Using both brackets and ellipsis, own this quote from Act IV of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. Your quote must include a closing “So What?”
Tamora
King, be thy thoughts imperious, like thy name.
Is the sun dimm'd, that gnats do fly in it?
The eagle suffers little birds to sing,
And is not careful what they mean thereby,
Knowing that with the shadow of his wings
He can at pleasure stint their melody:
Even so mayst thou the giddy men of Rome.
Then cheer thy spirit : for know, thou emperor,
I will enchant the old Andronicus
With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous,
Than baits to fish, or honey-stalks to sheep,
When as the one is wounded with the bait,
The other rotted with delicious feed…
Now will I to that old Andronicus;
And temper him with all the art I have,
To pluck proud Lucius from the warlike Goths.
And now, sweet emperor, be blithe again,
And bury all thy fear in my devices.
In Act IV of Titus Andronicus, Tamora is quick to soothe the distressed Saturninus by saying, “King, be they thoughts imperious, like thy name. ..the sun [is not] dimmed [just because] gnats do fly in it. [Nor does] the eagle suffer…little birds to sing…knowing that…he can at pleasure [end] their melody.” Yes, Tamora is attempting to comfort a shaken and timorous king, for Saturninus now knows that Lucius leads the Goths against Rome. More significant though, is Tamora’s unabashed arrogance, for to her, the people of Rome, including Titus, are simply “gnats” and “little birds” to be swatted at or squashed. With misplaced certainty, Tamora believes that the sun-like brilliance of the empery alone will outshine, swat and smash those like Titus who attempt to expose their transgressions against the Andronici and the State. Ultimately, Shakespeare is now revealing that in addition to vengeance, arrogance will lead to the downfall of Tamara and Saturninus, a potent warning to the reader against the folly of hubris. �