Speak, Romans, speak: and if you say we shall,
Lo, hand in hand, Lucius and I will fall.
EMILLIUS Come, come, thou reverend man of Rome, And bring our emperor gently in thy hand,
Lucius, our emperor, for well I know
The common voice do cry it shall be so.
MARCUS Lucius, all hail, Rome's royal emperor!--
To Goths
Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house,
And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudged some direful slaughtering death,
As punishment for his most wicked life.
[Exeunt Goths]
[Lucius and Marcus may descend]
ALL ROMANS Lucius, all hail, to Rome's gracious governor!
LUCIUS Thanks, gentle Romans. May I govern so To heal Rome's harms and wipe away her woe!
But, gentle people, give me aim149 awhile, For nature puts me to a heavy task:
Stand all aloof151, but, uncle, draw you near To shed obsequious tears upon this trunk152.--
Kisses Titus
O, take this warm kiss on thy pale, cold lips,
These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stained face,
The last true duties of thy noble son!
Kisses Titus
MARCUS Tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss, Thy brother Marcus tenders157 on thy lips.
O were the sum of these that I should pay
Countless and infinite, yet would I pay them.
To his son
LUCIUS Come hither, boy, come, come, and learn of us To melt in showers. Thy grandsire loved thee well:
Many a time he danced thee on his knee,
Sung thee asleep, his loving breast thy pillow:
Many a matter hath he told to thee,
Meet165 and agreeing with thine infancy: In that respect, then, like a loving child
Shed yet some small drops from thy tender spring
Because kind nature doth require it so.
Friends should associate169 friends in grief and woe: Bid him farewell, commit him to the grave,
Do him that kindness and take leave of him.
Kisses Titus
BOY O grandsire, grandsire, even with all my heart Would I were dead, so you did live again.
O Lord, I cannot speak to him for weeping,
My tears will choke me if I ope my mouth.
[Enter Aaron guarded by Goths]
A ROMAN You sad Andronici, have done with woes, Give sentence on this execrable wretch
That hath been breeder of these dire events.
LUCIUS Set him breast-deep in earth and famish179 him: There let him stand and rave and cry for food.
If anyone relieves or pities him,
For the offence he dies. This is our doom:182
Some stay to see him fastened in the earth.
AARON O, why should wrath be mute and fury dumb?
I am no baby, I, that with base prayers
I should repent the evils I have done:
Ten thousand worse than ever yet I did
Would I perform, if I might have my will.
If one good deed in all my life I did
I do repent it from my very soul.
LUCIUS Some loving friends convey the emperor hence, And give him burial in his father's grave:
My father and Lavinia shall forthwith
Be closed in our household's monument.
As for that heinous195 tiger, Tamora, No funeral rite, nor man in mourning weeds,
No mournful bell shall ring her burial,
But throw her forth to beasts and birds of prey:
Her life was beast-like, and devoid of pity,
And being so, shall have like want of pity.
{See justice done on Aaron, that damned Moor,}
{From whom our heavy haps202 had their beginning:}
{Then afterwards, to order well the state,}
{That like events may ne'er it ruinate.}
Exeunt all [with the bodies]
TEXTUAL NOTES
Q = First Quarto text of 1594
Q2 = Second Quarto text of 1600
F = First Folio text of 1623
F2 = a correction introduced in the Second Folio text of 1632
F3 = a correction introduced in the Third Folio text of 1663
F4 = a correction introduced in the Fourth Folio text of 1685
Ed = a correction introduced by a later editor
SD = stage direction
SH = speech heading (i.e. speaker's name)
List of parts = Ed
1.1.18 SH MARCUS = Ed. Not in F 23 Pius = Q. F = Pious 71 freight spelled fraught in F 132 not = Q. F = me 174 are = Q. F = are all 214 friends = Q. F = Friend? 223 suit = Ed. F = sure. Q = sute 224 our = Q. F = your 242 Pantheon = F2. F = Pathan 252 thy = Q. F = my 258 you = Q. F = your 259 your honour = Q. F = you Honour 268 you = Q. F = your 280 cuique = F2. F = cuiquam 318 Phoebe = F2. F = Thebe 352 hundred spelled hundreth in F 362 vouch = Q. F = vouch'd 366 struck spelled stroke in F 382 wise = Q. Not in F 392 SH MARCUS ... SONS = Ed. F = They all kneele and say 401 SH MARCUS = Ed. Not in F (the line is only in F, not Q1-3) 450 you = Q. F = vs 454 raze spelled race in F 462 SH SATURNINUS = Q. F = King. 477 SH LUCIUS = Ed. F = Son 487 SD stand up printed as part of the dialogue in F ("haynous faults. / Stand vp:") 489 swore = Q. F = sware 497 SD Flourish placed at the beginning of the next scene in F
2.1.4 above = Q. F = about 22 nymph = Q. F = Queene 26 want = F2. F = wants 64 petty = Q. F = pretty 66 jet = Q. F = set 72 discord's = Q. F = discord 107 That ... speed = Q. Not in F 117 than = Ed. F = this
2.2.18 broad = Q. Not in F 26 like = Q. F = likes
2.3.54 quarrels = Q. F = quarrell 56 her = Q. F = our 64 thy = Q. F = his 85 note = Ed. F = notice 136 woman's = Q. F = woman 204 hurt = Q. Not in F 236 Cocytus' = F2. F = Ocitus 245 SD Both = Ed. F = Boths 260 SH SATURNINUS = Q. F = King. gride = Ed. F = grieu'd 268 SH SATURNINUS = Ed. Not in F
2.4.5 scrawl = Q (scrowle). F = scowle 11 SH MARCUS = Ed. Not in F (but implied in previous SD) 27 him = Ed. F = them 30 three = Ed. F = their
3.1.12 two = Ed. Not in F 28 you = Q. Not in F 34 or = Q2. F = oh did mark = Q. F = did heare 115 them = Q. F = him 125 like = Q. F = in 146 his true = F4. F = hertrue 150, 174, 189 SH AARON = Ed. F = Moore 193 your = Q. F = you 194 my = Q. F = me 198 for = Q. F = for for 226 blow = F2. F = flow 256 hand = Q. F = hands 257 son = Q. F = sonnes 260 thy = Q. F = my 261 Rend spelled Rent in F 299 like = Q. F = likes
3.2.13 with outrageous = F2. F = without ragious 39 complainer = Ed. F = complaynet 52 thy knife = F2. F = knife 53 fly= Ed. F = Flys 54 thee = F3. F = the 55 are = F2. Not in F 72 myself = F2. F = my selfes
4.1.9 her not = Q. F = not 41 for = Q. F = to 47 SD Helps her printed as part of the dialogue in F ("Helpe her, what would she finde") 65 erst = Q. F = ersts 72 here = Ed. Not in F 79 writ = Q. F = writs 93 swore = F3. F = sweare
4.2.8 SH BOY ... news, = Q. Not in F 15 that = Ed. Not in F 27 them = Q. F = the 44 your = Q. F = you 70 fair-faced = Q. F = fairest 78 SH
AARON ... mother = Q. Not in F 141 as = Q. F = at 154 Muly lives = Ed. F = Muliteus
4.3.48 backs = Q. F = backe 56 Saturn, Caius = Ed. F = Saturnine, to Caius 77 his = Q. F = your 116 must take = Ed. F = hast made
4.4.5 know, as know = Q. F = know 24-25 she ... she = Ed. F = he ... he 34 SD Aside printed at line 35 in F 44 SD Saturninus = Ed. F = He 60 SD a Messenger = Ed. F = Nuntius (Latin for "messenger") 99 to be = Q. F = to 102 Even ... Andronicus = Q. Not in F 112 to = Q. F = for
5.1.9 SH FIRST GOTH = Ed. F = Goth. 13 Be bold = Q. F = behold 17 SH ALL THE GOTHS = F2. Not in F 20 SH SECOND = Ed. Not in F 53 Get ... ladder assigned to Aaron in F 87 to = Q. F = to to 120 swooned spelled sounded in F 127 the = Q. F = few 156 what's = Q. F = what
5.2.31 thy = Q. F = the 32 thy = Q. F = my 52 caves = F2. F = cares 56 Hyperion's = F2. F = Eptons 61 these = Ed. F = them 80 ply = Q. F = play 161 And ... cry = Q. Not in F 165 F mistakenly prints "Exeunt" here 191 own = Q. Not in F
5.3.7 empress' = Q. F = Emperous 10 I fear = Q. F = If ere 52 To ... done = Q. Not in F 73 SH A GOTH = F (Goth). Q = Romane Lord 74 curtsy spelled cursie in F 77 SH MARCUS = Ed. F continues with Goth as speaker, Q with Romane Lord 93-97 Lending ... Demetrius = F. Q = And force you to commiseration, / Her's Romes young Captaine let him tell the tale, While I stand by and weepe to heare him speake. Lucius. Then gratious auditorie be it knowne to you, / That Chiron and the damn'd Demetrius 125 cause = F4. F = course 130 now = F. Q = pleading 132 cast us down = F. Q = hurle our selues 133 brains = F. Q = soules 146 SH ALL ROMANS= Ed. Not in F 154 blood-stained = F3. F = bloud-slaine 164 matter = F. Q = storie 165-69 Meet ... woe = F. Q = And bid thee bare his prettie tales in minde, / And talke of them when he was dead and gone. / Marcus. How manie thousand times hath these poore lips, / When they were liuing warmd themselues on thine, / Oh now sweete boy giue them their latest kisse 176 SH A ROMAN = Q. F = Romans. 196 mourning = Q. F = mournfull
SCENE-BY-SCENE ANALYSIS
ACT 1 SCENE 1
Lines 1-69: Saturninus and Bassianus, the two sons of the recently deceased emperor, each plead with the people of Rome to elect them in their father's place; Saturninus on the grounds of primogeniture, and Bassianus for his virtue and honor. Marcus Andronicus, the Tribune of the People, silences them with the announcement that the people have chosen his brother, Titus, a long-serving, fiercely loyal, and mighty general of Rome who is returning home after conquering the Goths.
Lines 70-339: Titus enters with Tamora, Alarbus, Chiron, Demetrius (the wife and three sons of the dead Priam, King of the Goths), and Aaron, a moor, as prisoners. Against Tamora's pleas, Titus sacrifices her eldest son, Alarbus, in payment for the twenty-one sons he has lost in battle (his four remaining sons are with him living, two more are in coffins). Titus inters his two dead sons, and is greeted by Marcus with the news of his election, which he in his old age refuses, preferring a younger man. He passes the honor on to Saturninus as the first-born, who demands Titus' daughter, Lavinia (betrothed to Bassianus), as his empress. Titus consents without a second thought but Bassianus, horrified, flees with Lavinia, aided by Titus' remaining sons, one of whom, Mutius, Titus slays for his defiance. Humiliated, Saturninus instead takes Tamora as his empress, disdaining Lavinia.
Lines 340-497: Titus feels Mutius has dishonored him and refuses to bury him with his brothers in the family tomb. Marcus and Titus' remaining sons see Saturninus' dishonorable character and beg for Mutius' proper interment, to which Titus grudgingly consents. Bassianus and Lavinia, now married, return. Tamora in an aside tells Saturninus to accept Titus' apologies and show friendship while she secretly devises terrible revenges they may exact upon the Andronici. The scene closes with Saturninus proffering peace and festivity, and Titus offering to organize a hunt for the following day, which Saturninus accepts.
ACT 2 SCENE 1
Aaron reveals in a soliloquy that he is Tamora's secret lover, rejoicing that her newfound fortune will help him to prosper and that together they will bring about the fall of Saturninus and of Rome. Chiron and Demetrius enter amid a fierce quarrel over Lavinia, with whom both are in love. Aaron intercedes, warning them that open revolt near to the palace is very dangerous, but that the hunt in the forest will provide the perfect opportunity for them to steal Lavinia away and rape her.
ACT 2 SCENE 2
Titus, taking a rest from the hunt, tells his sons that he had a troubled sleep but that today he is refreshed. Saturninus, Tamora, Bassianus, Lavinia, Marcus, Chiron, and Demetrius enter and Titus leads them all off on the hunt for "the proudest panther." Demetrius forebodingly confides to Chiron that they mean "to pluck a dainty doe to ground."
ACT 2 SCENE 3
Lines 1-191: Away from the hunt Aaron buries a bag of gold under a tree to "coin a stratagem." Tamora finds him and begs him to make love to her, but he claims to be preoccupied with vengeance and gives her a letter to give to Saturninus. They see Bassianus and Lavinia approaching and Aaron leaves to fetch Chiron and Demetrius. The couple see Aaron leaving Tamora and taunt her with accusations of infidelity. As Chiron and Demetrius enter Tamora tells them that she has been lured to this place by Bassianus and Lavinia who intended to leave her to die. They kill Bassianus and dump his body in a nearby pit (as Aaron told them to do). Lavinia pleads to Tamora for mercy but finds none. Chiron and Demetrius take her away to rape her and Tamora leaves to seek Aaron, saying she will never "know merry cheer indeed, / Till all the Andronici be made away."
Lines 192-306: Aaron reenters with two of Titus' sons, Quintus and Martius, telling them he saw a panther in a pit. Martius falls in and finds Bassianus' body, and while Quintus struggles to rescue his brother, Aaron rushes to fetch Saturninus who will think Titus' sons responsible for the murder. Quintus falls in too, and Aaron leads Saturninus' party to the pit. Tamora gives Saturninus the letter that tells falsely of Quintus and Martius' plot to kill Bassianus for gold buried beneath an elder tree. Aaron's gold is dug up and Saturninus, convinced of their guilt, commits Quintus and Martius to prison while he devises "Some never-heard-of torturing pain for them." Titus pleads for them to be bailed until their guilt is proved but Saturninus refuses.
ACT 2 SCENE 4
Chiron and Demetrius leave the ravished Lavinia for dead, having cut off her hands and tongue to stop her revealing the names of her attackers. Marcus finds her and in a long and moving soliloquy tries to rationalize the horror before him. He takes her to find Titus.
ACT 3 SCENE 1
Lines 1-57: Titus prostrates himself on the floor before the judges who are bearing his sons away to execution, invoking his age and service done for Rome as reasons for sparing their lives. His words have no effect, and in desperation he vows to stay there and weep until the earth's thirst has been quenched so that it will not drink his sons' blood. Lucius, his last remaining son, finds him and tells him his lament is "in vain ... you recount your sorrows to a stone." Lucius has been banished for trying to rescue his brothers, though Titus tells him he is lucky to escape the "wilderness of tigers" that is Rome.
Lines 58-234: Marcus enters bringing Lavinia with him and while Lucius falls to the ground in anguish, Titus at first appears resolute, telling Lucius to "arise, and look upon her"; but he gradually yields to sorrow, exclaiming that "he that wounded her / Hath hurt me more than had he killed me dead." Aaron enters and tells them that if one of them chops off his own hand and sends it as a token, Martius and Quintus will be spared. All three offer to do it, arguing over the matter. Titus appears to yield and tells Lucius and Marcus to settle it between themselves. While they go to fetch an axe Titus says he will "deceive them both" and asks Aaron to chop off his hand for him. Aaron does so, and Marcus and Lucius return to find him taking Titus' hand for Martius and Quintus' ransom. In an aside, Aaron reveals that it's a trick and that he intends to send Titus' sons' heads back to him. Titus turns to Lavinia and starts to speak madly out of grief. Marcus urges him to "speak with possibilities" and use "reason" but Titus rebukes him, saying he has been "overflowed and drowned" with Lavinia's tears and cries.
Lines 235-301: A Messenger enters with Martius and Quintus' heads and Titus' hand, and he, Marcus, and Lucius all grieve for Titus' "woes." Titus, however, begins to laugh, saying that he has "not another tear to shed" and that watery eyes would prevent him from finding "Revenge's cave." He calls his three remaining family members to form a circle around him and swears to each in turn to revenge their wrongs. He then takes up one head, gives Marcus another, and gives Lavinia his hand to carry in her teeth. In an internal struggle between newly resolved anarchic revenger and lifelong disciplinarian, Titus orders Lucius from his sight because he is "an exile" and "must not stay," but tells him to go to the Goths and raise an army to attack Rome. Lucius in a soliloquy at the scene's end laments his father and sister's sufferings, and vows to do as Titus commanded.
ACT 3 SCENE 2
Titus, Marcus, Lavinia, and Young Lucius (Lucius' son) sit down to eat. Titus feeds
Lavinia and speaks strangely and passionately as he tries to interpret her signs. Marcus and Young Lucius ask him to stop, feeling that his wild mood and words add to all their griefs. Marcus kills a fly that lands on his plate, for which Titus chastises him for "tyranny," reminding him that even that fly had parents. Marcus says he did it because it was a "black ill-favoured fly" like Aaron, which pleases Titus, who strikes at the dead fly himself. Marcus believes that Titus has become unhinged by grief. Titus takes Lavinia and Young Lucius away to read "Sad stories chanced in the times of old."
ACT 4 SCENE 1
Lavinia enters pursuing Young Lucius, who is carrying a pile of books. He doesn't understand why she is following him so earnestly, and in fear he drops the books. Lavinia begins to search through them, lighting on Ovid's Metamorphoses. She turns to the tale of Tereus, who raped Philomel and cut out her tongue to prevent her revealing the crime, and Titus and Marcus adduce that this is what happened to her. Marcus writes his own name in the sand with his staff using just his mouth and feet, and, seeing it can be done, urges Lavinia to reveal her attacker thus, which she does, writing "Stuprum ["rape" in Latin], Chiron, Demetrius." The image is a rather grotesque, almost blackly comic advance on the tale in Ovid in which Philomel, who kept her hands, sewed the name of her attacker in a sampler. Titus and Marcus vow a bloody revenge but Titus urges caution, as Tamora still has influence over "the lion" Saturninus. He warns Marcus to stay out of what will ensue, and gives Young Lucius some weapons from his armory to deliver to Chiron and Demetrius as a gift.
ACT 4 SCENE 2
Young Lucius delivers the weapons along with a scroll bearing a quote from Horace, which translates as "The man of upright life and free from crime does not need the javelins or bows of the Moor." It means nothing to the foolish young Goths, but Aaron privately understands the message's meaning: "The old man hath found their guilt." A Nurse enters carrying the lovechild of Aaron and Tamora, ordering Aaron to kill the "dismal, black, and sorrowful issue." He refuses, drawing his sword upon the advancing Chiron and Demetrius, and threatening: "He dies upon my scimitar's sharp point / That touches this my first-born son and heir." After establishing that only the Nurse, Tamora, and a midwife knew of the child, Aaron kills the Nurse, and Chiron and Demetrius declare allegiance with him for keeping their mother's secret safe. Aaron resolves to return to the camp of the Goths to protect his son.