Titus Andronicus Revenge Quotes Page 3

We saw above that Young Lucius seems ready to join in the cycle of bloody violence. Here Grandpa Titus promises to teach him a more subtle way to get revenge.

When Tamora visits Titus (whom she thinks has gone mad) dressed as the physical embodiment of "Revenge," Titus plays along and embraces her. There's a whole lot to say about this dramatic moment. We particularly like literary critic Alexander Leggatt's point of view. Leggatt writes that "When Titus welcomes her [Tamora] with a one-armed embrace, the moment has a double significance: Titus is embracing Revenge but he is also embracing Tamora – and the act conveys, more than Titus realizes, how much he and his victim have in common" ("Titus Andronicus: A Modern Perspective").

As Titus prepares to slit Chiron and Demetrius's throats and bake them into a meat pie, he declares that he'll serve the dish to Tamora at a banquet. This puts a whole new spin on the concept that "revenge is a dish best served cold," wouldn't you say? Titus also makes a grisly pun when he says he's going to "rear" a "coffin." "Coffin" is another word for piecrust, which is what Titus intends to whip up out of the boys' blood and ground-up bones. Of course, a coffin is also what dead bodies are placed in for burial, so there's some dark humor at work here.