In Act One, Scene One, Marcus presents Titus with a white robe and asks him to don it as emperor. In ancient Rome, it was the custom for those seeking political office to wear a white garment, signifying moral purity. (As “candidatus” means white in Latin, this practice gives us the English word “candidate”.) While the robe does not appear elsewhere in the play, it is worth thinking about this ideal connection between moral uprightness and political power. Over the course of the play, power seems much more connected with ruthless bloodshed. One may wonder if, at the end of the play, any character’s virtue is so unstained that he can be a valid “candidate” to lead Rome. The unstained, white robe may also be seen as symbolizing more generally the relative innocence of the characters at the beginning of the play (especially the chaste Lavinia), which will gradually become more and more sullied by the bloody acts of revenge that fill the tragedy.
The White Robe Quotes in Titus Andronicus
The Titus Andronicus quotes below all refer to the symbol of The White Robe. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Simon & Schuster edition of Titus Andronicus published in 2005.).
Act 1, Scene 1 Quotes
Be candidatus, then, and put [the white robe] on /
And help to set a head on headless Rome.
Page Number and Citation:
The White Robe Symbol Timeline in Titus Andronicus
The timeline below shows where the symbol The White Robe appears in Titus Andronicus. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1