Lavinia

Also known as: Lavina · Family: Andronicus · Role: daughter of Titus · First appears: Titus Andronicus · Act I, Scene I

At the Pantheon, Saturninus proposes Lavinia as empress, and Titus Andronicus accepts the match. Before the marriage can take place, Bassianus takes her away and declares her his lawful wife, with Mutius helping to convey her from danger. Lavinia and Bassianus are betrothed and then married, while Chiron and Demetrius compete for her before drawing swords over her.

During the hunt, Aaron schemes for Chiron and Demetrius to assault Lavinia, and Tamora permits them to violate her. After Bassianus is killed, Lavinia is left ravished, mutilated, without hands, and without a tongue; Marcus recognizes that her attackers silenced her to conceal their crime. At Rome, she cannot identify them at first, but in Act IV she reveals that Chiron and Demetrius committed the deed.

Lavinia joins Titus Andronicus, Marcus, and Young Lucius in swearing mortal revenge against the traitors. Lucius mourns her as his sister, while Quintus and Martius are condemned and killed because of Bassianus’s death. In the revenge, Titus Andronicus kills Chiron and Demetrius and uses their blood for the banquet; afterward, he kills Lavinia to end her shame and his sorrow.