Titus Andronicus
by William Shakespeare

Titus Andronicus: Genre 1 key example

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Genre
Explanation and Analysis:

Titus Andronicus is a revenge tragedy. Shakespeare wrote the play sometime between 1588 and 1593, which falls precisely during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England—otherwise known as the Elizabethan era. The literary movement of this time is known as the English Renaissance. Renaissance tragedies were a very popular genre of English theater, and the revenge tragedy grew to garner particular public approval. Thomas Kyd's play The Spanish Tragedy brought the genre to the Elizabethan stage in 1587, and it swiftly took off. Shakespeare’s revenge tragedies are especially renowned, and Titus Andronicus is especially significant for the fact that it is his first attempt at the genre.