Titus Andronicus - Appearance Versus Reality Essay -- Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus - Appearance Versus Reality As appearances play an important determination in society, so they also play an important role in William Shakespe bes play Titus Andronicus. From the first scene to the last, Shakespeare elaborates on the theme of appearance versus world through plot and character. The plays plot is full of incidents and events that are not what they appear to be from Titus mental breakdown and Tamoras extended deceitfulness, to Aarons declare deeds. Each case presents a contrast between what the senses perceive and what macrocosm presents. Some characters are defined better by their actions than their speech. Tamora is a veritable(a) mold for the perfect Machiavellian character. She lusts not for power as her marrying the emperor butterfly would at first suggest, but for revenge. However, she is fatally flawed since she cannot perceive the diaphanous signs that Titus is at some level aware of the macrocosm around him. She is excessively wrapp ed up in her own plans, and thus denies the signs of his lucidness. Her extensive crafty and plotting are one-sided. She acknowledges but does not fully comprehend Titus state of judicial decision TAMORA Act 5, Scene 2 (Lines 1-8) Thus, in this strange and sad habiliment, I impart encounter with Andronicus, And say I am strike back, sent from on a lower floor To amount with him and right his heinous wrongs. Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps, To ponder strange plots of dire revenge Tell him Revenge is come to join with him, And work confusion on his enemies. In line 6 she explicitly states that she is aware of Titus plotting revenge against her, yet she does not believe that he will carry his plans out as evidenced by the word strange. Her reas... ... reality of their state of affairs and characters. The play is swathed in deceit on diploid levels, both the plot and the underlying personalities and motivations bear disparities between appearance and reality. work ing Cited and ConsultedBate, Jonathan. Introduction. Titus Andronicus. The Arden Shakespeare. London Routledge, 1995. 1-121.Carducci, Jane. Shakespeares Titus Andronicus An Experiment in Expression. Cahiers Elisabethains 31 (1987) 1-9.Danson, Lawrence N. The Device of Wonder Titus Andronicus and Revenge Tragedies. Texas Studies in Literature and Language 16 (1974) 27-43.Hulse, S. Clarke. Wresting the Alphabet Oratory and go through in Titus Andronicus. Criticism 21(1979) 106-18.Shakespeare, William. Titus Andronicus The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stanley Wells & Gary Taylor. New York/London, W.W. Norton Company, 1997.