The Structure of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

The Structure of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

The structure of the tragedy is chronological, in the sense that the different situations that take place are in order, despite the fact that Shakespeare, in some cases, cuts the time between an event and the other so as to be able to cover from the time the conspiracy is planned until the death of Brutus.

However, the different themes of the play contribute to its structuring, in various ways.

According to Marvin Speavock and other critics on Shakespeare, the play presents a “two-peak action”, meaning that the play is divided in two different parts: the first three acts on one side, and the last two on the others. This division makes sense, specially when considering how the tragedy unfolds.

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:

“Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies,

Yet now they fright me. There is one within,

Besides the things that we have heard and seen,

Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.

A lioness hath whelped in the streets,

And graves have yawned and yielded up their dead.”

The second part of the play consists mainly on “the increasing political and military unrest […] the growing isolation of Brutus, the swift ascent and yet almost programmed decline of Antony against […] Octavius, the climatic battles […] and the final submission of Brutus”.