Caesar’s Reincarnation

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Caesar’s Reincarnation

According to an ancient Norse saying, “All creatures die, including men, but one thing never dies, the renown of the noble dead.” In the play Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare leaves several hints suggesting that Caesar, “…the foremost man in all this world,” (4.3.22) never truly dies. His faithful follower, Mark Antony, embodies his personality. His lasting memories and role in the purpose of the conspiracy keep him alive in name. And the appearance of his ghost, haunting the conspirators before their deaths, keeps him alive in sprit . Caesar never dies in body, name, or spirit.

Mark Antony embodies Caesar’s manipulative, ambitious, and ruthless characteristics. During Caesar’s funeral oration, Shakespeare displays Antony’s manipulative nature when Antony persuades the plebeians to join his cause against the conspirators. Antony begins his speech by praising the plebeians and grabbing their attention. Also, Antony sarcastically refers to Brutus as both an honorable and noble man. Shakespeare further exemplifies Antony’s manipulative nature when Antony presents the plebeians with Caesar’s will. He teases the crowd with the it, keeping it out of their reach. He does this to win their loyalty and to bring them even closer to him. Ultimately, Antony uses the will to seal the deal and fully win over the crowd from the conspirators’ side to his own. Mark Antony puts forth his last tactic of manipulation when he proclaims that he is no manipulator. Using false modesty, Antony says, “For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,/Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech/To stir men’s blood. I only speak right on” (3.2.218-220). Furthermore, his ambition is evident in the elimination of Lepid...

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...murder with. Caesar’s ghost haunts Brutus yet again before his death:

The ghost of Caesar hath appear’d to me

Two several times by night, at Sardis once

And this last night here in Philippi fields.

I know my hour is come. (5.5.17-20)

Brutus realizes that Caesar’s spirit has won the fight, and in doing so, he gives in. Before his death, Brutus thinks neither of his wife Portia nor of his dear friend Cassius. Caesar’s spirit ultimately kills the conspiracy.

Shakespeare introduces the idea that Caesar never dies to prove the point that people of power, never truly die; they remain immortal, living on in body, name, and spirit. Every time one is reminded of a famous character, every time one thinks of him or his legacies, every time his personality is embodied, that character is resurrected. The Norse are right in their beliefs: the noble never die.

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