Conspiracy In Othello And Catiline

My fellow senators, if I may begin by bringing attention to the issue at hand. We speak of Catiline and his crimes, and what should be done to defend Rome from his devious plots of insurrection. I have heard several of his followers speak before me, and they seem to disregard the accusations against the very man that leads them. His proposals are not the matter we are currently discussing. How can you speak of highly of reforms without voicing defense of the man who proposed them? He, who has been accused of attempted assassination upon our presiding magistrate? Even worse, he denies his involvement in the face of his failure. Unlike the brave Gaius Mucius Scaevola, Catiline will not show honor by thrusting his hand into the fire and facing these accusations as a true Roman should. Instead, he proves himself to be a coward by hiding in claims that the assassination was never attempted; or, at least, not by him.

“It must be by his death; and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general. He would be crowned” (Act II, Scene i, Line 10-12). In this quote, Brutus has solidified part of his reason to join the conspiracy and kill Caesar. Throughout the first two acts of Julius Caesar, Brutus struggles with an extremely difficult decision. He can either join the conspiracy or allow Caesar to be crowned. During the first and second act, Brutus’s thoughts change periodically about the whole situation. By the end of Act II, he persuades himself to cross over to the group that will take Caesar out of power. Therefore, he is completely and utterly convinced that Caesar must die before rising to power.

Another reason why Caesar should not be killed by the conspirators was because honours were offered to him; he did not use force to gain them. When Antonius read Caesar's will, he said that Caesar did not seize these honours by force, like a tyrant...he did not even ask for them. We gave these honours freely to those who deserve them. In fact, Caesar neither dared to thrust the honours all aside, for fear of being thought contemptuous, nor could he be safe when he accepted them. Caesar showed that he did not intend to gain honours when Caesar dedicated the diadem, offered by

     Cicero was a member of the Senate during the time of Catiline’s Conspiracy. His life was

" If this man alone were put to death, I know that this disease of the Republic would be only checked for a while, not eradicated forever." Cicero then turns to declaring Catiline and his fellow conspirators a disease and that would merely lie dormant in the veins of Rome.(Safire 263) Through use of such imagery Cicero successfully depicts his concerns with the handling of Catiline and his fears of the future. To further Cicero's imagery of Catiline and his fellow conspirators I will address them as a cancer. Cicero's reasoning is that it is easier to cut out a cancer when it is located in a single area. Allow the cancer to spread and it now becomes intertwined with the fabric of society, not only making it harder to remove but infecting the

Cicero was a member of the Senate during the time of Catiline's Conspiracy. His life was many times in danger due to Catiline's hatred of him. His piece shows a first-hand point of view of the whole situation. Cicero, in The First Speech Against Lucius Sergius Catilina, delivers a speech proposing what actions should be made to stop Catiline.

In 1599 the famous English writer, William Shakespeare, wrote the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. The story takes place toward the end of the Roman Republic in 44 BC in Ancient Rome. The play follows the words and actions of the Roman senators, plebeians and their emperor Julius Caesar. As the story begins, readers find out the many of the senators are not pleased with Caesar as a ruler of the Roman people. Two characters, Brutus and Cassius are especially passionate about killing Caesar to end his rule. Through discussing plans and creating alliances, the senators get their way and murder Caesar on the foreshadowed Ides of March. One question that comes up while reading the play is was Caesar’s assassination really justified by the murderers? Although he did show signs of hubris, or excessive pride, Caesar’s assassination by the conspirators was not justified because their reasons were based on theories and biased opinions, Caesar was a good man, and his murder was committed for the good of the people killing him and not for the good of Rome.

Julius Caesar (100-44BC) was one of the greatest men produced by ancient Rome and he remains today a famous personality in world history (Barlow 2005). The conspirators were wrong to murder Julius Caesar in three ways. Firstly, they were morally wrong in the removal of Caesar. Secondly, they failed to consider a practical benefit to Rome in the murder of Caesar, resulting in only more problems. Lastly and most importantly, the conspirators were wrong to murder Julius Caesar because they placed their interests before those of Rome.

Caesar possessed too much power. They said he was becoming a threat to the Roman Republic,

In Julius Caesar corruption led to dangerous outcomes, such as death. "Et tu, Brute? Then fall Caesar!" (Shakespeare 3.1.77). The last words of noble Caesar could be heard, as Brutus, the last of the conspirators, took a plunge at Caesar with his knife. Caesar laying there on the senate floor, illustrated the murderous intentions of the senators.

By ignoring the decrees of the Republic in an effort to become an autocrat, he undermined the Roman political system through murder, deceit, and lawlessness. However, moral integrity is not the only thing lost by Gaius Julius Caesar.

Caesar ends up being murdered after ignoring all of the warnings. Caesar ignores all of the warnings about not coming to the Senate House on March 15th. It ends up being the day he gets brutally murdered. Stabbed to death by people he thought to be his friends. The conspirators are Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Trebonius, Ligarius, Decius, Metellus, and Cinna. Julius Caesar sits in his chair like usual and is approached by none other than one of the conspirators Metellus and he says “Is there no voice more worthy than my own, To sound more sweetly in great Caesar’s ear For the repealing of my banished brother?” (937). While Metellus is asking this all of the other conspirators are getting closer surrounding Caesar and joining in, in the asking for Publius Cimber to return. The conspirators know that this is an outrageous thing to ask of Caesar and are just using it as a guise to get closer to Caesar

In this play, Julius Caesar returns to Rome to find that he has the unconditional support of the Plebeians. As he gains more power, his friends worry that he will completely take over the city, and so they conspire with one another to kill him. Preceding the attack, the conspirators notice many strange occurrences in Rome, such as a “lion who looked at [them] and strutted by without bothering to attack,” a “threatening” and “destructive” storm, and a “common slave” whose “hand did flame and burn.” The conspirators perceive these bizarre circumstances as omens that they should kill Caesar and quickly carry out their plan. When the conspirators confront him, they stab him thirty-three times, and then announce his death to the citizens of Rome, expecting a positive response but receiving the opposite. Rome is plunged into violence as the plebeians attempt to find the conspirators responsible for Caesar’s death. Citizens swarm the streets of their city, killing innocent people, such as Cinna the Poet, believing that they are among the group of people responsible for killing Caesar. This violence and death represents the weak condition that Rome continues in throughout the play. Caesar’s body represents the body of Rome, and when he is wounded, the entire city feels wounded as well. The chaos that Rome undergoes after Caesar’s death is symbolic of his importance to the city. The

When the conspirators were discussing plan on how they should preceed on killing Caesar , Brutus made it very apparent on how the killing should go, stating “Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully. / Let’s carve him as a dish fit for gods, / Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds.” This meant that Brutus loved Caesar enough to respect his remains and not have the murder perceived as gruesome but as essential for Rome to remain free, peaceful and have liberty. Brutus wanted his body to be in such pristine condition that it would be fit for the gods. He was keeping in mind that he was not killing Caesar out of his personal strife, but for greater well-being of Rome. This way of thinking would affect the murder from being seen as savage to humane, only doing what was necessary to kill him. However this would mind-set would change if Brutus hated Caesar. Brutus would not care to respect a body of a man he hated, he would want to kill him wrathfully, and try to cause the most pain he possibly could.

Motiveless malignity (Coleridge) Shakespeare presents Iago as a complex villain. What makes his character so compelling is the mystery behind his true motives. He takes pride in his ability to manipulate people for his gain and their downfall as he had “perfected the arts of disinformation, disorientation, and derangement”. Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a well known literary critic that believes Iago is an evil character and does evil for his contentment. Coleridge famously describes Iago’s revengeful actions as the “motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity” which in turn reflects on what Iago’s characterisation appears like to him.