Recognizing and Realizing the Consequences

Recognizing and Realizing the Consequences - Sydney Bernardo

Shakespeare time and time again depicted the effects of recognition and realization through his classic tragedies Othello, King Lear, and Julius Caesar. The universal truth embedded within these three plays and countless other literary works is that the two concepts come in a distinct chronological order and can bring either satisfaction or destruction. Though recognition entails an aspect of “memory recall” in which a person connects an idea or event to a past experience, it can ultimately lead to full understanding - also known as a realization - of a concept, completely changing his or her outlook on life. And as Adam and Eve learned in the Garden of Eden, understanding and knowledge bring their own consequences. The recognition of a realization too late, for example, causes disaster and brings about harmful consequences to overall “good” people such as Othello, who ultimately murders his innocent wife; and Marcus Brutus, whose trusting nature and dedication to the Republic leads him to betray and kill his friend. However, on a positive note, recognition of a realization also has the possibility of improving one’s life, as in the movie Tangled when Rapunzel recognizes the shape of a sun in each of her murals, leading her to the realization that she is the lost princess.

It is not so much that the two entities are different, but rather, that they complement each other, fleshing out and augmenting to the experience one attains. Whether this experience is necessarily good or bad has yet to be seen.