Tamora

Also known as: Revenge / the empress / the queen · Family: Goths · Role: Queen of the Goths · First appears: Titus Andronicus · Act I, Scene I

As Queen of the Goths, Tamora is identified as the mother of Alarbus, Chiron, and Demetrius. At the Pantheon, Saturninus chooses her as his bride and proclaims her Empress of Rome. Though she publicly secures pardon for Titus Andronicus and his sons, she secretly vows, “I’ll find a day to massacre them all,” targeting the family to whom she had pleaded for her son’s life.

After marrying Saturninus, Tamora becomes allied with Aaron, who courts her as the empress of his soul. She permits Chiron and Demetrius to assault Lavinia, rejects Lavinia’s plea for death, and presents Saturninus with a letter claiming to expose the plot against Bassianus. She later gives birth to a black child fathered by Aaron, whose substitution of another newborn allows the child to be presented as the emperor’s heir.

Tamora tries to persuade Titus Andronicus to withdraw Lucius from the war, while Aaron reveals the crimes of her sons against Bassianus and Lavinia. Disguised as Revenge, she manipulates Titus Andronicus into summoning his enemies to a feast, declaring, “I am Revenge, sent from th’ infernal kingdom.” At the feast, Titus Andronicus reveals that Chiron and Demetrius have been baked into the pie Tamora ate, then stabs the Empress.