The Psychological Approach analyzes characters based on Freud’s conception of the human psyche-- id, ego, superego-- as well as relationships and conflicts within the story. In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare develops Marc Antony and Brutus using these two methods; Marc Antony convinces the town people to revolt by controlling his id and ego, while Brutus is developed as honorable through his relationship with Cassius, his reputation, his progression from being manipulated to standing up for himself, and the choices he makes in difficult positions, such as whether or not to kill Caesar
After Marc Antony’s speech, he convinces the town people to revolt against the conspirators by controlling ego and not letting his id overrun him. “The id is the primitive urge to seek pleasure without concern for boundaries” (Losh). The conspirators killed Caesar, who Antony loved very much. It is possible that his id compelled him to want revenge on the conspirators. The ego, which deals with the part of the mind interacting with the environment and people, would make Antony rationalize and realize that he couldn’t kill the conspirators, but he could get other people to, like the mob. Knowing this, Antony could have intentionally convinced the mob to revolt against the conspirators, but he couldn’t just come out and tell them to. He had to make them want to kill the conspirators, and think that it was their idea by addressing their ids. If Antony got the mob on his side about Caesar, they would feel betrayed by the conspirators and their ids would make them want immediate revenge. By convincing the townspeople that Caesar was a great man and leader, and that he didn’t deserve being killed for the reasons that the conspirators gave, Antony got the mob...
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...very noble Roman bears of you” (II, i, LINEE!!!!). It is possible that he wants to maintain this reputation so that he is well liked, and can have some control over the people.
Works Cited
Heller, Agnes. "Julius Caesar." The Time Is Out of Joint: Shakespeare as Philosopher of History. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002. 311-335. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Vol. 115. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 Dec. 2010.
Losh, Elizabeth. "Sigmund Freud." Twentieth-Century European Cultural Theorists: Second Series. Ed. Paul Hansom. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 296. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Jan. 2011.
O’Dair, Sharon. "Social role and the making of identity in Julius Caesar." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 33.2 (1993): 289+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 Dec 2010.
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.
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.
McManus, Barbara F. "Julius Caesar: Historical Background." Vroma. N.p., Mar. 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
Shakespeare, William. "The Death and Life of Julius Caesar." www.shakespeare.mit.edu. N.P., n.d. Web. 22 Feb 2016. ;.
Contemporary Psychology, 36, 575-577. Freud, S. (1961). The Species of the World. The Complete Works of Sigmund Freud. London: The Hogarths.
McManus, Barbara F. "Julius Caesar: Historical Background." Vroma. N.p., Mar. 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, is the story of a man trying his best to
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
Alvin B. Kernan. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009. Print.
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.
First of all, there is Antony, a raging triumvir after the death of Caesar. Anotony is a dear friend of Caesar and is truly devastated after his beloved friend's death. Antony feels that justice must take its course, for over Caesar's dead body he states, "O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth/ That I am meek and gentle with these butchers" (3.1. ). Antony then decides that he must get back at the conspirators and convince the public that the motives behind killing Caesar were unjust. In funeral speech Antony even makes it a point to refute what Brutus said in speech moments ago. However, the nether neither the public nor the conspirators comprehend his motive at first. Antony appears like he is just presenting another side to the story, but in reality he is refuting Brutus' speech and swaying the public towards his side. During his speech he even states, "I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke" (3.2. ). To the conspirators Antony appears like "one of Caesar's many limbs"( ). In reality he is plotting revenge.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar." Houghton Mifflin Company. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, 1994.
“Where Id is, there ego shall be” (Freud, S.S. 1932). This is particularly relevant for the play Othello by William Shakespeare. In Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality, he stated that the human psyche is a tripartite model composed of three elements. This psychoanalytic theory is extremely applicable to the Othello. The three main characters of this text of Othello have a remarkable resemblance to Freud’s analysis of human psyche, despite the fact that these two texts were written in different eras. Furthermore, the setting of Othello is also congruent with the concept of the human mind as a known and predictable conscious part and an unknown and sinister unconscious mind. Overall, Othello mirrors Freud’s psychoanalytical criticism concepts almost exactly. However, there are some facets of this text which refute Freudian Psychoanalysis.
Allen, Janet. "Julius Caesar." Holt McDougal Literature. Orlando, FL: Holt McDougal/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. N. pag. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Elements of Literature. Ed. Edwina McMahon et al. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1997.