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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Elements of Literature: Fourth Course
Tragedy of julius caesar
Tragedy of julius caesar
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William Shakespeare's Presentation of Octavius Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra
Shakespeare portrays Octavius Caesar as a very complex character in
'Antony and Cleopatra.' Shakespeare shows the audience how he has very
strong feelings about War, leadership, the relationship between Antony
and Cleopatra, and his sister Octavia. These attitudes can be seen as
being too rational, too ambitious, and too efficient. However it is
these characteristics which in some ways, form the particular contrast
with Antony, which shows us his complex character, which also
contributes to the conflicts which arise in the play. Shakespeare is
very clever in the portrayal of Caesar; he uses Caesar as a foil for
Antony, however he is a character in his own right.
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. The first impressions the audience gains of Caesar
show him to be a complete contrast to what the audiences have
previously observed about Antony, one of the other leaders in the
Triumvirate.
Caesar is very strong-minded about leadership, and prioritises rules
and regulations over lov...
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...akespeare has portrayed Caesar in
'Antony and Cleopatra' he has a large impact into the tension in the
play, due to his contradicting views and attitudes. It is clear how
complex the character of Caesar is. The way, in which Corin Redgrave
portrayed the character of Octavius Caesar in the 1975 Royal
Shakespeare Company performance, has increasingly helped to clarify
certain ideas, which arose in the play. His blank, rather monotone
appearance, and his limited sign of facial expressions throughout the
entire play gave the impression that the character of Caesar is dull,
boring and rather more concerned with tactics and war, which does
oppose the ideals and attitudes of Antony, and it is these contrasting
views and methods of work which enable the audience to understand and
recognise the complexity of Caesar's character.
Persuasion is a natural method many people use to influence a person's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviors in a situation. Many include, bribing parents to buy clothes to even lending someone money. Either way, people all over the world use words or phrases to convince or sway a person into believing them. Just as many people have used rhetorical appeals to persuade someone, Anthony also uses the rhetorical appeals; heartfelt pathos, questionable logos and evident ethos in William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar to convince his audience that Caesar was not ambitious and that Caesar was innocent
In life, people and things are not always as they appear. William Shakespeare displays this idea throughout his play, Julius Caesar. The play portrays the historical murder of one of ancient Rome's most precious leaders, Julius Caesar. The play takes its readers through the minds of the conspirators as they plot this massive murder and deal with the responsibilities of its consequences. During the aftermath of Caesar's death, Octavius talks to Antony about how they should bring peace back to Rome. He states, "And some that smile...have in their hearts...millions of mischiefs" (4.1.50-51). Here, Octavius is referring to the false appearance of the conspirators. He says that they might appear harmless, but behind their false smiles is a heart full of dirty tricks. He is also saying that someone's outward appearance doesn't always symbolize how he or she feels inside. This theme of appearance versus reality can be seen various times throughout Julius Caesar. It is developed through the personalities and actions of Antony, Brutus, and Cassius. These characters deceive their friends and add to the intriguing plot of the play.
Shortly before his death Caesar was given several warnings throughout ActsⅡand Ⅲ , however he still went to meet with the Senate due to the fact he thought he was needed. He had an alliance with his adopted sons and valued soldiers Octavius and Antony. The play is about the events that follow his death making him an important secondary character that also portrays a protagonist. Caesar faced many conflicts throughout his lifetime, some internal and some external. He fought a war against Pompey ,which lead to conspirators plotting his death, and he was troubled by the fact that his wife could not provide him with a child. He showcased this by publicly asking Antony to touch her as he passed her, hoping that this would bring healing to her barren womb. He also went through several character changes. When he returned from war, he returned believing that the people would be ecstatic to have him as an emperor. Nonetheless when the people of Rome did not respond the way he expected he knew he had to play on their emotions. He did this by refusing the crown three times and by offering to kill himself to prove his honesty and trustworthiness. This gave him the desired effect, so he returned to knowing that the crowd wanted him as a king. The driving force of the play was the unfortunate murder of Caesar or what happened afterwards. Throughout this play many of the characters go through many unique changes, although Julius Caesar experienced some very significant character changes. The theatrical work exhibits Julius Caesar’s actions, alliances, character developments, and internal and external conflicts which in turn showcase his various changes. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a brilliant piece of work that thoroughly covers the story of Julius Caesar, a protagonistic secondary character. Julius Caesar was the unofficial emperor of Rome. He was a war General and he fought
Henry is also made to look powerful by the way he is treated by people
Cassius is the greatest manipulator in the play, Julius Caesar. Cassius, an envious and ambitious man, believed that the ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar, had too much power over the senate and the people. To put an end to what he considered to be conspiracy, he fabricated a plan to eradicate Caesar for the sake of Rome. Cassius uses manipulation as his weapon of attack using Brutus as the target. Cassius succeeds in persuading Brutus, one of Caesar’s good friends, to join their plot. Cassius uses flattery, self-gain, and the people of Rome to manipulate Brutus into his likings.
Imagine a world where women were completely subservient to men. Imagine what it would be like to live in a society where women were home-schooled, and not allowed to attend any type of university. What would today’s society be like if women lawyers, doctors, actors, and military soldiers were nonexistent? It would be a modern day version of the Elizabethan era in England. This was a time period where women had little rights, but the dramatic arts flourished due to Queen Elizabeth’s appreciation for them. It was during this time period that literary genius William Shakespeare wrote his many plays including The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Living in this time period caused him to look at women in a somewhat submissive way and portray them as so.
Tragedies in the Greek theater when compared to tragedies in the Renaissance theater varied in similarities and differences. Greek theater encouraged the use of religious figures while Renaissance theater was supposed to be strictly pagan in its ideologies. Theater was most dominantly used to depict the social and religious constraints of the time period. For example, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex are both portrayals of deceit, murder, and revenge all of which lead to the demise of its leading characters. Hamlet is depicted as a young man who is seeking revenge for his fathers death. Oedipus is a king who means to free the people of Thebes from a disease that has been plaguing them. They share similarities in that each of their love interest are conduits of their pain and anguish, further pushing the protagonists over the precipice. The voice of reason that they share is Creon in Oedipus Rex and Horatio in Hamlet. Their tragic flaw is that they are both ultimately and utterly doomed and no amount of guidance will steer them away from what has been predestined by fate. They are ultimately doomed to be their own Achilles heel.
One of Shakespeare’s great pieces of work, Hamlet, has been divided to alternate versions Quarto 1and Quarto 2. Focusing on Act I Scene iii, apparently the differences in these two versions are mainly on the way the characters are formed and the language that is used. Quarto 1 is a much more compact version that has weakly defined characters and uninformed language. As for Quarto 2 this lack of complexity is not so. This version has a higher quality of character depth and a language that is more comprehensible to allow more meaning to the play. Nonetheless the mutuality between these two versions main idea are clearly the significant mutilations to these scene are factors that make the play have a different meaning. The Quarto that would be most appealing to actors and the one that would be more fulfilling to the reader would be the second one because of it richness in characters and language.
In the play Julius Caesar, written and preformed by William Shakespeare, there are many characters, but two, Brutus and Cassius, stood out. The play begins in Rome where a celebration of Julius Caesar's victory over the former ruler of Rome, Pompeii. The victory leads to Caesar's betrayal by his jealous companions. Senators and other high status figures are jealous of Caesar's new and growing power, while others, like Brutus, fear the tyrannical rule Caesar could enforce. The conspirators, Brutus and Cassius being the most important, assassinate Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius, better known as Antony, and Octavius Caesar, Caesar's heir to the thrown, revenge Caesar's death. Antony convinces the Roman populous to destroy the conspirators and eventually begins a war with Cassius and Brutus' armies. Both Cassius and Brutus commit suicide to save their honor and Antony and Octavius win the war. The characterizations of Brutus and Cassius show a distinct contrast in their character traits and motives for the assassination of Julius Caesar.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is an intimate portrayal of the famed assassination of Julius Caesar and the complex inner workings of the men who committed the crime. In one particularly revealing scene, two of the men closest to Caesar, one a conspirator in his murder and one his second-in command, give orations for the deceased. Despite being simple in appearance, these two speeches do much of the work in developing and exposing the two characters in question. Though both have a love for Caesar, Mark Antony's is mixed with a selfish desire for power, while Brutus' is pure in nature, brought to a screeching halt by his overpowering stoicism. These starkly-contrasted personalities influence the whole of the play, leading to its tragic-but-inevitable end.
In modern society, it is more common to hear of one choosing to die, rather than withstand pain. From soldiers with PTSD committing suicide, to cancer patients seeking euthanasia, and teens overwhelmed with the trials of becoming an adult, death is often seen as a relief. However, every so often, one hears of a brave soul who endures the pain with patience.
In the original play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is funneled into a situation where he feels obligated to avenge his murdered father. Disease imagery is evident all throughout the play ranging from the beginning with the King’s ghost, to the end with Hamlet’s confrontation with his mother. Through disease imagery, William Shakespeare illustrates the human nature of corruption that drives an individual to benefit his own greed at the expense of others.
Antony. Shakespeare proves this play a tragedy by selecting characteristics of ill-fated lovers in Antony and Cleopatra. Poor Antony turns victim to Cleopatra's enslavement, and forgets his duties in Rome. Antony is a disgrace to his Roman self, and "loses" himself to dotage" of Cleopatra. He also forgets of his marriage to Caesars sister Octavia flees back to Egypt, to Cleopatra.
This movie’s portrayal of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra is historically accurate. For example, Julius Caesar visits Alexandria, he finds himself in the middle of the dispute between Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII, portrayed by Anthony Harvey. After the death of Ptolemy XII Auletes, Cleopatra is forced by ancient Egyptian custom to marry her brother Ptolemy XIII. Once Ptolemy sees that Cleopatra wants the throne to herself, he drives her away. At the beginning of the movie, Cleopatra meets Julius Caesar in hopes that he will help her become the sole ruler of Egypt. In order to get an audience with Caesar, Cleopatra gets her servant to wrap her up in a carpet and rush her to Caesar to plead her case. Fortunately for Cleopatra, Julius Caesar takes her side on the ordeal and teaches her fearlessness and leadership. As Cleopatra and Caesar spend more and more time together, their relationship as lovers begins to flourish. Although Julius Caesar and Cleopatra loved each other, she also had a special place in her heart for Mark Antony. In fact, Cleopatra and Mark Antony eventually married- to the dismay of the Romans- and had 2 children. A war eventually breaks out and Julius Caesar is called to fight with his men. Before he leaves for the war, Julius Caesar is notified that the Great Library of Alexandria caught fire due to the raging warfare. Caesar displays a nonchal...
“To be or not to be” (3.1.56) the famous lines known far and wide from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The play, Hamlet, is about how King Hamlet of Denmark has died and his son Prince Hamlet returns for his funeral only to hear that the guards have seen the ghost of his father. This mysterious appearance intrigues the young Hamlet and so he goes to see the ghost and when he does, the ghost tells him that he is the spirit of his late father and that he did not die naturally. Continuing on the ghost tells Hamlet that he was actually murdered by his brother and Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius. Vowing to avenge his father’s death Hamlet sets out upon elaborate schemes to confirm that Claudius did indeed kill his father. As the play progresses Hamlet slowly seems to become insane, during one of his rampages while he was with his mother, he stabbed Polonius through a curtain killing him. Polonius’ death set Laertes, Polonius’ son, on revenge on the murderer and in doing so Claudius and Laertes joined in arms to make Hamlet disappear from the world. To ensure Hamlet would die Laertes poisoned his fencing sword and Claudius poisoned a chalice. In the end they all died from poisoning from the sword or from the chalice. Shakespeare provided dimension upon dimension for Hamlet, he created a character as real as could be. His character was an educated witty, indecisive, suicidal, and insane gentleman.