Ouday and Qusay Hussein (sp?) of Rome

While the entirety of Act 2 could be seen as some of the most violent moments compressed in to what is virtually 2 scenes that has ever been perpetrated on stage, the most violent fate is visited on Lavinia. By having Tamora's sons cut off her hands and tongue after each raping her in turn at the permission of their mother, Shakespeare manages to outdo his own conventions. Generally, and this is true for many of his works (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello), Shakespeare gives violent, tragic ends to his lead female characters. However, in most casees these death happen off stage, and the female characters are always dead at the end. In this case, Lavinia, the object of all of the desire in the play (perhaps not Aaron's...) has been mutilated beyond anything that could be considered acceptable even for Shakespeare. They give her Oedipus' end not less, leaving her to wander the woods without a tongue to call for help, as Marcus points out.
This mutilation, I believe is meant to truly drive home the idea of the violence that Demetrius and Chiron are capable of. They are psychopaths of the first degree, taking an implied sexual thrill from thier work. As a result, we're given a rape-revenge story with the father needing to surrogate for the daughter since she's lost her hands and tongue. With the character of Titus now needing to see his daughter this way, undoubtedly the later acts will prove more violent (hope...hope...) as he must outdo the violence perpetrated upon the woman.