The most lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus and Audiences from the Inns of Court

Abstract

This chapter explores the influence that the population of London’s Inns of Court had as audience members in early modern commercial venues by tracing the movement of onstage violence from private Senecan dramas into Titus Andronicus, written for the commercial stage. Shakespeare must have been familiar with dramatic culture, taste, and activity at the Inns, but the presence of Innsmen in public venues is relatively underexplored. Comparing onstage violence in Titus and dramas written for private academic audiences confirms the Inns as centers that supplied significant sections of commercial audiences and brought a specific set of tastes to public venues.