Aaron

Also known as: black slave / the Moor · Family: Goths · Role: conspirator · First appears: Titus Andronicus · Act II, Scene I

Aaron, a conspirator among the Goths also called the Moor, intervenes when Chiron and Demetrius draw swords over Lavinia in Act II, then devises a plan for them to assault her during the hunt. At the same time, he courts Tamora, calling her “the empress of my soul,” and joins her and her sons in their schemes.

In Act IV, Aaron allies himself with Chiron and Demetrius and protects his newborn child as his first-born son and heir, threatening them if they harm him. He kills the Nurse to conceal the child’s parentage, then orders Muliteus to substitute his newborn for Aaron’s child and present it as the emperor’s heir. Aaron carries his own child toward the Goths for concealment, while remaining bound to Tamora and her interests.

In Act V, a Goth captures Aaron and brings him before Lucius, who promises to spare and raise the child in exchange for his revelations. Aaron admits that he fathered the child with Tamora, conspired against Titus Andronicus, and helped bring about the loss of his hand; he also reveals that Tamora’s sons murdered Bassianus and mutilated and raped Titus Andronicus’s daughter. Lucius then orders Aaron fettered and deprived of food before sentencing him to be buried breast-deep and starved.