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Act 2, Scene 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Titus Andronicus, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Revenge
Violence and Justice
Children
Rome, Romans, and Barbarians
Grief and Mourning
Summary
Analysis
Marcus, Titus, and Titus’ sons prepare for the hunt. Titus tells his sons to watch out for Saturninus, as he has been “troubled in my sleep this night.” Saturninus, Tamora, Bassianus, Lavinia, and Tamora’s sons arrive. Everyone prepares for the hunt, while Demetrius and Chiron plot their rape of Lavinia.
The hunt can be seen as symbolic of characters’ attempts to engage in a controlled amount of violence, as it is a somewhat regulated and relatively safe activity of limited violence. However, the hunt will soon backfire on several of the hunters, just as violence (and especially revenge) tends to lead to further, unforeseen violence.
Themes
