Julius Caesar

1891 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cassius julius caesar character analysis

Based on his thoughts and actions, how would you describe Caesar?

In Act II Julius Caesar is barraged with warnings to stay home and not go to the Senate, but he ignores them. Calpurnia, his spouse, tells of a dream she had and fears for Caesar's safety. The priests also warn Caesar. However, Decius is able to persuade Caesar to go to the Senate that morning. Considering his actions and thoughts in Act II, Caesar is a ruler who rejects superstitions and is concerned about how he is perceived by others.

As scene 2 opens, there is a thunder storm that sets an eerie tone. Calpurnia reveals her dream to Caesar and expresses concern for his safety. She then warns Caesar to stay home. Julius replies that the work of the mighty gods can not be avoided. He also contends that death is inescapable and therefore he will go to the Senate. His servant thereupon returns with the news that the priests likewise warn Caesar not to go out that morning. Caesar also discards the advice of the priests and asserts his bravery and superiority over others. Eventually, Calpurnia persuades him to stay at home. This shows Caesar as a man who is willing to set aside his priorities to please his wife.

Once Decius enters Julius is content to stay home. However, Decius manipulates Calpurnia's dream into a positive one and starts to question Caesar's manhood and power because he is afraid of the hallucinations of his wife. Caesar is now afraid and concerned of what the senators will think of him and fears that will see him as weak. This convinces Caesar to dismiss the warnings of his wife and the priests and go to the Senate.

From his statements Caesar first concedes to his wife but once his considers the thoughts of others about him he decides to 'save face' and attend the senate.

Compare and contrast the motives that Brutus and Cassius have for wanting to kill Caesar.

Brutus and Cassius, both conspirators against Caesar both have dramatically different views on the reasons why Caesar should be assassinated. Brutus is a main of morals, reason and honor while Cassius is deceitful and manipulative. Brutus seeks to glorify Rome and avoid tyranny by assassinating Caesar. Cassius wants to destroy his enemy and severely dislikes being under the control of a tyrant. As leaders in the Senate, Brutus and Cassius confederate to assassinate

Show More
Related

  • Supernatural Events In Macbeth Analysis

    1594 Words  | 4 Pages

    When the Soothsayer says, “Beware the ides of March.”(I.ii.18). He is setting up the death of Caesar, allowing the reader to realize that the date will be very significant to the play. This dialogue already sets up the stage for the plot to progress rapidly. Although, once Caesar leaves the stage, Brutus and Cassius are shown. Brutus begins to speak of his worries, “[...]I turn the trouble of my countenance/Merely upon myself. Vexed I am.”(I.ii.37-38). Brutus’ next few lines expresses his conflicts, showing his weakness towards Cassius. Cassius is able to easily swoop in and influence Brutus, without having to break a sweat, to follow through with his conspiracy to kill Caesar. The superstition does not actually come true without the actions of Cassius and Brutus. The exhibition of Brutus’ fear and the manipulation of Cassius, both set up the play to continue and also enhances the foreshadowing. The second warning given to Caesar is from Calpurnia. Caesar repeats what is spoken to him, “She dreamt she saw my statue/Which like a fountain with an hundred of spouts/Did it run pure blood[...]”(II.ii.76-78). Caesar is shown to heed this warning and it does describe what will happen on the ides of March. He repeats this to indicate his belief in his wife. Although, Decius manages to convince him to come. He states, “It was a vision fair and fortunate:[...]/great Rome shall

    Read More

  • Brutus is a Good Leader in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

    332 Words  | 1 Pages

    Caesar for some what of a good reason. Brutus killed him because he thought it would be better for Rome while the others just did not want him to become more powerful than themselves. They are the same. Brutus felt that the death of Caesar would be the end of the absolute rule that Caesar presently had a. Brutus is a supporter of the republican government. Brutus says, "We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar /

    Read More

  • Julius Caesar Book Report

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    Phillip Freeman’s Julius Caesar is a profound biography on the life, achievements, and personality of Caesar. The author’s style and major themes can be displayed in quotations from significant passages. For example, when Sulla, a dictator, ordered Caesar to divorce his wife after Sulla had removed Caesar from position of flamen dialis, Caesar refused. Freeman describes his defiance, “Whether out of stubbornness, audacity, or simply love, Caesar was a defying man who had ordered the murder of thousands. In doing so, he lost everything he owned, and was now marked for death on the proscription lists,” (32). In another pressing manner, Caesar’s personality is also displayed when he was captured by pirates. Freeman writes, “Caesar treated the pirates with a good-natured contempt that shocked and amused his captors. They were accustomed to terrified prisoners who begged for mercy, but Caesar acted more as if the pirates were a minor distraction to his busy schedule,” (39). Not to mention, Caesar’s compassion for loved ones is also depicted within this biography. When his beloved aunt died, instead of the quiet funeral orientation typical for a woman, he chose to give a bold, family pride filled speech to a huge crowd for his dearly departed aunt. Caesar himself exclaims, “The family of my aunt Julia is descended from kings on her mother’s side, and through her father, from the gods themselves. For the Marcii Reges, her mother’s family, are heirs of Ancus Marcius, fourth king of Rome, while the Julians, of which our clan is a member, descend from the goddess Venus herself. My family therefore holds the sanctity of the kings who rule among men and of gods who rule over kings,” (52). In a similar case, the death of his young wife Cornelia, his wife Sulla had told him to divorce and risked his life for her because he loved her so much, Caesar honored

    Read More

  • Julius Caesar - Tragic Hero

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    	Julius Caesar has much pride, a hamartia, which brings him to not be wary of the conspiracy. Caesar is given much warning on the threat of his life, yet due to his pride he thinks himself to be too great of a person to have such a downfall. Julius Caesar is warned by a soothsayer, "Soothsayer. Beware the ides of March."(1,2,18) Julius Caesar rebukes the soothsayer by stating, "Caesar. He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. Pass."(1,2,23) Caesar does not take warning to be wary the middle of the month, the day of his assassination. Later, Caesar’s wife Calpurnia has a nightmare that Caesar is slain at the Capitol. Caesar calls for the priests to do a sacrifi...

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in Antigone

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the conflicts in Antigone, is the struggle between men and women. Ismene tells Antigone that since birth, women “were not born to contend with men,” (75) displaying women’s obedience and passivity. In the same passage, Ismene says: “we’re underlings, ruled by stronger hands,” (76) a representation of men’s aggressive and “stronger hands” that dominate women and treats them as second-class citizens. The only woman in Thebes who desires to break free from these chains is Antigone, who stands up against Ismene’s passivity urging her to “submit to this,” (77) and defy Creon by burying Polynices. By breaking Creon’s edict, Antigone challenges the traditional gender roles women and men play. In what ways does the theme of gender in Antigone, demonstrate the passion and choices behind Antigone and Ismene’s decisions?

    Read More

  • Julius Caesar A Tyrant Analysis

    461 Words  | 1 Pages

    This part of the play displays Caesar’s sexism but also his lack of thought for others concerns that are similar to a tyrant view. Lastly, Caesar subtly shows arrogance through his words to make himself feel powerful. When Calpurnia warns Caesar of her visions, Caesar starts speaking in a third person that personally seems like the zenith of someone being supercilious. “Caesar shall be forth. The things that threatened me/Ne’er looked but on my back; when they shall see/ The face of Caesar, they are vanishéd.”

    Read More

  • Success in Business: Philantropist Warren Buffet

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    Having great financial success throughout his life, Buffet strives to share his wisdom throughout his essay. Some find Buffet’s claims unreasonable and others agree with him. Experiencing similar worries of business failure as Buffet once did, I have come to conclude, like Buffet, that the financial success of a business is much more a function of the type of business in which you enter, than the way in which you try to operate the business.

    Read More

  • Tragedy Of Julius Caesar

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Fate In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    Calphurnia in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, based on Plutarch’s account of her having a nightmare where “Caesar was slain, and that she had him in her arms (“Sources” 107),” fears for her husband’s life on account of these superstitious happenings and states “O Caesar, these things are beyond all use, / And I do fear them (2.2.25-26).” Rather than being in support of these superstitions and therefore believing that fate is determined by the Gods, Calphurnia’s fear and several mentions of her physical weakness (1.2.9-11) and foolishness (2.2.110) within the play discredits the validity of such portents and omens. With these signs devalued, Shakespeare argues that it is the decisions of men alone that determines their fate and the faults of these decisions that lead to an imminent

    Read More

  • JC Argument

    926 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the following scene, Caesar is set to receive his crown. The night before, Calpurnia sees bad omens, and hopes that Caesar will stay home. On the other hand, the conspirators are planning the assassination of Caesar at the Capitol, and they need him there to receive his fate. Knowing Caesar well, Decius urges Caesar to go to the Capitol and receive his crown. Using various rhetorical devices, Calpurnia attempts to urge Caesar to stay home, while Decius tries to get Caesar to the Capitol.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the start of Act 1, Scene 2, we soon learn that Caesar is of a

    Read More

  • Superstition In Shakespeares The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    It truly must have shocked the people of that era when Caesar went to the Capitol against all warnings, because “Elizabethans generally believed that prophecies were to be taken seriously, and certainly that no prudent statesman could run the risk of ignoring them” (Ribner 58). The people of the Elizabethan era were very proper, and to see someone, even if only a character in a play, break one of the laws of nature in which they so firmly believed, was quite astounding.

    Read More

  • Human Freedom: Determinism And The Limits Of Freedom

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    In relation to internal and external constraints, there is a theory called determinism which, according to John Chaffee is “The view that every event, including human actions is brought about by previous events in accordance with universal causal laws that govern the world. Human freedom is an illusion” (P. 159). Digging deeper into determinism, we find hard determinism, which is a belief that there is absolutely no free will without a trace of doubt and everything that happens is in accordance with a cause. On the surface it may seem that hard determinism and internal/external constraints have no difference and that both beliefs are exactly the same, however, there is one obscure difference that some individuals may miss and to put it in a hypothetical situation, an individual is walking in an alley and a mugger comes and robs the individual at gunpoint, the individual is still free even with this external force present, however, the individual’s options are limited to either fighting back or being in compliance with the criminal’s demands, however, with a hard deterministic belief the individual would have had no options and would have had to do what the criminal had asked of them, ultimately leaving the individual with

    Read More

  • Negative Essay: How Does Technology Helps Our Society?

    1422 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going- so far as I can tell- but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. (Carr, pg.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Antigone And Lysistrata?

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Greek play “Antigone,” the main character is gallant despite the societal concept that women are inferior to men. An example of this occurs when Antigone and her sister Ismene are holding a conversation in which Antigone

    Read More

More about Julius Caesar

Open Document