Titus Andronicus raises important moral and political issues. One of the main ones being family loyalties, and it is this important moral issue that creates the need of vengeance throughout the play1. Titus Andronicus is known as William Shakespeare's most gruesome and violent revenge tragedy, defined with actions such as ritual human sacrifice, gang rape, murder, mutilation and cannibalism. All of these horrific actions are driven by the need of vengeance from certain characters within the play, mostly those tied to family honor and loyalty. Without the blood feud of these two families, most of the bloodshed that is seen in Titus Andronicus would not take place. The recurring events of vengeance show a "mutual concern of parent and child 2 throughout the play. The two important families in Titus Andronicus are Titus's and Tamora's. In the beginning of the play, Titus's has four living sons, Lucius, Quintus, Marcius, and Mutius, a daughter Lavinia, a brother, Marcus, as well as twenty-one sons that he has lost over ten years of battle, fighting for Rome. Tamora's family consists of her three sons, Alarbus, Demetrius and Chiron, who are Goths. Further on in the play, we discover that she gives birth to another child, who belongs to Aaron the Moor, her secret lover. Initially the conflict is between Titus and Tamora, the two parents, but the strong family loyalty signifies that everyone within that family, mainly there children, will be affected one way or another by the revenge afflicted upon them, even those who are not involved in the initial conflict, such as Lavinia. The first act of violence present on stage is the sacrifice of Tamora's eldest son "a necessary sacrifice and example in the Roman's eyes, but a needless slaughter as far as the Goths see it 3. Titus's family wants to sacrifice Tamora's son in honor of their fallen that died for Rome. It is especially Lucius "who first initiated revenge against Tamora by demandi