Introduction
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare portrays the 44 BC plot against the Roman dictator Caesar, his assassination and the downfall of the conspirators at the Battle of Philippi.
Storyline
It is divided into five acts. In the opening act, two tribunes, Marullus and Flavius, disrupt a crowd of Roman citizens who were celebrating Caesar’s victorious homecoming from war. The triumph is taking place through public games. Mark Antony, Caesar’s general takes active part in these games. On his way to the celebration Caesar is stopped by a soothsayer who cautions him by saying ‘Beware the Ides (15th) of March.’1
Caius Cassius and Marcus Brutus are senators of Rome, who deliberate over Caesar’s use of power he now holds in the Republic. They fear that Caesar may decide to become the monarch. Cassius, a popular general himself, is envious, while Brutus has a more balanced opinion of the political situation. Cassius and his friends visit Brutus at nightfall to coax him of their views, and they plan Caesar’s assassination. Brutus is anxious but will not divulge this to his wife, Portia.
On the Ides of March, Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife urges him not to go the Council. She had dreamt that he will be murdered. She dreads about the omens of the storms which happened at night. He is however influenced by the conspirators to go. In the Capitol he is surrounded by the conspirators. Caesar is stabbed and dies. In spite Cassius’s apprehensions Mark Antony is permitted by Brutus to give a funeral speech in the market place after he has addressed the citizens of Rome. Brutus puts forth the reasons the conspirators had for killing Caesar and their fears of his ambition. Brutus is able to influence them and calm them down. But A...
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...ce didn’t have a right to stand against their masters.7
Kamm in his book gives that Roman people were superstitious. Their sense of superstitions prevailed over philosophical and logical understandings. They believed the suffering of Caesar from epilepsy as an act of god.8 Kamm has not stated in detail the kind of supertisious or supernatural sense prevailed at that time.
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4. Goldsworthy, Adrian Keith. Caesar: Life of a Colossus. pp. 355 New Haven: Yale UP, 2006. Print.
5. ibid. pp. 69
6. ibid. pp. 508
7. Kamm, Antony. Julius Caesar: A Life.pp.21 London: Routledge, 2006. Print.
8. ibid. pp.141
Goldsworthy in his work states that Rome during Caesar was a superstitious society. Caesar himself was not very superstitious. He was shocked by the superstitions by his wife Calpurnia. He himself ignored bad omens.
Shakespeare’s complex play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar contains several tragic heroes; a tragic hero holds high political or social esteem yet possesses an obvious character flaw. This discernible hubris undoubtedly causes the character’s demise or a severe forfeiture, which forces the character to undergo an unfeigned moment of enlightenment and shear reconciliation. Brutus, one of these tragic heroes, is a devout friend of the great Julius Caesar, that is, until he makes many execrable decisions he will soon regret; he becomes involved in a plot to kill the omniscient ruler of Rome during 44 B.C. After committing the crime, Mark Antony, an avid, passionate follower of Caesar, is left alive under Brutus’s orders to take his revenge on the villains who killed his beloved Caesar. After Antony turns a rioting Rome on him and wages war against him and the conspirators, Brutus falls by his own hand, turning the very sword he slaughtered Caesar with against himself. Brutus is unquestionably the tragic hero in this play because he has an innumerable amount of character flaws, he falls because of these flaws, and then comes to grips with them as he bleeds on the planes of Philippi.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Prentice Hall Literature: Grade ten. Ed. Kate Kinsella, et.al. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2007. 824-923.
Caesar was the powerful ruler of Rome. One of his dearest friends was a man named Marcus Brutus. Brutus was a loyal friend, and was always true to his country. But when Brutus is facing a dilemma in which case he is torn between the life of his friend and what is better for the city of Rome. With Brutus being a true Roman he chooses the death of his friend. With Brutus joining the conspirators, who are plotting against Caesar, they are now even more powerful and can influence the people easier. While all the conspirators stab Caesar in the back, Brutus is the only one to stab Caesar face to face. Marc Antony, Ocatavius, and Lepidus take over the triumvirate. Brutus and Cuis Cassuis took their troops in against Antony and his troops. This will be where Brutus’ death and tragic flaw take place.
Caesar enters Rome followed by supporters and citizens rejoicing over his victory. As Caesar passes a soothsayer called out to him and said he should beware the Ides of March; Caesar ignores the soothsayer and called him a dreamer. As Caesar came across Cassius he is worried that Cassius is dangerous because he thinks too much. Cassius dislikes Caesar and resents Caesars power. He knew that in order to kill Caesar he needed to get more people on his side so that they would believe killing Caesar was for the betterment of Rome. Cassius met with Brutus and talked about how much power Caesar has received. Three times they were interrupted by cheers from the crowd, throughout their conversation.; Cassius informs Brutus that he’s forming a plot
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a tragedy that takes the reader on a short adventure of Julius Caesar’s rule, death, and the aftermath of his death. Caesar was a great ruler until he, in the minds of Cassius, Brutus, and several others, inevitably became over-ambitious, which, in turn, led to his downfall. The aforementioned who believed that Caesar had become over-ambitious began to conspire his assassination. After his assassination, the people of Rome were left very confused and it was up to them to decide whether Caesar’s death was just or unjust. Two of Caesar’s closest confidants, Brutus and Marc Antony, both deliver a speech to the people: one for how Caesar’s death was justified, and the other for how Caesar’s assassination
Julius Caesar is a play of tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It takes place in 450 B.C. in Rome, Italy. The play doesn’t begin until after Caesar defeated his ex-friend, Pompey, and returned to Rome. At his return, Caesar is offered the crown of Rome three times by his loyal friend, Marc Antony, but denies it each time. A group of people who were jealous of Caesarś success, the conspirators, wanted him dead. After building their side, the conspirators stopped Caesar from going to the capitol in Act III and stabbed him leaving thirty-three wounds in his body. At Caesar’s funeral Brutus, an ex-friend, and Marc Antony gave speeches that indubitably affected the people of Rome. Who gave the better speech using rhetorical strategies to
What began as a small number of conspirators grew to a full fledged opposition throughout the play. To grow the opposition, the conspirators would shine a light on Caesar’s potential tyranny. After Caesar was offered the crown, Brutus joined the cause. Brutus had his doubts about Caesar becoming king, “I do fear the people / choose Caesar for their king,” (I.ii.5). Cassius used this doubt to help further his cause, telling Brutus “he [Caesar] doth bestride the narrow world / like a Colossus, and we petty men / walk under his huge legs and peep about / to find ourselves dishonorable graves,” (I.ii.6). Here, Cassius made Brutus’ doubt grow, by saying Caesar views the world in a way where he is king and in charge of everything, with the common man having no rights. This statement likely contributed to Brutus’ belief that killing Caesar was good for Rome, considering Brutus’ main point was Caesar’s potential tyranny. Within the opposition the conspirators would often speak about Caesar’s future tyranny to strengthen the opposition. An example of this is when Cassius says to Casca “And why should Caesar be a tyrant then? / Poor man! I know he would not be a wolf / but that he sees the Romans are but sheep,” (I.iii.14). Here, Cassius states that Caesar views the Romans as worthless and merely tools to expand his reign. Both Cassius and Casca were already part of the conspiracy, so Cassius said this to cultivate further hatred of Caesar in Casca. Eventually the conspirators assassinated Caesar to put an end to the immense amounts of power, but all did not go as
In conclusion, William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is the quintessence of a tragic hero. He is highly respected in society and holds a position of authority, yet is corrupted by his pride and arrogance. He ignores warnings of assassination, but once he is attacked by his confidant Brutus he realizes his flaws. Unfortunately, he can never repent of his prideful ways, as his life is extinguished. Because he is murdered by one of his greatest friends and did so much to aid the destitute, he is a sympathetic character. Julius Caesar is a complex and multi-faceted man, but the tragedy of his life strikes a chord of sympathy that resonates throughout not only his subjects, but the readers of his downfall for centuries past, present, and future.
As it is known, Julius Caesar contains a lot of superstitions dealing with Caesar. In the
Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar." Houghton Mifflin Company. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, 1994.
Shakespeare writes a play where Julius Caesar gets assassinated by Brutus. Brutus makes a speech to calm the people. He spoke about why he killed him and how it is good for the city of Rome. Antony was trying to make the crowd upset and go against Brutus for killing Caesar.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar." Houghton Mifflin Company. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, 1994.
Julius Caesar has just entered back into Rome after a victory in Spain. Many workers stopped doing work and celebrated the arrival of Julius Caesar,It was interrupted and broken up by Flavius and Marullus.Caesar is at the Festival with his entourage when he was approached by a soothsayer to "beware the ides of March," but he doesn't believe anything that has been told.Cassius who is a foe of Caesar and Brutus who is a close friend to him are by themselves and start to talk about him. Brutus thinks that Julius Caesar is acting like a king,so cassius suggest to Brutus he should rule Rome. The two men stopped talking and went their separate ways promising to meet again to talk about the situation. Cassius get together a group of upset aristocrats who want to assassinate Caesar.Cassius wants the support of Roman society so he persuades Brutus to head the conspiracy .A secret meeting led them to Brutus’ garden where the aristocrats are planning Julius Caesar's assassination.They planned a day to assassinate Caesar ,which was on the ideas march.Brutus’s wife,Portia was suspecting something and feared for her husband's safety, questions him.The time of ides of march comes around and that day becomes strange with a lot of unexplained sightings happen in Rome.
Act III Scene II of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare describes the conspiracy and death of Julius Caesar. By comparing and contrasting Brutus' and Antony's claims, it is evident that Antony's speech was more effective.