In Act IV, Scene 3 of “Titus Andronicus,” Titus, accompanied by Marcus, Young Lucius, and other kinsmen, appears to have descended further into madness as he instructs his companions to shoot arrows wrapped with messages toward the heavens. Titus believes that since earthly justice has failed him, he must appeal directly to the gods for redress of his grievances. The arrows are addressed to various deities including Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, and Mercury, with supplications written on scrolls attached to each shaft. Marcus and the others participate in this strange ritual, shooting their arrows skyward while Titus directs them with frenzied determination.

A Clown enters carrying pigeons, and Titus seizes upon him to deliver a message to the Emperor Saturninus. Titus wraps a knife in one of his petitions and instructs the Clown to present it to Saturninus, giving him gold for his service. The Clown agrees, though he seems bewildered by the task. After the Clown departs, Titus and his family exit, leaving the stage empty before Saturninus enters with Tamora and others, discovering one of Titus’s arrows. The Emperor is initially outraged by what he perceives as Titus’s mockery, but when the Clown arrives and delivers Titus’s letter with the wrapped knife, Saturninus interprets this as a direct threat and orders the Clown to be hanged immediately, demonstrating the Emperor’s paranoia and tyrannical nature.

Titus Andronicus opens with the Roman general Titus returning victorious from war against the Goths, bringing with him prisoners including Tamora, Queen of the Goths, and her three sons. Despite Tamora’s pleas, Titus sacrifices her eldest son Alarbus in revenge for his own sons killed in battle. The Emperor Saturninus chooses Tamora as his bride, and she secretly plots revenge against Titus. Meanwhile, Titus’s daughter Lavinia is betrothed to Bassianus, the Emperor’s brother, though Saturninus had wanted to marry her himself.

Tamora’s sons Demetrius and Chiron, aided by the villainous Aaron the Moor, murder Bassianus and brutally assault Lavinia, cutting off her hands and tongue to prevent her from identifying them. Aaron tricks two of Titus’s sons, Quintus and Martius, into falling into the pit where Bassianus’s body lies, and they are arrested for his murder. Aaron then deceives Titus into believing that if he cuts off his own hand and sends it to the Emperor, his sons will be spared. Titus complies, but receives back his severed hand along with the heads of his executed sons.

Lavinia manages to reveal her attackers’ identities by writing in the dirt with a stick held in her mouth. Titus feigns madness while plotting revenge and sends weapons with threatening messages to Tamora’s sons. When Tamora gives birth to Aaron’s child, Aaron flees with the baby but is eventually captured. In the final act, Titus kills Tamora’s sons and serves them to her baked in a pie at a banquet. He then kills Lavinia to end her suffering, murders Tamora, and is immediately killed by Saturninus. Titus’s surviving son Lucius kills Saturninus and is proclaimed the new Emperor, ordering Aaron to be buried alive and vowing to restore order to Rome.