Motivation and Manipulation in Julius Caesar

In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare illuminates the themes of human motivation and manipulation. He examines the relationship between actions and motivations, cause and effect, and word and deed, using the symbols of hands and hearts. Throughout the play, the characters Brutus and Marc Antony express their different understandings of this relationship rhetorically. In his 1953 film interpretation, Joseph L. Mankiewicz demonstrates these characters’ understanding through both the play’s original dialogue and his own interpolated action. It is interesting to see the different effects of spoken rhetoric, as we experience it in the play, and the visual rhetoric of the film. The play itself complicates matters of motivation and therefore does not answer the question of blame. When reading one character, the audience feels connected with their point of view, and when reading the other, they are made to feel unsure about their initial opinion. In the end, it is nearly impossible to discover the characters’ inner motives, and it is therefore difficult to place blame on one or the other. However, Mankiewicz visually presents the complex relationship between these two symbols and in doing so, he creates a more sympathetic persona for Brutus than the one in the play. He focuses on the hands as a symbol of unity, love, and friendship, and where characters use hands for evil acts, he is quick to juxtapose the actions of hands from the motivations of the heart. While Shakespeare uses this juxtaposition to merely complicate the matter without solving it, Mankiewicz uses it to simplify the question. For Mankiewicz, Brutus’ involvement in the murder of Caesar, does not wholly reflect his character, and the audience is made to see a more human, vulne...

... middle of paper ...

...wn in the play.

In Brutus’ words, “Th’ abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power,” and in that instance, the film shows Antony’s abuse of authority (2.1.18-19). Because Antony believes that the hands’ actions and the heart’s motivations cannot be separated, his language demonstrates this belief, and he acts accordingly. While Brutus may act maliciously at times, he believes that hands and hearts are not always inextricably linked and therefore, that is especially true of his evil actions. Though Shakespeare may the leave the audience in doubt, Mankiewicz does not avoid blame and suggests that the exclusive joining of hands and hearts disjoins compassion from power and leads to true butchery.

Works Cited

Mankiewicz, Joseph L., dir. Julius Caesar. 1953. Film

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2007. Print.