Order versus chaos is a central theme in Titus Andronicus, embracing many of the play’s main subjects, including revenge, violence, and personal and political rivalry. Throughout the play, Shakespeare explores what happens when any sense of law or moral restraint breaks down completely, causing violence to escalate to disastrous heights.

Physical brutality features constantly throughout the play, with onstage death or mutilation occurring in every Act. The play opens in the wake of 10 years of war, and the first crisis of the play is a fight between brothers for the succession to the throne. The war and the brief struggle for succession immediately imply that Rome is teetering on the edge of further violence and rivalry, with each action an alleged retribution for another. Shakespeare uses this atmosphere of violence to suggest a city in which the usual laws and customs are no longer applicable, with Titus’s lack of mercy and ritualistic sacrifice of Tamora’s son triggering a cycle of violent revenge that will only lead to the city’s descent into total chaos.

Shakespeare also explores what happens when grief is translated into retribution, with revenge the key motivator for each violent action. This escalation occurs on both a personal and political level as moral, legal, and cultural codes disintegrate into violent disorder.