Titus Andronicus �Act 2

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Act 2

Aaron

Now climbeth Tamora Olympus' top,�Safe out of fortune's shot; and sits aloft,�Secure of thunder's crack or lightning flash;�Advanced above pale envy's threatening reach.�As when the golden sun salutes the morn,�And, having gilt the ocean with his beams,�Gallops the zodiac in his glistering coach,�And overlooks the highest-peering hills;

So Tamora.

Upon her wit doth earthly honour wait,

And virtue stoops and trembles at her frown.

Then, Aaron, arm thy heart, and fit thy thoughts,

To mount aloft with thy imperial mistress,

And mount her pitch, whom thou in triumph long

Hast prisoner held, fetter'd in amorous chains

And faster bound to Aaron's charming eyes

Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus.

Away with slavish weeds and servile thoughts!

I will be bright, and shine in pearl and gold,

To wait upon this new-made empress.

To wait, said I? to wanton with this queen,

This goddess, this Semiramis, this nymph,

This siren, that will charm Rome's Saturnine,

And see his shipwreck and his commonweal's.

Consider This:

Tone

Diction

Imagery

Extended Simile

Mythological Allusions

Demetrius

• Why, boy, although our mother, unadvised,�Gave you a dancing-rapier by your side,�Are you so desperate grown, to threat your friends?�Go to; have your lath glued within your sheath�Till you know better how to handle it.�

Quick Analysis:

How does the

“sword” imagery

characterize

Demetrius & Chiron?

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Aaron

For shame, be friends, and join for that you jar:�'Tis policy and stratagem must do�That you affect; and so must you resolve,�That what you cannot as you would achieve,�You must perforce accomplish as you may.�Take this of me: Lucrece was not more chaste�Than this Lavinia, Bassianus' love.�A speedier course than lingering languishment�Must we pursue, and I have found the path.�My lords, a solemn hunting is in hand;�There will the lovely Roman ladies troop:�The forest walks are wide and spacious;�And many unfrequented plots there are�Fitted by kind for rape and villany:�Single you thither then this dainty doe,�And strike her home by force, if not by words:�This way, or not at all, stand you in hope.�Come, come, our empress, with her sacred wit�To villany and vengeance consecrate,�Will we acquaint with all that we intend;�And she shall file our engines with advice,�That will not suffer you to square yourselves,�But to your wishes' height advance you both.

�

This way, or not at all, stand you in hope.�Come, come, our empress, with her sacred wit�To villany and vengeance consecrate,�Will we acquaint with all that we intend;�And she shall file our engines with advice,�That will not suffer you to square yourselves,�But to your wishes' height advance you both.

The emperor's court is like the house of Fame,

The palace full of tongues, of eyes, and ears:

The woods are ruthless, dreadful, deaf, and dull;

There speak, and strike, brave boys, and take your turns;

There serve your lusts, shadow'd from heaven's eye, and revel in Lavinia's treasury.

Consider This:

Imagery

Tone

Characterization

Aaron

He that had wit would think that I had none,�To bury so much gold under a tree,�And never after to inherit it.�Let him that thinks of me so abjectly�Know that this gold must coin a stratagem,�Which, cunningly effected, will beget�A very excellent piece of villany:�

Quick Analysis:

Do you think Aaron

really cares about what

others think of him?

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Tamora

My lovely Aaron, wherefore look'st thou sad,�When every thing doth make a gleeful boast?�The birds chant melody on every bush,�The snake lies rolled in the cheerful sun,�The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind�And make a chequer'd shadow on the ground:�Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,…

We may, each wreathed in the other’s arms,

Our pastimes done, posssess a golden slumber,

While hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds

Be unto us as is a nurse’s song

Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep…�

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Aaron

Madam, though Venus govern your desires,�Saturn is dominator over mine:�What signifies my deadly-standing eye,�My silence and my cloudy melancholy,�My fleece of woolly hair that now uncurls�Even as an adder when she doth unroll�To do some fatal execution?�No, madam, these are no venereal signs:�Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,�Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.�Hark Tamora, the empress of my soul,�Which never hopes more heaven than rests in thee,�This is the day of doom for Bassianus:�His Philomel must lose her tongue to-day,�Thy sons make pillage of her chastity�And wash their hands in Bassianus' blood.�

Consider This: Tone, Allusion, Imagery, characterization

Bassianus

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Who have we here? Rome's royal empress,�Unfurnish'd of her well-beseeming troop?�Or is it Dian, habited like her,�Who hath abandoned her holy groves�To see the general hunting in this forest?...

Believe me, queen, your swarth Cimmerian

Doth make your honour of his body's hue,

Spotted, detested, and abominable.

Why are you sequester'd from all your train,

Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed.

And wander'd hither to an obscure plot,

Accompanied but with a barbarous Moor,

If foul desire had not conducted you?...

The king my brother shall have note of this.

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Lavinia

Under your patience, gentle empress,�'Tis thought you have a goodly gift in horning;�And to be doubted that your Moor and you�Are singled forth to try experiments:�Jove shield your husband from his hounds to-day!�'Tis pity they should take him for a stag…

And, being intercepted in your sport,�Great reason that my noble lord be rated�For sauciness. I pray you, let us hence,�And let her joy her raven-colour'd love;�This valley fits the purpose passing well.�

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Consider This:

Allusions

Diction

Tone

Imagery

While out hunting, Actaeon accidentally stumbles upon the secret bathing place of Diana, chaste goddess of the hunt, and sees her naked. His fate is foretold by the stag’s skull on the plinth and the skins of Diana’s former prey hanging above her head. The conclusion of the story is shown in another painting by Titian in the National Gallery, The Death of Actaeon. The outraged goddess transforms Actaeon into a stag to be torn apart by his own hounds.

Demetrius

Stay, madam; here is more belongs to her;�First thrash the corn, then after burn the straw:�This minion stood upon her chastity,�Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty,�And with that painted hope braves your mightiness:�And shall she carry this unto her grave?...

Listen, fair madam: let it be your glory

To see her tears; but be your heart to them

As unrelenting flint to drops of rain.

Quick Analysis:

Significance of the corn metaphor?

Characterization