Throughout the play, multiple allusions are made to the historical rape of Lucrece (also known as Lucretia), a noblewoman living in ancient Rome. Titus Andronicus alludes to Lucrece's rape by Sextus Tarquinius (known as Tarquin) several times, as well as to her suicide and the gruesome parading of her body through the streets by her father in outrage at her violation. These references parallel Lavinia's story, adding some depth and context. The first of these allusions occurs in Act 2, Scene 1, when Aaron tells Tamora’s sons that they should rape Lavinia:
You must perforce accomplish as you may.
Take this of me: Lucrece was not more chaste
Than this Lavinia, Bassianus’ love.
Aaron’s machinations inspire Chiron and Demetrius to set aside their bickering and cast their attentions on the chaste Lavinia. By alluding to the rape of Lucrece, whose virtue (and virtuous death) has been recorded in many different historical accounts, literary texts, and works of art, Shakespeare aligns Lavinia with a figure who was widely known as a virtuous woman who was wronged.
The rape of Lavinia is brought up again in Act 4, Scene 1 by Marcus, as he swears to exact revenge on her behalf:
And swear with me—as, with the woeful fere
And father of that chaste dishonored dame,
Lord Junius Brutus swore for Lucrece’ rape—
That we will prosecute by good advice
Mortal revenge upon these traitorous Goths,
And see their blood or die with this reproach.
Thus, just as the historical rape of Lucrece inspired a revolt against Rome’s tyrannical government, the rape of Lavinia incites the Adronicus family to seek justice for themselves. The fact that violence against women becomes the justification for further cycles of violence in both of these stories is significant, especially considering the fact that neither Lavinia nor Lucrece live to see themselves avenged.
It is also interesting to note that this is not the only one of Shakespeare’s works to include references to the rape of Lucrece. Titus Andronicus was written sometime around 1588-1593. In 1594, Shakespeare’s narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece was published. The proximity of these two texts in terms of subject matter and time is noteworthy and demonstrates the continuity of certain themes and storylines across Shakespeare’s body of work.
When Tamora and Aaron meet for a romantic rendezvous and revenge-planning session at the start of Act 2, Scene 3, Tamora makes an allusion by referring to herself as Dido and Aaron as the “wand’ring prince.” This moment foreshadows the couple’s unhappy end:
Tamora: And after conflict such as was supposed
The wand’ring prince and Dido once enjoyed
When with a happy storm they were surprised,
And curtained with a counsel-keeping cave,
We may, each wreathèd in the other’s arms,
Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber,
Whiles hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds
Be unto us as is a nurse’s song
Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep.
In the quote above, Tamora suggests with romantic intent that she and Aaron take shelter during their hunt like Dido and her lover are known to have done. However, in Virgil's account in The Aeneid, while the legendary pair did indeed take shelter in a cave, thus sparking their romance, the love of this fictional couple did not have a happy ending: eventually, the prince (Aeneas) abandons Dido, leading her to die by suicide. Thus, by alluding to Dido and Aeneas as her romantic model in this moment, Tamora ironically foreshadows her own doomed life and romance.
Because the entirety of this play is set in Ancient Rome, characters are constantly alluding to prominent facets of Roman history and mythology, which aids in developing the world of the play for the audience. The various gods of the Roman pantheon are frequently invoked, as when Marcus begs “Apollo, Pallas, Jove, or Mercury” to help him discover the criminals who raped his niece. Likewise, classic myths—like the story of Prometheus and his eternal punishment for stealing the fire of the gods—are mentioned by characters in multiple offhand references, as Martius does in the passage below:
Upon his bloody finger he doth wear
A precious ring that lightens all this hole,
Which like a taper in some monument
Doth shine upon the dead man’s earthy cheeks
And shows the ragged entrails of this pit.
So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus
When he by night lay bathed in maiden blood.
The quote above occurs after Martius discovers Bassianus’s dead corpse in the pit he has fallen into. In the process of explaining to Quintus how he can be sure that the man he’s found is really Bassianus, he alludes to the tragic love story of Pyramus and Thisbe (in which Thisbe stabs herself upon finding Pyramus’s dead body, covering him in blood), for no apparent purpose other than to enhance his detailed description of the grisly scene.
Famous literary and historical works from writers such as Ovid, Homer, and Livy also make frequent appearances throughout Titus Andronicus. The most obvious of these allusions may be observed in the three classic Roman tales of rape that are introduced as parallels to the terrible crime committed against Lavinia: the rape of Philomela in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the story of Verginia’s rape and subsequent murder at the hands of her father (written in Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita), and the historical rape of the noblewoman Lucrece (recorded by Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus).
Ovid’s Metamorphoses is repeatedly alluded to in the play. In particular, the story of the rape of Philomela by Tereus in the sixth book of Metamorphoses is a recurring literary allusion in the drama. The first allusion to the rape of Philomela occurs in Act 2, Scene 3 when Aaron informs Tamora of Chiron and Demetrius’s plans to rape Lavinia:
This is the day of doom for Bassianus.
His Philomel must lose her tongue today,
Thy sons make pillage of her chastity
And wash their hands in Bassianus’ blood.
Aaron’s comparison of Lavinia’s imminent assault to the literary record of the attack on Philomela encapsulates the theme of revenge as an ongoing act in the cycle of violence, for the rapes of both women in turn inspire further acts of vengeance on their behalf. Furthermore, this allusion to the violence enacted upon Philomela also implicitly hints at her loss of the ability to speak, which will also soon become true for Lavinia.
The second allusion to the rape of Philomela occurs after Lavinia’s rape, when Marcus discovers her mutilated body in the next scene and begs her for answers:
Fair Philomela, why she but lost her tongue,
And in a tedious sampler sewed her mind;
But, lovely niece, that mean is cut from thee.
A craftier Tereus, cousin, hast thou met,
And he hath cut those pretty fingers off
That could have better sewed than Philomel.
Marcus’s verbalization of Lavinia’s literal resemblance to Philomela drives home the significance of the violence that has been done to her. Later, in Act 4, Scene 1, Ovid’s Metamorphosis actually appears in the play, when Lavinia uses the book to communicate for herself, conveying the fact that she was raped like the story of Philomela. The repeated mention of Philomela places this story within the history of the Roman Empire even if the play itself is not historically accurate. These allusions to Ovid’s text significantly enhance the literary aspect of the play.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses is repeatedly alluded to in the play. In particular, the story of the rape of Philomela by Tereus in the sixth book of Metamorphoses is a recurring literary allusion in the drama. The first allusion to the rape of Philomela occurs in Act 2, Scene 3 when Aaron informs Tamora of Chiron and Demetrius’s plans to rape Lavinia:
This is the day of doom for Bassianus.
His Philomel must lose her tongue today,
Thy sons make pillage of her chastity
And wash their hands in Bassianus’ blood.
Aaron’s comparison of Lavinia’s imminent assault to the literary record of the attack on Philomela encapsulates the theme of revenge as an ongoing act in the cycle of violence, for the rapes of both women in turn inspire further acts of vengeance on their behalf. Furthermore, this allusion to the violence enacted upon Philomela also implicitly hints at her loss of the ability to speak, which will also soon become true for Lavinia.
The second allusion to the rape of Philomela occurs after Lavinia’s rape, when Marcus discovers her mutilated body in the next scene and begs her for answers:
Fair Philomela, why she but lost her tongue,
And in a tedious sampler sewed her mind;
But, lovely niece, that mean is cut from thee.
A craftier Tereus, cousin, hast thou met,
And he hath cut those pretty fingers off
That could have better sewed than Philomel.
Marcus’s verbalization of Lavinia’s literal resemblance to Philomela drives home the significance of the violence that has been done to her. Later, in Act 4, Scene 1, Ovid’s Metamorphosis actually appears in the play, when Lavinia uses the book to communicate for herself, conveying the fact that she was raped like the story of Philomela. The repeated mention of Philomela places this story within the history of the Roman Empire even if the play itself is not historically accurate. These allusions to Ovid’s text significantly enhance the literary aspect of the play.
Throughout the play, multiple allusions are made to the historical rape of Lucrece (also known as Lucretia), a noblewoman living in ancient Rome. Titus Andronicus alludes to Lucrece's rape by Sextus Tarquinius (known as Tarquin) several times, as well as to her suicide and the gruesome parading of her body through the streets by her father in outrage at her violation. These references parallel Lavinia's story, adding some depth and context. The first of these allusions occurs in Act 2, Scene 1, when Aaron tells Tamora’s sons that they should rape Lavinia:
You must perforce accomplish as you may.
Take this of me: Lucrece was not more chaste
Than this Lavinia, Bassianus’ love.
Aaron’s machinations inspire Chiron and Demetrius to set aside their bickering and cast their attentions on the chaste Lavinia. By alluding to the rape of Lucrece, whose virtue (and virtuous death) has been recorded in many different historical accounts, literary texts, and works of art, Shakespeare aligns Lavinia with a figure who was widely known as a virtuous woman who was wronged.
The rape of Lavinia is brought up again in Act 4, Scene 1 by Marcus, as he swears to exact revenge on her behalf:
And swear with me—as, with the woeful fere
And father of that chaste dishonored dame,
Lord Junius Brutus swore for Lucrece’ rape—
That we will prosecute by good advice
Mortal revenge upon these traitorous Goths,
And see their blood or die with this reproach.
Thus, just as the historical rape of Lucrece inspired a revolt against Rome’s tyrannical government, the rape of Lavinia incites the Adronicus family to seek justice for themselves. The fact that violence against women becomes the justification for further cycles of violence in both of these stories is significant, especially considering the fact that neither Lavinia nor Lucrece live to see themselves avenged.
It is also interesting to note that this is not the only one of Shakespeare’s works to include references to the rape of Lucrece. Titus Andronicus was written sometime around 1588-1593. In 1594, Shakespeare’s narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece was published. The proximity of these two texts in terms of subject matter and time is noteworthy and demonstrates the continuity of certain themes and storylines across Shakespeare’s body of work.
Although the grisly feast that precipitates the bloody climax of Titus Andronicus starts as a seemingly peaceful affair, the enmity between everyone present quickly rises to the surface. Titus is the first to break the illusion of peace. Rather than immediately and directly accusing Tamora’s sons of rape, however, he chooses to prolong his revelation of their crime by beginning in a roundabout manner, making an allusion to a famous case of sexual assault recorded by the Roman historian Livy:
Titus: My lord the Emperor, resolve me this:
Was it well done of rash Virginius
To slay his daughter with his own right hand
Because she was enforced, stained, and deflowered?
Saturninus: It was, Andronicus.
Titus: Your reason, mighty lord?
Saturninus: Because the girl should not survive her shame,
And by her presence still renew his sorrows.
The daughter slayed by “rash Virginius” whom Titus refers to in the passage above is Verginia. The story of the rape of Verginia is recorded in Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita, a massive history of Ancient Rome covering the legendary founding of Rome through the death of Nero Claudius Drusus in 9 BCE. The Ab Urbe Condita was originally composed of 142 books, although less than 40 have survived in their complete form. Livy’s histories and other writing earned him fame and influence during his own lifetime, and he is remembered today as one of the greatest Roman historians.
According to Livy, Lucius "Virginius" Rufus was a Roman centurion who killed his daughter after she was raped by a powerful politician. By alluding to this historical example of rape, Titus prepares his guests for the imminent reveal that his own daughter Lavinia has been raped. Furthermore, by asking Saturninus himself to think through the reasoning behind Virginius’s ghastly decision, Titus is able to preemptively explain the logic behind his own imminent murder of Lavinia. This allusion therefore has two purposes: to intimidate Tamora, who knows of her sons’ crimes, and to alleviate Titus of his own guilt by providing justification for his actions.
