Julius Caesar

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Julius Caesar

In the book Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, Cassius and the

conspirators depicted Caesar as being ambitious. He was also said to

not be ambitious by Mark Antony. He was, however, ambitious. This is

because he refused the crown three times, he did not listen to the

warnings that people gave him throughout the book, and he did not end

the punishment he placed upon Metellus Cimber^s brother, Publius

Cimber. These were all acts of ambition. On the Lupercal, Mark Antony

presented Caesar with a crown. Caesar then proceeded to turn down the

crown three times. The reason he did this is because the crown was not

the real one, but only a coronet. This is known when Casca tells Brutus

and Caesar, ^I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown (yet ^twas not a crown

neither; ^twas one of those coronets), and as I told you, he put it by

once; but for all that, to my thinking, he would fain have had it.^ The

reason that this was ambitious is because it shows that he wanted more

than they offered him and that he wasn^t satisfied with just that. It

also shows that he feels that he is too good for it. After he turned

down the crown, the people watching yelled because they wanted him to

take the crown. This shows he does not listen to others. Throughout

the book, Caesar received many warnings about his death. All of these

warnings he refused. The Soothsayer told him to ^beware the Ides of

March,^ Calphurnia told him about her dreams, the owl was seen in the

capitol during the daytime, the slaves hand caught on fire, and the sky

spit fire. All of these were warnings that Caesar did not listen to. He

pushed away the Soothsayer and said, ^He is a dreamer. Let us leave

him. Pass.^ This shows that he will not accept advice from anyone. If

he does this, then he will be a tyrant. When Calphurnia told him about

her dream, he did not listen to her. Instead, he listened to flattery,

which he said he disliked. These shows that he was also a hypocrite and

that he would only listen to or do what sounded better for him. All of

these things reveal that he has a huge ego. This is ambitious because a

person with a big ego will only do things that will benefit him.

Before Caesar is stabbed, Metellus Cimber and the conspirators approach

him and ask him to let Publius Cimber back into the kingdom.

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