At Titus’s house, a banquet is set out. Lucius enters with Marcus, some princes of the Goths, and Aaron, his captive. He asks Marcus to ensure that Aaron is kept in shackles until the time comes for him to give testimony against Tamora. There is a flourish of trumpets, and Saturninus enters, accompanied by Tamora and various lords and senators. They all sit down to feast, and Titus Andronicus enters, dressed as a cook. He asks Saturninus his opinion about an ancient Roman legend, in which the daughter of Virginius was raped, and Virginius killed her to remove the stain on her honor and on that of his family. Saturninus says that this was the right course of action, as the girl could only be a source of shame and sorrow to her father after her rape. Titus agrees and promptly kills Lavinia, explaining that he is in the same position as Virginius was, since Chiron and Demetrius raped his daughter. It is they, not Titus, who should be blamed for her death.

Saturninus calls for Chiron and Demetrius to be brought before them. Titus reveals that the two princes are already present, baked into the pie their mother has been eating. He then quickly kills Tamora, whereupon Saturninus immediately kills Titus. Just as suddenly, Lucius kills Saturninus. There is a general uproar, which Marcus calms by saying that Lucius will explain this sudden sequence of murders. Lucius recounts the crimes of Tamora, Chiron, Demetrius, and Aaron, and Marcus corroborates his words. Everyone present hails Lucius as the new emperor.

Aaron the Moor is brought before Lucius, who sentences him to be buried “breast-deep in earth” and left to die of hunger. Aaron is entirely unrepentant, saying that he only regrets any good he may inadvertently have done in a life dedicated to evil. Lucius concludes by decreeing that while Saturninus is to be interred in his family vault, the body of Tamora should be thrown out to be devoured by wild beasts and birds of prey. There will then be time to do whatever else is required for the good of Rome.

Analysis

The final scene of Titus Andronicus does not disappoint the most bloodthirsty members of its audience, with four deaths in rapid succession. Those who regard the play as a parody may well see the manner of Lavinia’s death, in particular, as confirmation of this view. In a strange combination of brutality and pedantry, Titus cites a historical precedent and confirms his understanding of its validity with the emperor before killing his daughter. There is a certain absurdity, too—this time heavy with dramatic irony—when Saturninus enquires who raped Lavinia, and Titus responds evasively by encouraging his guests to have some more to eat.

The lightning-fast sequence of deaths which dispatches Tamora, Titus, and Saturninus is a graphic depiction of how revenge works, which may be another instance of Shakespeare parodying the conventions of Elizabethan drama. On a purely philosophical level, however, it illustrates the lack of logic in the process, which is only ended by the most recent killer’s assumption of power. If Lucius had not quickly become emperor, someone would have to have murdered him.

This excitement is followed by a rather ponderous ending consisting of long speeches by Marcus and Lucius telling the audience, for the most part, facts they already know. The entrance of Aaron the Moor briefly enlivens the atmosphere of chilly bureaucracy. The punishment Lucius decrees for him seems curiously tame given the horrors the audience has seen, many of them caused by Aaron himself, and the malevolence he has shown. This...