Effective And Ineffectiveness Of Leadership In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

In this paper I will compare and contrast four Roman leaders and their leadership styles. Caesar in my opinion was the worst being a dictator, and ultimately bringing Rome to its demise, Whereas Numa brought great prosperity to Rome for many years. I will compare these four leader’s military leadership, civil leadership and their ethics.

Marc Antony, Brutus, and Cassius are all critical characters in William Shakespeare’s famous play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Due to their distinctive personalities and values, there is no trait that all of these characters share, although they do share some traits with one another. Firstly, Marc Antony and Cassius are manipulative in nature, while Brutus is not. Secondly, the root of Brutus and Cassius’ failure is their personality flaw, while Marc Antony proves strong in all the ways they prove weak. Lastly, Antony and Cassius, unlike Brutus, do not separate their private affairs from their public actions while acts only with honor and virtue and completely ignores his personal concerns.

Unlike the common view of leaders, the potential leaders of Julius Caesar are not necessarily nice or giving. However, sometimes that is necessary. In the play Julius Caesar, a long tale of leadership shows the true qualities of the greatest leaders. Where the reader finds themselves started is at the point which Antony and Caesar, the overconfident leader of Rome, are discussing people around them. This discussion boils to a point in which Antony and Caesar discuss the possibility of Cassius being a threat to Caesar. Later, readers find Cassius is indeed a threat, as he and multiple others, including Brutus, stab Caesar to death. Antony then brings Caesar’s body to the multitude, and with a great speech inspires a hatred for those who wrongfully stabbed him. At the next point Antony is seen, he and Octavius are the new rulers of Rome. These two comrades go and finally eliminate the last of the traitors, Cassius and Brutus, in a battle that cements the two as the new leaders of Rome. Throughout all these actions, one man particularly showed that he should control the Roman Empire. Antony was created to be Rome’s leader in Julius Caesar, where William Shakespeare gave him inspirational abilities, persuasiveness, and fearlessness which are unparalleled.

Steven Weber once said, “What’s hard, it seems, is living up to the expectation democracy imposes upon those who would participate in society. ” This is related because Julius Caesar, a leader in one of shakespeare’s plays, was thought to be a great leader based on his strength, popularity, and opinion of the people as a whole. Society creates expectations of what the individual is expected to look like in the physical and mental state as well as his achievements which affects the way people look at life. These rules and the way one another looks at each other all affects this culture. Like in “julius Caesar” the human species can also be manipulated.

In the play Julius Caesar, several people compete to be the leader of Rome. Cassius and other conspirators are jealous of Caesar, and they want to kill him for revenge. Brutus doesn’t want to be part of the conspiracy, but is tricked into becoming a head member, due to his strong leadership qualities of honor, trustworthiness, and patriotism. Brutus loves the republic, but is tricked into believing Caesar would hurt the republic. Brutus would be an effective leader because he exhibits honor, trustworthiness, and patriotism.

In Shakespeare’s play, Caesar is a highly respected man that holds great power, and as he gains more power there are men who stand to oppose him. This is how Caesar shows so many good qualities of leadership, like keeping an open ear to the people, being observant and proud, as well as being honest. The attributes that Caesar shows has gained him the trust of all of the people, already proivng just how worthy he is to be called the greatest authority figure in Shakespeare’s drama The Tradgedy of Julius Caesar.

The driving forces in the play Julius Caesar are the characters Marcus Brutus, Julius Caesar, and Marc Antony. Julius Caesar is the center of the ordeal of leadership in Rome when the play begins. When Caesar returns to Rome he is looked upon by the fickle plebeians as a glorious and triumphant hero. The authority of his heroism is questioned when the honorable Marcus Brutus speaks to the townspeople during Caesar’s funeral. Brutus proves to be the better leader for Rome rather than Caesar or Antony. Brutus is wiser and more honorable than the other Romans. He was the only one truly looking out for the good of Rome and not himself.

A leader cares, and does things out of the good off the people. A leader makes sure things get done the right way. A good leader is honest with everyone, no matter the circumstance. Now wouldn’t it be great if Antony was a great leader? It would be great if he was, but it is ashamed that he isn’t.

A leader should be loyal to you. A leader should be interested in their peoples’ thoughts. A leader should love their city, their country. They should love and care for each and everyone of their citizens no matter the differences between each other. One such leader is Brutus in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a great description of a leader Rome should want to have. While there are tragic falls and great rises in this story, and well, how it keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to read and figure out what goes on there are leaders which should be known such as Brutus. Brutus is a great leader with many great leading abilities. He is a noble, honest, and very persuasive. He conveys strength and leads by example. In the play Cassius

The play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is an entire story based on power and leadership. Brutus and the conspirators kill Caesar because they are scared he will have too much power and will become too ambitious; Marc Antony uses his power and appeals to pathos to get the plebeians on his side against the conspirators. Power can either be a positive or negative thing-- it all depends on who has it. Julius Caesar is in one of the few who uses his power and leadership for good, subsequently making him one of the greatest leaders of all time.

Also, though unwisely, Antony suggests a feast for their "comfort", and this summarises his leadership, as he is no longer presented by Shakespeare as a great and powerful leader, but as a kind and generous man. Caesar appears to be a heartless leader, detached from the people, whereas Antony shows his emotions and, thus, appears more human, which causes the audience to sympathise with him.

There are many characters that are in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar that are just as important to the play as Caesar himself. Two of those great men include Brutus and Mark Antony, both as friends or advisors to Caesar. Between the two characters, there are many similarities and differences that made them both influential characters in the play. Although neither of the characters achieved their ultimate goal, they both had influential characteristics that influenced the beginning, middle, and end of the play.

John Maxwell once said, “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” What is a leader? A leader is one who knows the way, shows the way, and goes the way. Qualities of a good leader require courage, charisma, strength, knowledge and wisdom, good morals and power. All of these qualities of leadership boil down to what is known as integrity. Integrity is doing what is morally correct; it requires honesty, making the “right” decisions for the community, taking the blame, and being selfless. A good leader should possess all these qualities in order to be capable of leading and gaining respect from others. Cassius was set at such a high place of being a leader, but Brutus proved he would’ve been a better fit for the title.

There are certain traits that make someone a great leader. Said traits range from valiance or courage, not being easily dissuaded or deterred. These attributes can almost guarantee success in any environment, such as a government or in a military standpoint. Therefore if one lacks in these traits, failure is tantamount for not only themselves, but also the ones under their leadership. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the character Brutus portrays this situation almost perfectly. In the tragedy, it plays out the events leading to Julius’ death, the assassination itself, and the following turmoil. In the beginning, the original leader of the assassination, Cassius, tries tirelessly to persuade Brutus to understand the misdeeds and shortcomings

Acting as observers in this case, we are reviewing the leadership from the perspective of the son of Caesar, Commodus. A man, with love lost. A man, without the desired virtues set by his Father. A man, without morals, as stated by his Father. A man, who competes for favor, trust, honor and value with an authentic leader like Maximus, someone whom has also had the love of Commodus Father and fails to connect with his followers.