The Role of Minor Conspirators in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

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The Role of Minor Conspirators in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar the supporting role

of the minor conspirators has a great impact on the major conspirators.

Just as women often embolden powerful men of society, the minor

conspirators embolden the major conspirators, greatly affecting the outcome

of the play.

One of the most important minor conspirators of the play is Decius,

who was responsible for bringing Caesar to the capitol on the day of the

assassination. The entire conspiracy almost failed because on the night

before the assassination was to be carried out, during the storm, Caesar's

wife Calpurnia had a dream about Caesar being killed, and she had convinced

him to remain home the next day. When Decius arrived at Caesar's home in

the morning to take him to the capitol he realized that he must convince

Caesar that he had misinterpreted his wife's dream so Caesar would go as

planned. Decius needed to make Caesar realize that his wife, the

soothsayer, and all of the omens were purely coincidental which he did by

interpreting Calpurnia's dream with a double meaning, "Your statue spouting

blood in many pipes, in which so many smiling Romans bathed, signifies that

from you great Rome shall suck reviving blood, and that great men shall

press for tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance." (JC. II. ii. 85-90).

Decius successfully executed his role in the conspiracy which led to the

assassination of Caesar.

Another very influential minor conspirator was Cinna, who aided in

persuading Brutus to join the conspiracy. Getting Brutus involved in the

conspiracy was crucial because of his close relationship with Caesar and

his prominence with both the senators and the common people. Cinna was

assigned, by Cassius, the task of delivering a flattering letter to Brutus

to which he responded, "Well, I will hie, and so bestow theses papers as

you bade me" (JC. I. iii. 150-151). Cassius and the rest of the

conspirators realized how beneficial Brutus would be to their conspiracy,

so when Cinna played a large role in getting him involved, the plot was

greatly influenced.

The third minor conspirator who significantly influenced the course

of the play was Casca. Casca was the first person that told the rest of

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