specific goals. Drama is usually exemplified by a story's involvement of conflict or contrast of character. In Machiavelli's Mandragola, this dramatic disparity is demonstrated through Frate Timoteo. Though most readers expect the friar to be the most honest character, he ironically turns out to be just as devious as tricksters Ligurio and Callimaco. As an untrustworthy member of the Christian Church, Friar Timoteo takes advantage of his powers in order to exploit innocent women. When Ligurio requests Frate Timoteo's help in persuading Lucrezia, Timoteo is conscious that there is a duplicitous quality to Ligurio's plan, but agrees to help anyway. " I don’t know which one has duped the other…. nevertheless, this trick is to my profit…. I’ll get a lot from each of them... it's convenient for the thing to be kept secret, because telling it matters as much to them as to me. Be that as it may, I don’t repent it. It's quite true that I’m afraid there will be difficulties, because Madonna Lucrezia is wise and good; but I’ll dupe her by her goodness." (Machiavelli, 34) Friar Timoteo maintains a personal justification for his actions, blatantly disregarding the shame of his decisions for the financial benefits of the deal. In this way, Friar Timoteo is being self-deceptive. He swears by his innocence, with the rationale that sin is contingent on the presence of bad intentions in committing an act. He concludes that since he has ‘good’ intentions, he is therefore free of sin. Frate Timoteo's character is dramatic because he undermines the expectations that both the audience and the theatrical characters have for him. He tricks the audience with the irony of his character; his familiar title ‘friar’ leads the audience to assume that he will act a certain way, but in reality he acts contrarily to those assumptions. In the play, Friar Timoteo takes advantage of Lucrezia's trust in his dependability, and leads Lucrezia to believe that his opinion of the plan is genuine and valid. Analysis of the theme One theme up to debate is whether or not "the ends justify the means" for maintaining order. In Mandragola, Callimaco, a young Florentine, desires Lucrezia, the wife in a childless marriage to Nicia. Callimaco impersonates a doctor who possesses a fabricated drug capable of killing the man with whom Lucrezia sleeps with and bringing her a child. No matter how manipulative Callimaco is as he