demetrius murder Lavinia's husband, rape and mutilate her, and frame Titus's sons, who are executed despite Titus sacrificing a hand in a false bargain. Lavinia eventually identifies her attackers. Lucius, banished from Rome, raises a Goth army, while Titus pretends to be mad and prepares retaliation. He kills Chiron and Demetrius and serves them to Tamora in a pie. At the final banquet Titus kills Lavinia and Tamora; Saturninus kills Titus; and Lucius kills Saturninus. The Romans choose Lucius as emperor. Aaron, after confessing to save his infant son, is condemned to starve, and Tamora is denied burial.

Titus Andronicus returns to Rome after a long war with the Goths, bringing prisoners and the bodies of his dead sons. His surviving son Lucius demands the sacrifice of Tamora's eldest son, Alarbus, and Titus rejects the captive queen's plea for mercy. Rome's rival heirs, Saturninus and Bassianus, seek the throne. Though the tribunes offer power to Titus, he declines and supports Saturninus. The new emperor first chooses Lavinia as his bride, but Bassianus, already betrothed to her, carries her away with help from her brothers. Titus kills his son Mutius for opposing him. Saturninus instead frees and marries Tamora. She persuades him to pardon Titus's family in public, but privately assures her sons that she will destroy the Andronici in revenge for Alarbus.

During an imperial hunt, Aaron directs Tamora's sons Chiron and Demetrius to pursue Lavinia together. Tamora meets Aaron in the forest, where Bassianus and Lavinia discover them and condemn her conduct. At Tamora's urging, Chiron and Demetrius kill Bassianus, throw his body into a pit, and drag Lavinia away. They rape her, cut off her hands, and remove her tongue so she cannot identify them. Aaron meanwhile guides Martius into the pit and Quintus follows; a forged letter and planted gold make Titus's sons appear to have murdered Bassianus. Saturninus has them arrested. Marcus finds the mutilated Lavinia and takes her back to her family, while the true attackers remain protected by the imperial household.

Titus pleads unsuccessfully for Martius and Quintus while Lucius is driven away after trying to rescue them. Aaron brings a false offer: if Titus, Lucius, or Marcus sends the emperor a severed hand, the condemned brothers will be spared. Titus has Aaron cut off his hand, but a messenger soon returns it with the severed heads of Martius and Quintus. Faced with the mockery, Titus shifts from grief toward deliberate revenge. Lucius has been banished and plans to seek military support among the Goths, Rome's former enemies. Titus, Marcus, Lavinia, and Young Lucius remain together, trying to understand how Lavinia can disclose the criminals' names and binding themselves to answer the destruction of their family.

Lavinia uses the story of Philomela in a book to indicate what was done to her, then holds a staff with her mouth and arms to write the names of Chiron and Demetrius in the ground. Titus now knows the attackers and begins masking his revenge as madness. He sends the brothers weapons with a message that signals his knowledge, and shoots written appeals toward the imperial palace as though petitioning the gods. Tamora gives birth to Aaron's child. When a nurse brings him the baby to kill because its appearance reveals their affair, Aaron kills the nurse instead and leaves determined to protect his son. Saturninus rages at Titus's public messages. News arrives that Lucius is leading a Goth army toward Rome, and Tamora proposes that she can manipulate Titus into stopping him.

Lucius's forces capture Aaron and his infant son. Aaron bargains for the child's safety by confessing the conspiracy against Bassianus, Lavinia, and Titus's sons. Tamora visits Titus disguised as Revenge, with Chiron and Demetrius posing as her agents. Titus recognizes them but plays along, persuading her to leave the brothers behind. He kills them and has their remains baked into a pie for a banquet with Saturninus and Tamora. During the meal Titus asks whether a father should kill a violated daughter, then kills Lavinia. He reveals what Tamora has eaten and kills her. Saturninus kills Titus, and Lucius kills Saturninus. After Marcus and Lucius explain the crimes to Rome, Lucius is chosen emperor. Titus and Lavinia receive family burial; Aaron is condemned to starvation in the ground, and Tamora's body is left unburied.

Lucius's Goth forces capture Aaron and his infant son. To preserve the child, Aaron admits his role in the crimes against the Andronicus family. Tamora and her sons visit Titus disguised as supernatural agents of revenge; Titus recognizes them, keeps Chiron and Demetrius behind, kills them, and has their remains baked into a pie. At the banquet he kills Lavinia, reveals what was served to Tamora, and kills the empress. Saturninus kills Titus, and Lucius immediately kills Saturninus. Marcus and Lucius explain the family's ordeal to the assembled Romans, who accept Lucius as emperor. Lucius orders honorable burial for Titus and Lavinia. Aaron is sentenced to be buried to the chest and starved, and Tamora's body is denied burial. Rome has a new ruler, but nearly every member of the rival families has been destroyed by the cycle of retaliation.