Scene II explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Family and Loyalty

  Aaron fiercely protects his son, prioritizing family bonds over loyalty to Tamora.

• Otherness and Racism

  The child's blackness is vilified by Chiron and Demetrius, while Aaron defends its worth.

• Violence and Brutality

  Aaron kills the nurse and threatens violence to protect his child.

Characters to notice

• Young Lucius

  Delivers Titus's gifts and hidden accusations to Chiron and Demetrius.

• Aaron

  Defends his newborn son, kills the nurse, and devises a plan to swap the child.

• Demetrius

  Receives Titus's gifts and later threatens to kill Aaron's child.

• Chiron

  Reads the Horace verse and joins Demetrius in opposing Aaron's child.

• Nurse

  Brings Aaron's child to him and is killed by Aaron to keep the secret.

• Tamora

  Mentioned as the mother of Aaron's child, sending the nurse with orders to kill it.

Key passages

• “Integer vitae, scelerisque purus, Non eget Mauri jaculis, nec arcu.”

  The man of upright life and free from crime does not need the javelins or bow of the Moor.

  Titus sends this Horace verse as a veiled accusation of Chiron and Demetrius's guilt.

• “Here is the babe, as loathsome as a toad Amongst the fairest breeders of our clime: The empress sends it thee, thy stamp, thy seal, And bids thee christen it with thy dagger's point.”

  The nurse describes the baby as hideous and reports Tamora's order for Aaron to kill it.

  Highlights the racial prejudice against the child and Tamora's rejection.

• “Coal-black is better than another hue, In that it scorns to bear another hue; For all the water in the ocean Can never turn the swan's black legs to white.”

  Black is superior because it cannot be changed, unlike white which can be stained.

  Aaron defends blackness as permanent and honorable, rejecting the shame associated with it.