“Even the noblest men can be seduced by power; it has the power to kill, to distort, and to corrupt” Through this passage, Matthew Sims captures in essence how individuals often turn to betrayal and deception in order to gain their heart’s desires. This characteristic is not only present in life, but can also be seen in modern and classical literature, including the well known work of Julius Caesar. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the lust for power transcends any one individual and ultimately leads to death and corruption of not only Caesar, but also of Brutus and Cassius. The play begins with Caesar parading through the streets of Rome as he triumphs in his victory over Pompey. However, Brutus, Cassius, and many others hatch a plot to assassinate Caesar in order to save the Roman Republic from a dictatorship (Shakespeare). The conspirators lure Caesar to the Senate, where they carry out their ominous plans. As a result, many of Caesar’s supporters, such as Mark Antony, seize power drive the conspirators from the city. As the months pass, both the conspirators and Caesar’s supporters raise armies and eventually wage battle in the Italian plains (Shakespeare). As the battle comes to a close, it becomes clear that the corrupt and appalling actions that had previously taken place had been rectified when supporters will triumph and many conspirators take their own lives as their army crumbles.
Speaking of corruption, by the time of the play’s start the Republic is rank with fraud and manipulation. The reader is introduced not to a democracy, but to a tyrannical government controlled by an ever exploitive Caesar. Caesar’s overwhelming obsession with power tempted him to abuse his position of power, a temptation that was too much f...
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...th guilt, greed, and remorse (Henze). It is clear that the longing for power was the source of the sequence of events that lead to the death of Brutus.
Works Cited
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"First Triumvirate, Wars of the (Great Roman Civil War)." First Triumvirate, Wars of the (Great Roman Civil War). Ohio State University, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
Henze, Richard. "Power and Spirit in Julius Caesar." EXPLORING Shakespeare. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Levin, Richard A. "Brutus: `Noblest Roman of Them All'." EXPLORING Shakespeare. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
Sims, Matthew. "The Political Odyssey: Shakespeare's Exploration of Ethics in Julius Caesar." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 13 Nov. 2013
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
McManus, Barbara F. "Julius Caesar: Historical Background." Vroma. N.p., Mar. 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
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.
William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a story full of manipulation and jealousy that changes the way people think. Ancient Rome had umpteen different ways of handling situations that, in today’s world, would be considered unethical; such as battles that were very much horrifying and vivid. However, these battles were not important with the development of the plot. Shakespeare uses various ways of the idea of manipulation and betrayal to lead readers into the rest of the narrative.
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.
McManus, Barbara F. "Julius Caesar: Historical Background." Vroma. N.p., Mar. 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
Caesar, Julius. The Battle For Gaul. Trans. Anne & Peter Wiseman. Boston: Davis R. Godine, Publishing Inc., 1980.
In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two speeches are given to the people of Rome about Caesar's death. In Act 3, Scene 2 of this play Brutus and Antony both try to sway the minds of the Romans toward their views. Brutus tried to make the people believe he killed Caesar for a noble cause. Antony tried to persuade the people that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward Caesar and were traitors. The effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both Antony's and Brutus's speech to the people are conveyed through tone and rhetorical devices.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”. Elements of Literature. Ed. Deborah Appleman. 4th ed. Texas: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2009. 843-963.
Alvin B. Kernan. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009. Print.
The motif of ambition runs continuously throughout Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, which originates in Ancient Rome and highlights the power struggles, politics and deceit of those vying for power. Ambition leads many of the characters such as Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus to a fate different from what they expected. The play revolves around Caesar, his ascent to power and his eventual loss of everything. Although ambition may lead these public officials to power, it is the same ambition that will be their downfall, ultimately resulting in the death of Julius Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus.
Two powerful leaders, one power hungry whose ambitious ideas lead to his downfall, the other mindful of people who deserve their higher positions. A true leader is someone who has a vision, a drive and commitment to achieve what's best. In the play written by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Brutus and Caesar are one of the main characters. They demonstrate leadership qualities that are still relevant to today. They are both very ambitious characters; however, they do so for different reasons and differ in their openness to others. There are many similarities and differences that lie between them. Both are noble and great men with loyal followers and neither man questions the rightness of his own path. Both made crucial mistakes that resulted in their death. However, Caesar acts out of love for for himself, his country, and to retain his power as ruler of Rome. Brutus on the other hand acts out of love for freedom of Rome. This essay will discuss and compare their qualities as leaders as well as their styles and how they are effective/ineffective in the play.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar." Houghton Mifflin Company. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, 1994.
Allen, Janet. "Julius Caesar." Holt McDougal Literature. Orlando, FL: Holt McDougal/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. N. pag. Print.
In the play Julius Caesar, written and preformed by William Shakespeare, there are many characters, but two, Brutus and Cassius, stood out. The play begins in Rome where a celebration of Julius Caesar's victory over the former ruler of Rome, Pompeii. The victory leads to Caesar's betrayal by his jealous companions. Senators and other high status figures are jealous of Caesar's new and growing power, while others, like Brutus, fear the tyrannical rule Caesar could enforce. The conspirators, Brutus and Cassius being the most important, assassinate Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius, better known as Antony, and Octavius Caesar, Caesar's heir to the thrown, revenge Caesar's death. Antony convinces the Roman populous to destroy the conspirators and eventually begins a war with Cassius and Brutus' armies. Both Cassius and Brutus commit suicide to save their honor and Antony and Octavius win the war. The characterizations of Brutus and Cassius show a distinct contrast in their character traits and motives for the assassination of Julius Caesar.