Mojo, The Bard, & Me

Noble patricians, patrons of my right,

Defend the justice of my cause with arms;

And, countrymen, my loving followers,

Plead my successive title with your swords:

I am his first-born son, that was the last

That wore the imperial diadem of Rome;

Then let my father’s honours live in me,

Nor wrong mine age with this indignity.

-Saturninus

                                   

Titus Andronicus                           Act I, Scene i, Line 1

We’ve hit upon the first lines of the play Titus Andronicus. Now this play is mostly about the murder and mayhem that takes place between the Titus Andronicus family and the Tamora Queen of the Goths family. Saturninus, the guy here with the opening line does not play into this murder and mayhem in any major way. In this first scene he is vying for the throne with his brother Bassianus. Titus and Tamora will be entering the picture shortly and then all the fun will start. But of course, we’ve got to start the story somewhere, and this is it. This then, is the beginning. Saturninus speaks of nobility, justice, loving followers, imperial diadems, and father’s honours, and he ends with ‘indignity’. This last word is probably the only word in this opening speech that presages the activity to come.

Well here's an interesting picture. It's Saturnius, played by my brother Dave, and Bassianus, played by me. We were acting out this scene when we were young. Dave has just given the opening line, and I'm about to respond with the bit about Bassianus being 'gracious in the eyes of royal Rome.' I think Dave's doing a little bit of hamming it up, and he's clearly trying to use his size to intimidate me. But that's just my opinion.