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The Hunt
Titus Andronicus is filled with tortured, dismembered, disfigured, and hurt bodies. In addition to Lavinia, who is raped and has her tongue and hands cut off, Titus loses one of his hands, and the body parts of Demetrius and Chiron are cut up and made into the food that Titus serves Tamora. All this bodily disfigurement can be related to a common metaphor that personifies the empire of Rome as a body. For example, when Marcus wants Titus to become emperor of Rome, he tells him to “set a head on headless Rome.” Similarly, at the end of the play, Marcus promises to restore Rome, saying that he will “knit...these broken limbs again into one body.” Thus, all of the dismembered bodies throughout the play can be seen as standing in for the larger dissolution of Rome.
The Body Quotes in Titus Andronicus
The Titus Andronicus quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Body. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 1
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Be candidatus, then, and put [the white robe] on /
And help to set a head on headless Rome.
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Titus, I am incorporate in Rome,
A Roman now adopted happily.
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Act 2, Scene 1
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There serve your lust, shadowed from heaven’s eye,
And revel in Lavinia’s treasury.
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Act 2, Scene 3
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Revenge it as you love your mother’s life,
Or be you not henceforth called my children.
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Remember, boys, I poured forth tears in vain
To save your brother from the sacrifice,
but fierce Andronicus would not relent.
Therefore away with her, and use her as you will;
The worse to her, the better loved of me.
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Act 3, Scene 1
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Is not my sorrow deep, having no bottom?
Then be my passions bottomless with them.
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Act 5, Scene 3
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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?
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Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee,
And with thy shame thy father’s sorrow die.
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There’s meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.
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O, let me teach you how to knit again
This scattered corn into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limbs again into one body.
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The Body Symbol Timeline in Titus Andronicus
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Body appears in Titus Andronicus. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 5, Scene 3
...them restore Rome to its former greatness and will repair “these broken limbs again into one body .” Lucius tells the public about how Chiron and Demetrius killed Bassianus and raped Lavinia,...
(full context)
