Titus Andronicus · Chapter
Scene II explained
In a room in Titus's house, a banquet is set.
What happens
In a room in Titus's house, a banquet is set. Titus, Marcus, Lavinia, and Young Lucius gather. Titus expresses his grief and desire for revenge, interpreting Lavinia's signs. Marcus kills a fly, and Titus initially rebukes him but then praises the act when Marcus says the fly resembles the Moor. Titus then leaves with Lavinia and Young Lucius to read sad stories.
Themes in this chapter
Madness and Grief
Titus's grief manifests in obsessive talk of revenge and violent reactions, blurring reality and illusion.
Violence and Brutality
The killing of a fly becomes a symbolic act of violence, reflecting the pervasive brutality in the play.
Revenge and Retribution
Titus's opening lines set the tone for revenge as a driving force, even in domestic settings.
Characters to notice
- Titus Andronicus
Grieving and obsessed with revenge, he interprets Lavinia's signs and reacts violently to the killing of a fly.
- Marcus Andronicus
Attempts to comfort Titus and Lavinia, kills a fly, and uses the act to humor Titus.
- Lavinia
Present and communicating through signs, her muteness and grief are central to the scene.
- Young Lucius
The young boy weeps at his grandfather's sorrow and asks for a merry tale.
Key passages
“So, so; now sit: and look you eat no more Than will preserve just so much strength in us As will revenge these bitter woes of ours.”
Sit down and eat only enough to keep us alive so we can avenge our suffering.
Titus links sustenance directly to the purpose of revenge.
“I can interpret all her martyr’d signs; She says she drinks no other drink but tears, Brew’d with her sorrow, mesh’d upon her cheeks:”
I understand all her suffering gestures; she tells me she only drinks her own tears mixed with grief.
Titus claims to read Lavinia's silent communication as a testament to her sorrow.
“But how, if that fly had a father and mother? How would he hang his slender gilded wings, And buzz lamenting doings in the air!”
What if that fly had parents? It would mourn and buzz its grief in the air.
Titus projects his own familial grief onto the fly, showing his distorted perception.
“Alas, poor man! grief has so wrought on him, He takes false shadows for true substances.”
Poor man, grief has affected him so much that he mistakes illusions for reality.
Marcus observes Titus's mental state, recognizing his delusions.