Julius Caesar Analysis

Julius Caesar is a play written by an extremely famous playwright and poet, William Shakespeare. Julius Caesar is based on the true story of Gaius Julius Caesar (July 100 BC [1] – 15 March 44 BC) who was killed by a group of men that was lead by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus.

There have been many famous leaders in Roman history but none could match Julius Caesar[See Figure 1]. Julius Caesar was born on July 13, 100 BC in Rome and died March 15, 44 BC in Rome. Julius Caesar is best known for his military mind and how he laid the framework for the Roman Republic. One of the quotes he is famous for is "I came, I saw, I conquered." Caesar has not just influenced Rome, he also influenced the world too. The Roman Calendar was rigged to help political purposes. Caesar devised a new Calendar called the Julian Calendar to combat that manipulation[See Figure 2]. The Calendar still has an influence in Eastern Orthodox Christian countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Greece and much more. That is only one out of many

Brutus is a betrayer. He stabs his best friend, Caesar after conspiring against him with a group of others. However, many people would disagree on my opinion. They say that Brutus was doing what was right for his country and that he HAD to stab his best friend to save Rome.

A death of a hero; the fate chosen for the protagonist in most dramatic tragedies. Though, in William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’, there are two characters that are given this outcome; Julius Caesar and Marcus Brutus. With the most potential, the self-titled, Julius Caesar possesses the characteristics that label him as this Tragic Hero. Caesar’s tragic flaw is hubris when he acknowledges himself. The insight of others that observe Caesar, prove his high ranking. Caesar also struggles with internal conflict when he makes key decisions in the play. By examining his tragic flaw, high rank, and internal conflict, Julius Caesar is clearly the tragic hero in this tragedy.

“Julius Caesar”, a play by William Shakespeare, constantly is unclear about who is in the right and provokes ambiguity, yet sometimes, it evokes deep pathos and divides the audience into two parts based on the audience’s personality. There were many choices to be made in the text; most of the important one’s , such as Caesar’s, are decisions that can swing in both directions. This also applies to the first scene of Caesar’s triumph. On the contrary, the moving speeches of Brutus and Antony at Caesar’s funeral will divide the audience into two. Without emotions, most events are ambiguous, but as sentiments allow the text to connect more personally with the audience, a rift is created within it.

The Shakespearean play featuring a man being stabbed 23 times to death, “Julius Caesar,” is quite unique in many perspectives, because unlike most plays, this play has a plot that deals with controversial events, leaving the bulk of the readers in a state of ambiguity and division. The scene where Julius Caesar was stabbed is ambiguous, because it is a good thing for the people, but the way he was murdered is much too brutal. Whether or not Brutus should have joined the conspiracy to kill Caesar divides the audience, since it is unclear if it was beneficial or detrimental to the people of Rome. The audience is also divided on their perception of Caesar, due to his actions that could be interpreted as both arrogance or confidence. These three points demonstrate that the play’s flexible plot line opens itself up for the audiences’ own interpretation.

Caius Cassius of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is an old friend of Caesar who resents the idea of Caesar being crowned as king. Feeling that he himself is an equal and possibly better ruler than Caesar he devises a plan. Cassius’s motives of plotting against Caesar stem from jealousy, and Cassius deems Caesar as unworthy of becoming Rome’s king. Cassius devises a plan to rid of Caesar through his envy, intelligence, and manipulative actions. Cassius is envious of Caesar and senses that he is unfit to rule Rome.

Mahatma Gandhi once said “There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.” This quote illustrates the idea that man must live longer with his conscience than with a simple decision made in a courtroom. The distinction between right and wrong must be derived from one’s morals, not the rulings of the state. This concept of conscience conquering law can be applied to works of literature such as the Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone and Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men.

The narrator insults the crowd for turning their loyalty from Pompey to Caesar who has just captured power through forceful destruction. Cassius visits Brutus and urges him to join the conspiracy mission to kill Caesar (Velz 55). The Brutus a friend to Caesar is hesitant to participate in the brutal killing of their leader. After learning that Antony has offered to crown Caesar as the King of Rome in three different occasions but the he consistently rejected the offer, Brutus agrees to join the conspirators. The analysis of the reaction of Brutus towards the assassination of Caesar clearly indicates the incidence of open betrayal by close people in the society (Velz 55).

Why should that name be sounded more than yours?” (1.2.147-150) By boosting Brutus’s ego, Cassius manipulated him to join the conspirators, turning Brutus against Caesar unknowingly, which creates the theme of betrayal. The conspirators first meeting later on reveals their true intent, furthering the theme of manipulation as Brutus was not aware of the group’s intentions. After Caesar’s violent death, Marc Antony decided to speak to Rome’s citizens in hopes of revealing the truth behind Brutus’s back.

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare have many characters throughout the play, but the ones that stand out the most is Mark Antony and Brutus. Mark Antony and Brutus gave speeches at Caesar funeral because they both want to rule even though Brutus is the one who murdered him. Their both are loyal to him and Caesar was good friends with them, even liked them both. There was only one person Caesar did not like and that was Cassius, they didn't like each other which is why Cassius had Brutus kill Caesar because he told him that Caesar was abusing his power making him not like him anymore. What starts he conflict in the play was Caesar death and both Mark Antony and Brutus disagree with who rules making them give a speech causing a lot of conflict between them for what they believe in what is right for Rome and the people.

William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is generally focused on the assassination of Julius Caesar. Caesar valued Rome highly and did not have any intentions of abusing personal power. On the other hand, Brutus and Cassius craved power and their way of pursuing it was to assassinate Caesar. Moreover, Brutus feared that Caesar would rule as a tyrant which, he thought, would not be best for Rome. Brutus supposedly foresaw that Caesar would rule, but not with the desire to treat his people fairly.

William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a tragedy, set during the rise of the Roman Empire and is about the murder of Julius Caesar and how it affects Rome. Julius Caesar, a Roman general, is killed by conspirators. Brutus, a supporter of the Roman Republic, he betrays Caesar by murdering him. Cassius, an instigator to the killing of Caesar, manipulates Brutus into killing Caesar. Julius Caesar is murdered by Brutus, Cassius and other Roman senators due to them assuming that he would dictate Rome. Because of them killing Caesar, Brutus goes through a deep psychological change. Brutus goes there an internal struggle that ultimately leads to his death.

Two Roman men named Flavius and Marullus see the common people parading in the streets instead of working in their shops. They tell them that they need to know why the men aren’t working. A man informs them that people are celebrating Caesar's victory. Murellus is very upset by this and then calls the workers, "you blocks, you stones" Act1 Scene1 line 34.Then he tells them that Caesar hasn’t hurt an enemy but Caesar killed the boys of Pompey the Great. Pompey used to rule Rome with Caesar until their own group fell apart then they went to battle over the right to rule.

For anyone that has found their way to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, they know it is pretty easy to get caught up in a range of different emotions, ranging from anger, all the way to revengeful. At times, I found myself cringing at only the thought of some of these characters, and with others, I found myself secretly rooting for them. Through these emotions, we tend to develop certain feelings towards the different characters, whether it be a certain liking or disliking towards them. Personally, I had quite the difficulty depicting from who I thought deserved to be titled as the best and who deserved to be labeled unhonorable. Though through looking over and analyzing this play, I have found my reasonings as to who reins my favorite and who stands on the opposing side.