The reader is first introduced to Lavinia in Act I, Scene I. She enters and hails her father, saying, “In peace and honor live Lord Titus long; My noble lord and father, live in fame” (19). Immediately, Shakespeare is establishing the bond between father and daughter. It is clear that Lavinia respects her father, and Titus’ response to her entrance indicates the love that he bears for his child. He says, “...Lavinia, live, outlive thy father’s days and fame’s eternal date, for virtue’s praise” (19). The first moment that Lavinia is on stage, the bond between her and Titus is brought forwards and showcased, making it clear that this is something to pay attention to as the play progresses. But, while Lavinia’s entrance in the opening scene depicts her and Titus as having a loving father-daughter relationship, it becomes clear that there is an important aspect of their relationship that may initially have been missed. Later on in that first scene, after Saturninus declares that he will take Lavinia as his empress, Titus is the party that is asked for consent, not Lavinia. Since Lavinia would be the one getting married, people in the modern age would think that it would have been right to ask for her consent in the marriage first, but instead, because of the culture of the time, her father is asked. Titus consents for Lavinia, giving his permission to Saturninus to marry his daughter, instead of allowing Lavinia to accept or deny the proposal. Lavinia, however, does not refuse or comment on the fact that she was not consulted; she simply intends to go along with whatever her father says because that is what would have been expected of a dutiful daughter at the time. 

      Titus Andronicus takes place in Rome, right after Titus has returned home from the war with the Goths. “The Goths were a nomadic Germanic people who fought against Roman rule in the late 300s and early 400s A.D., helping to bring about the downfall of the Roman Empire, which had controlled much of Europe for centuries” (History). While Saturninus and his reign are fictional, it can be assumed that the play would most likely take place in the late 300s to early 400s A.D. as a result of the context of the war with the Goths. With the play being set in Rome while the Empire was still functioning, it becomes clear that Lavinia fits into the standards for women at the time. There were expectations of women, specifically for the position that they held in society and for the limited amount of power that they possessed, and Lavinia is a prime example in Titus Andronicus. In Judith P. Hallett’s article, “The Role of Women in Roman Elegy: Counter-Cultural Feminism,” she describes the ideal Roman woman during the time of the Empire, writing, 

      Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616, and he is believed to have written at least part of Titus Andronicus in 1589. This was the time of Elizabethan England, and even though there were centuries separating the setting of the play and the time that Shakespeare was writing it in, there is a clear mirror of Elizabethan society in the Roman society that Shakespeare writes about. Just as the women in Rome held lower positions in society, subject to the wishes of their father or husband, women in Elizabethan England also lacked autonomy. In Kaitlyn and Cheryl Regehr’s article, “Let Them Satisfy Thus Lust on Thee: Titus Andronicus as Window Into Societal Views of Rape and PTSD,” they describe the position of women in Shakespeare’s England in terms of their financial standing, saying, “Women in Shakespeare’s 16th- and 17th-century England could not own property or enter into a contract...Thus, a woman’s financial worth was tied to that of her father or husband” (Regehr & Regehr 28). Just like in the Roman Empire, women in Elizabethan England did not have much of a say. They were expected to be submissive, and as Regehr & Regehr point out, they could not even hold the power of owning possessions. Instead, women were owned. Fathers and husbands dictated women’s lives, both in the Roman Empire and in Elizabethan England, which sets up interesting parallels between Titus Andronicus and the society of Shakespeare’s time. 

     With women being thought of as possessions in 16th century Elizabethan England, it is important to realize that during this time period, rape was viewed through this lens of women being property. In the Regehr & Regehr article, they address the fact that rape was thought to be like theft, explaining that, “...the term rape itself is derived from the Latin raptus meaning theft of property” (Regehr & Regehr 28). The idea of rape in Elizabethan England dehumanized 

      In Titus Andronicus, after Lavinia is raped and mutilated, her Uncle Marcus brings her to her father, who, upon seeing what has been done to his daughter, exhibits the exact ideals of the time period in which Shakespeare was writing. Titus says, “It was my dear, and he that wounded her hath hurt me more than had he killed me dead… But that which gives my soul the greatest spurn is dear Lavinia, dearer than my soul” (Shakespeare 97). Even though his daughter has been raped and mutilated, and is standing before him, Titus talks about how it hurts him to see her like this. Not once does he ask her if she is okay. He does not send anyone to seek help or a nurse to treat her wounds. Instead, he weeps for his own wounded soul, thus reinforcing the idea of 16th century Elizabethan England that the rape of a woman was a crime against her father or husband.

      With this in mind, however, it is interesting to see how Lavinia, even in her maimed condition, helps her father to determine who her assailants were. Knowing that Lavinia and Titus loved each other dearly, it comes as a bit of a surprise to see how he puts the value of his own wounded soul above her own. However, even after he slights her by not truly caring for her wounds, she continues to show her devotion to her father by putting this aside and helping him discover Chiron and Demetrius. Mutilated physically, but also emotionally, Lavinia could have shut down completely. Her father mourned for the loss of her chastity, but simply wished he could know who did this to her. Lavinia is the one that goes out of her way to show him. In Act IV, Scene I, Lavinia chases young Lucius until she can point out Ovid’s Metamorphosis to her father and Marcus. It is then that Titus finally begins to discover the truth, but only by Lavinia’s desperate attempt to show it to him. “This is the tragic tale of Philomel,” Titus notes, “And treats of Tereus’ treason and his rape. And rape, I fear, was root of thy annoy” (Shakespeare 125). Lavinia then goes on to write the names of Chiron and Demetrius in the sand with a stick held between her stumps, proving to her father exactly who it was that did this to her. Even though women in Elizabethan England at the time the play was written would have had little power or say in their own consent, and even though the rape was seen as a crime against the father, Lavinia goes out of her way to expose her assailants so that way her father could bring them to justice. While this may have only relieved her father of so me of the burden of her rape in theeyes of a 16th century Elizabethan society, as opposed to herself, she still does it.  

     The murder of Lavinia is abhorred by audiences today, but there is an aspect 

father not long after.

     One of the key components to rape is the lack of consent. In Act I, Titus gives consent in place of Lavinia, and in the case of her rape and mutilation by Chiron and Demetrius, Lavinia has clearly not consented. However, in Sid Ray’s article, “‘Rape, I Fear, Was the Root of Thy Annoy”: The Politics of Consent in Titus Andronicus,” he addresses the fact that the concept of consent in Elizabethan England was beginning to change during the time that Shakespeare would have been alive. He explains that, “Though Protestant marriage-tract writers argued for parental consent, they claimed that if the girl rejected a man her parents had chosen, she should not be forced into the marriage” (Ray 26). This doesn’t quite seem to be the case in Titus Andronicus, and Ray goes on to explain the reality of the situation. Even though consent laws were changing, many people maintained the old mindset. Ray writes that, “even with the advance of the notion of consent, many young women (and men) were compelled against their will or preference to marry persons chosen for them by their families. Parents would often apply a great deal of pressure to gain their children's consent to a match and in some instances would resort to beating, abducting, or imprisoning the unwilling bride. The history of coercion may explain why Lavinia, already betrothed to Bassianus, remains silent in Titus Andronicus when her father agrees to marry her to Saturninus” (Ray 26). Even though the laws were changing, the mentality of the masses was not, and so Titus Andronicus stays true to the reality of Shakespeare’s time. The idea of consent was there, but in the end, it was not the victim’s consent that mattered.

      Lavinia is raped by Demetrius and Chiron, Tamora’s sons, as a way for Tamora to get back at Titus for the murder of Alarbus, the Queen’s eldest son. Tamora had begged for his life, but Titus had allowed his own sons to kill Alarbus as a sacrifice for the sons that he himself had lost in the war (15). Lavinia’s rape is a political act against Titus. Lavinia was not involved in the initial fight between Titus and Tamora over Alarbus, and she certainly was not the one that killed him. And yet, she becomes the manner in which Tamora exacts revenge. Tamora explains this to her when Lavinia begs the Queen for mercy, and Tamora simply responds with, “Even for his sake I am pitiless. — Remember, boys, I poured forth tears in vain to save your brother from the sacrifice, but fierce Andronicus would not relent. Therefore away with her, and use her as you will; the worse to her, the better loved of me” (73). Tamora is projecting her anger at Titus onto Lavinia, and thus, in a solely political manuever, encourages her sons to rape Lavinia. Even though she is a woman herself, Tamora is reinforcing the widely held belief in Shakespeare’s time that women were property, and could be treated as such. It is almost as if Demetrius and Chiron have stolen an expensive item of value to Titus, broken it, and then returned it; that was the value that a woman was given at the time.  

     There are arguments in favor of the idea that Lavinia should be viewed through a literary lens as opposed to a literal lens. Because she plays such a key role in the power struggle between Titus and Tamora, some scholars have argued that Lavinia is only a symbol for a failing political system. In Bernice Harris’ article, “Sexuality as a Signifier for Power  

      In Titus Andronicus, Lavinia’s plight shows audiences how women were expected to behave, and how they were treated, through the lens of the Roman Empire. Shakespeare crafts her situation in a way that reflects his own time period, addressing the fact that women in Elizabethan England were treated in almost the same way as they were during the time in which the play takes place. A woman was owned by a father or a husband. To commit an act of rape was no crime against a woman, it was a crime against the male that dominated her life. It was a political act against that male, and it was a shame to the man, not the woman. Men could seek recompense for that atrocious act, not the victim. Even with laws attempting to change the idea of consent, the commonly held belief was that a woman was property, and that the only consent that was needed was that of the male figure in her life. Therefore, while Lavinia is indeed used to demonstrate the changing power dynamic in Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare does, in fact, use her to demonstrate the view of rape in Elizabethan England and to show the position of women at the time in which he wrote the play.