Examples Of Manipulation In Julius Caesar

One of the big ideas in Julius Caesar is manipulation because many characters manipulate others to get their way. Cassius convinces Brutus to join the conspiracy and Antony persuades the crowd using this tactic. This connects to modern day because manipulation occurs in politics and the media. The theme of William Shakespeare's play, “Julius Caesar” is manipulation can cause people with bad intentions to gain power.

One modern connection to Julius Caesar is manipulation in government. Antony manipulates people similar to how a presidential candidate would manipulate people to vote for them. One example of Antony manipulating the Roman citizens was when he got them to hate Brutus and the conspirators. He uses sarcasm when saying, “Yet Brutus

This is similar to how Cassius manipulates Brutus into joining the conspiracy. Cassius explains his plan to get Brutus to join when saying,” I will this night, in several hands, in at his windows throw, as if they came from several citizens, writings, all tending to the great opinion that Rome holds of his name, wherein obscurely Caesar’s ambition shall be glanced at. And after this let Caesar seat him sure; for we will shake him, or worse days endure” (I.ii.318-325). He manipulates Brutus into joining with fake letters that say the citizens want Caesar dead. Another way Brutus is manipulated is by Cassius telling him he is no less important than Caesar. He says, “O, you and I have heard our fathers say there was a Brutus once that would have brook’d the eternal devil to keep his state in Rome as easily a king” (I.ii.164-167). He is trying to flatter Brutus by saying that he could be a king just as much as Caesar could. This is similar to fake news in the media because it makes people believe something that isn’t true. An example of fake news that caused a lot of concern was the death of Morgan Freeman. It stated, “On 5 October 2017, a false story announcing actor Morgan Freeman had died at the age of 80 began spreading on Facebook and Twitter” (LaCapria 1). Even though this was from a fake news site, many people still believed it and didn’t know who to