Julius Caesar Theme Analysis Essay
Misinterpretations are the root of all tragedies, especially Julius Caesar. They have severe consequences like the loss of innocent lives, conflicts between friends, all the way to our inability to discern our friends from our foes. Each of these misinterpreting concepts is demonstrated in Julius Caesar. Cinna the poet’s death, Brutus’s betrayal, and Cassius’s misunderstanding of Titinius’s death are all scenarios that portray the theme of misinterpretation and its severe consequences.
First of all, the most important misinterpretation in this play is Caesar’s relationship with Brutus. For example, Caesar is dependent on Brutus as his utmost loyal companion, but in the end, Brutus ends up killing him. This shows that what we see is not always the reality. Caesar misinterpreted Brutus as his friend, when in actuality; Brutus was his number one enemy. In addition to that, Caesar misinterpreted Calpurnia’s dream and did not heed her advice or the bad omens that were presented. Caesar distrusted Calpurnia’s dreams and because of that, he got kille...
The play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare showcases many characters and events that go through many significant changes. One particular character that went through unique changes was Julius Caesar. The 16th century work is a lengthy tragedy about the antagonists Brutus and Cassius fighting with the protagonists Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus over the murder of Julius Caesar. Although the play’s main pushing conflict was the murder of Julius Caesar, he is considered a secondary character, but a protagonist. Throughout the theatrical work Julius Caesar’s actions, alliances, character developments, and internal and external conflicts display his diverse changes.
Throughout The Tragedy of Julius Ceaser Ceaser was depicted as being so naïve that he felt men were spontaneously right in any decision made. This proves itself in the text when Calpurnia was trying to warn Ceaser about her vivid dream of the roman people bathing in his blood...
The story “Julius Caesar” is about a man named Caesar, he is awarded crown and his friend (Brutus) decided to slay him out of fear. Brutus said that he was too ambitious and he didn't want Rome to live as slaves or farmers so he decided to kill his friend. I personally feel like this whole story was themed over fear and misconceived understandings. Brutus said himself he feared of Caesar getting the crown, he didn't know how to react to this so he decided to murder and say he wants to be seen as a healer not a murderer. This is showing signs of Misconceived understandings and fear.
The tragic flaw of naivety dooms Brutus to make a tragic error in judgment. He only joins the conspiracy because he is manipulated by C...
Calpurnia’s dream predicted Caesar’s death well, after being stabbed by all of his friends and bleeding to death, the men that killed him bathed in his blood happily thinking Rome will be safe. The omen of Caesar’s ghost visiting Brutus represented Brutus’s death. Caesar said “I will see you in Philippi,” meaning he will see Brutus at the place of the battle and watch him die, which he did. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar had the ongoing theme of Fate versus Free Will, but it seemed that fate was mostly shown.
In William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Julius Caesar we find that when a leader is wrongfully murdered absolute political chaos ensues. Brutus our protagonist is the poster child for the position of tragic hero, the one who starts off in such a high position and winds up with nothing, but he can only blame himself. As he and several other conspirators plot to kill Caesar for no logical reason other than lust and Caesar’s ambition. He justifies his actions through fallacies and illogical thoughts and his downfall is that he is eventually slain in the same manor as his victim. Brutus has several character flaws that he is unable to over come and this among the cunning of his political enemies leads to his downfall.
The idea of ignorance, and the belief of a false faith, turns this noble man into a vulgar grave, with virtuous notions. Brutus’ ignorance creates an expectation that develops a path that leads him awry. When Brutus mentions, “I would not love Cassius; yet I love him well” (1.2.81-88 ), he portrays his internal conflict. Brutus depicts the struggle between Cassius’ acquisitions and Caesar’s actions.
He is a dreamer let him pass” is a line which emphasises Caesar’s arrogant nature linking back to his insistence of personal superiority over others. This is again seen through the repetition of “Caesar”, where he says his name in third person, the use of Illeism which highlights his idiosyncratic behaviour that isn’t fit for a humanist. “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars” is also ironic in the it highlights both Caesar’s gullible nature and Brutus’s virtue’s nature in which the phrase “dear Brutus” acts also as an extended metaphor for queen Elizabeth’s
To begin with, none of the characters had all good or bad actions. Some will quickly point out how Caesar’s ambition made him a bad leader or how Brutus only joined the conspiracy for the good of Rome. Yet, the play opens with people celebrating Caesar and his triumph over Pompey. Flavius even states “It is no matter; let no images/Be hung with Caesar’s trophies. . .” (Shakespeare, 2003 p. 778) and the Feast of Lupercal is celebrating Caesar’s latest victory. This evidence suggests that Caesar has had a very successful career as a general. Additionally, in his will Caesar leaves to the Roman people land for recreation and 75 drachmas per person (Shakespeare, 2003 p. 840). While some may see this as a power play on Caesar’s part, he
...scene of Caesar; however, Antony never shows at the murder. Also, Antony compares the conspirators to irrational and beastly animals, and he retells the scene of Caesar’s death. Multiple people deceive others in order to manipulate them. Decius inaccurately explains Calphurnia’s dream, and he motivates Caesar to travel to the Capitol; as a result, Caesar dies. In a manipulative oration given by Antony, he manipulates the plebeians; the capricious plebeians decide they want to kill the murderers of Caesar. In the end of the play, Antony claims that Brutus exhibits an honorable man, and he explains that he favors Brutus. Octavius ends the play, and he agrees with Antony’s declaration of the honor of Caesar. Although manipulation frequently never ends in death, people today use manipulation for one’s own advantage: abusively, deceptively, cunningly, and aggressively.
Throughout this play, readers see what the motives of Cassius, Brutus, and Antony drive each of them to do, and how this affects their outcomes. Though these motives did not lead to a tragic downfall for each of these characters, motives are often taken too far. They prove to be so strong that they blind characters from making educated decisions and having a sense of rationality. The many deaths in this play all started out with one person being motivated to do something, and one things leads to another. Motivation fueled by loyalty can be just as dangerous as motivation fueled by hatred. The strength of that motivation is what can really make it dangerous, and cause lives to be lost.
Shakespeare shows Caesar to be, what you could say, a contradiction. The audience see how Caesar respects Antony's soldier-ship yet still fights him; they see how he clearly loves his sister, but uses her unscrupulously as a political device; and they are shown how he is very rational and dull, yet he surprisingly tells his soldiers, as well as some Egyptians about how he would parade the defeated Cleopatra. He wants to do this because he feels that 'her life in Rome would be eternal in our triumph.' This shows the reader how Caesar has strong emotional outcries, which contrasts his initial characteristics.
In the famed author William Shakespeare’s playwright Julius Caesar, we are introduced to an extraordinary plot of a powerful ruler, Julius Caesar, who gained power through astonishing victories and remarkable strategies but fell victim to betrayal. The betrayal that led to his demise was led by some of the very people that surrounded him the most, even some people that he considered as friends. The theme of betrayal and the notion of friendship and its validity are both topics that are worth examining but perhaps the most prevalent topic that drives this plot is the image of Caesar. Caesar ascended into power after a long period in Rome where the rise of tyranny had been fought systematically and physically. He had to not only be a powerful leader but also a wise politician when it came to his decisions. His image tarnishes more and more as his power increases and he too chases after it. He becomes so ambitious over power that he begins to feel immortal and free from danger. His conspirators do not just want him out of power for the simple sake of it but because some of them, either persuaded or not, earnestly believed that Julius Caesar’s death would save Rome not hurt it. What makes this playwright’s so extraordinary is not the dynamic drama alone, but also the depiction of Julius Caesar and how even in the monstrosity of his murder, his image was still arguable causing division amongst men. Although William Shakespeare has, for a very long time now, been known for his great writings it is clear that he himself depicted a ruler that would win favor in the eyes of the great Italian political philosopher and writer Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli but not the profound Italian writer Baldassare Castiglione. Both writers wrote ab...
The first part of the play is structured so as the reader to sense the build-up of tension taking place before the death of Caesar, reaching its climax with the assassination of Caesar and, later, when the angry mob attacks Cinna the poet, in Act III Scene III. This increasing tension is deeply related with one of the main themes of the play, “Fate versus Free Will”, because, all along with the different omens that are revealed by different characters in the course of the play, it contributes to the idea that some things are sort of pre-established, like if there was a superior power deciding the destiny of the characters .The play seems to support a philosophy in which fate and freedom maintain a delicate coexistence. Portia and Calpurnia, representing Women, are an important part of this theme since, in the beginning of the play; they are the ones that are more frightened about what may happen to their husbands. Portia fears something terrible would be taking place because of the strange behaviour her husband was having at the time. Calpurnia, on the other hand, is a character in deep relation with this theme, due to the dreams she has foreseeing the death of her husband:
...ed a vital role in the novel was when the fearfully voiced her opinion on whether Caesar should go to the Senate and when she was reported to have had a dream in which she, “…in her sleep cried out, ‘Help, ho! They murder Caesar!’ Who’s within?” (Act 2, ii, 3-4). Foreshadowing the murder of her husband, and begging him to not go out, Calpurnia essentially controlled the fate of Caesar. It is remarkable to think that if Caesar had only listened to his wife, the entire course of the story would have been dramatically different.