Speech and Communication
As in many Shakespeare plays, speech is an important motif in the narrative of Titus Andronicus. However, this play tends to highlight lack of speech and communication rather than indulging any singular characters as rhetoricians. The most significant example of the absence of communication is, of course, Lavinia, who is so mutilated after her rape that she cannot divulge the names of her assailants. Notably, however, Lavinia is frequently silent even before the traumatic experience she endures at the hands of Tamora's sons. In this way, speech becomes a means by which characters exercise and express their power – something Lavinia lacks as a young Roman woman whose future is determined by her father and husband.
Ovid's Metamorphoses
Ovid's Metamorphoses is a long narrative poem that describes different mythical and historical events of ancient Rome. In the play, Lavinia reads the Metamorphoses, specifically the tale of Tereus's rape of Philomela. It is this tale that inspires her to write the names of her rapists in the sand by placing a staff in her mouth. The book therefore symbolizes knowledge and the rebuilding of communication through the fundamental practices of reading and writing.
Marcus's Staff
When Lavinia writes the names of Chiron and Demetrius in the sand, she does so by placing Marcus's staff in her mouth and drawing with the movements of her head. Critics have long debated how audiences are to interpret this moment, with some arguing that it recapitulates the trauma she has already endured. Others suggest that the staff is a symbol of power that Lavinia has taken over for herself as she finally develops the ability to communicate, thereby leading Titus to enact his revenge.
The Pit
The pit is one of the more complex and unsavory symbols in the play. On one hand, the pit symbolizes a type of tomb, as characters are "buried" there (or in the case of Bassianus, thrown into it) and "swallowed" by the earth like a vengeful grave. On the other hand, the pit is also likened to a "bloodstained hole" and "swallowing womb" at various points throughout the play, likening it to a woman's vagina (2.3). The pit is therefore a dynamic symbol both death, disgust, and mystery, and serves as a conflation of some of the play's major themes like gender, race, and vengeance.
Hunting
Hunting is a pivotal motif in the play, as it is a common metaphor for dynamics of power. In the beginning of the play, Titus and Saturninus go hunting together, while Chiron and Demetrius establish a "hunt" of their own in their plan to rape Lavinia. Hunting is therefore used throughout the play as a signifier of power – delineating between predator and prey – and also as a means of showcasing how humanity can be reduced to a fundamentally barbaric state.
