Parallel to objects that gleam brilliantly, stars are nothing more than a beacon; for man has the power to illuminate the road towards his own destiny. Fate does not shape one’s destiny, but rather one should strive to define their own fate. Plutarch, a Greek philosopher in Rome during the 2nd century A.D personifies the notion of fate and destiny with his tales about Julius Caesar in a historical document titled Lives of the Nobles:Julius Caesar. Likewise, William Shakespeare, an English poet, embodies the same overall ideal of fate and destiny, but with some minor alterations in his play, The Tragedy of Julius as it's based upon Plutarch’s work. In both pieces of literature, though, the account of Caesar’s rise to power is illustrated. Shakespeare …show more content…
Also, differing from Shakespeare’s play is that there is additional detail about Caesar’s coronation, where not only did he reject the crown from Antony, but he places the crown upon the statue of “Jupiter in the Capitol” (Plutarch line 34). This action demonstrated by Caesar implies that there is and can only one be one king; that king can only be God (Jupiter). Moreover, Brutus is only briefly mentioned and does not even make an appearance in the scene. “The people… called them Brutes: because of Brutus” (Plutarch line 40-41). Brutus’s intentions and motives are not known in the scene as there is no interaction between him and Cassius; Cassius does not play a significant role unlike his role in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Additionally, though the intentions performed by both Flavius and Marullus as Tribunes are the same (to prevent Caesar from being crowned king), the method this intention is conducted varies from Plutarch’s From the Lives of Nobles as both characters are shown shooing and scolding those idolizing Caesar, whereas in Plutarch’s piece, “the two Tribunes, went and pulled down [images of Caesar]” (Plutarch 37). Thus, this results in the two tribunes being thrown in prison in From the Lives of Nobles. Other changes …show more content…
Shakespeare made this change most likely to highlight Caesar’s thirst for power to the point where he would view himself as a God. Similarly, Shakespeare also illustrates that Caesar is a sufferer of seizures and that the pressure from having to reject the crown was too much for him, resulting in a seizure which also further uncovers his lust for power. This arrogance is also illustrated by Caesar disregarding the premonition from the Soothsayer. Further, other characters that are transformed by Shakespeare include Brutus, who is actually the true main character in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. “I do fear for the people. Choose Caesar for their king. Yet I love him as well” (Shakespeare scene 2, line 78-82). The Tragedy of Julius Caesar depicts mostly his inner conflict of choosing between his loyalty to Caesar or his own endearment towards the citizens and country of Rome. Based on Brutus’s love for the people and the troubles he is willing to endure for them reveals that he is a noble, yet easily manipulated character. Cassius, a character also introduced in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, attempts to manipulate Brutus, who is lost and muddled in his inner conflict to murder Caesar. Cassius attempts can be evidenced as he
A Comparison of Plutarch's The Lives of the Ancient Grecians and Romans and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
At the beginning, Fate chose Caesar to be the king and this is not what Brutus wanted.
William Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar around 1599. The role of the `tragic hero' is extremely important as many of the characters in Julius Caesar exemplify the `tragic hero' qualities. Marcus Brutus, and Julius Caesar, display all the qualities of the `tragic hero': they are great men, with character flaws, and as a result of a mistake in decision-making many people suffer. In Cassius one can see these same qualities. Cassius can be seen as another tragic hero in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
William Shakespeare illustrates Brutus to have outstanding morals but also displays Brutus’s naive and over-trusting personality which becomes his tragic flaw. For example, when Brutus suffers from an internal conflict on deciding if Caesar should be emperor or not, Cassius takes advantage of his confusion and naïve personality to act as the “glass [that] will modestly discover [Brutus] ... / [t]hat ... [shows Brutus’s appearance] which … [he] yet know not of ” (1.2. 68-70) and then says, “‘Brutus,’ and ‘Caesar’: what should be in that ‘Caesar’? / Why should that name be sounded more than yours[, Brutus]” (1.2.142-43). From this conversation, Brutus is shown to allow his naïve and over-trusting personality overcome him. As a result, Brutus follows his close allies in the path considered to be the most noble. Moreover, this characteristic of Brutus makes him weak enough to eventually trust the conspirator, Cassius, to take down Caesar, his own brother. This eventually leads to Brutus’s downfall
Both Cassius and Brutus play major roles in the play Julius Caesar. Cassius and Brutus both plan Caesar’s death. Although they are working towards a common goal, Cassius and Brutus have very different motivations for doing this. On the one hand, Cassius sees it as a way to gain more power for himself while destroying the king and all his power. On the other hand, Brutus believes that in killing Caesar he is preserving peace for the Romans’ future years. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses different techniques to create biased characterizations of the two men so that readers and viewers develop identical attitudes towards each of them. In Julius Caesar, Cassius is portrayed as a greedy villain while Brutus is depicted as an
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This illustrates the theme in the historical play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Julius Caesar was a man full of arrogance and he had a sense of being self-absorbed. This kind of personality lead to bad things, it eventually led to death. Caesar was a well-known man in Rome. The people of Rome didn 't care what he did. Everyone thought he was perfect. I ii 273 He was married to a woman named Calpurnia. She lived in Rome. At the beginning of the play, Caesar just had defeated Pompey. I i 53 Some of the people in Rome knew that Caesar was getting into deep trouble. Brutus had to make a big decision towards the end. Everyone wanted Brutus to kill Caesar because he was never going to change his personality. He didn 't know what he should do, he didn 't know what is best for Rome.
Over the centuries, the concept of fate is constantly being changed to adapt to our current way of living. In modern times the concept of fate is usually connected to the themes of love and romance. However the ancient Greeks recognized fate as an inescapable reality that shaped their lives. The famous playwright, Sophocles, adopts the idea of fate in his plays to control the character’s actions. In both plays, “Oedipus the King” and “Antigone”, the writer uses the concept of fate to show human’s inability to conquer the will of the gods.
Shakespeare’s complex play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar contains several tragic heroes; a tragic hero holds high political or social esteem yet possesses an obvious character flaw. This discernible hubris undoubtedly causes the character’s demise or a severe forfeiture, which forces the character to undergo an unfeigned moment of enlightenment and shear reconciliation. Brutus, one of these tragic heroes, is a devout friend of the great Julius Caesar, that is, until he makes many execrable decisions he will soon regret; he becomes involved in a plot to kill the omniscient ruler of Rome during 44 B.C. After committing the crime, Mark Antony, an avid, passionate follower of Caesar, is left alive under Brutus’s orders to take his revenge on
William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar provides audiences with an account involving the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, the 44 B.C. conspiracy that resulted in his violent assassination, and the continued violence that dominated Rome consequent to his death. In spite of the fact that the play's title is Julius Caesar, Caesar's character only appears in three scenes. The tragedy's central character is Marcus Brutus and most of the storyline relates to him and to his failure to understand matters from a general perspective when he has the chance to do so. The play actually demonstrates how violence can emerge from individuals misinterpreting behavior seen in others and the idea of violence dominates most of the play, shaping the way that characters interact and think.
Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar is a tragic play, where the renowned Julius Caesar is on the brink of achieving total control and power by becoming emperor of the Roman Empire. Ironically enough, when he thinks he is one step away from pulling it off, his "friends" (most from the senate) decide to overthrow him, with Caesar's most trusted friend, Marcus Brutus, acting as leader of the conspirators. Though the fall of Caesar from the most powerful man in the world to a man who's been betrayed and stabbed 30 times is a great downfall, he is not the tragic hero. Shakespeare's main focus is Marcus Brutus, a noble man who brings upon himself a great misfortune by his own actions,
In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, an honorable man, Brutus, is planning to overthrow the soon to be king, Julius Caesar. Brutus is persuaded by Cassius that Caesar is a liar, too ambitious, weak, and not fit to be Rome’s king. Brutus soon believed Cassius, and they and the conspirators made a plan to kill Caesar. After Caesar’s death, Brutus planned to justify his actions of killing Caesar at his funeral in his speech to the people. After Brutus’s speech, the citizens of Rome were all in agreement that Brutus did the right thing for Rome. Brutus then decides to allow Caesar’s best friend, Antony, to speak in honor of Caesar. Antony speaks, and he convinces the citizens that Brutus’s actions were unjust and turned the people against Brutus.
He compares Caesar to a serpent in an egg which he must kill before it hatches. Brutus knows that Caesar is gaining too much power too quickly and it must come to an end. He shows his belief in a republic government by saying, “We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar / And in the spirit of men there is no blood" (II.i. 180-181). Cassius is a character who is jealous of Caesar’s power and also wants it to end. He forms a group of conspirators who are against Julius Caesar. He persuades Brutus to help him and the other conspirators to kill Caesar during the ides of March. Brutus joins but only due to his love for Rome and its people. He proves this by saying "Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius." (II.i. 179). This also proves his love for Caesar because he wants to kill him with some sort of honor. Brutus wants the citizens to look at him not as a murderer but for someone who cares for his country. He expresses his ideas toward the stabbing by saying , “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer-not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" (III, ii, 17-19).
In the beginning of the play, we meet Brutus, a highly respected, much loved, senator of Rome. He loved Rome as a republic and he has a good life until he is led astray by Cassius. When he becomes embroiled in the assassination of Caesar, he is very reluctant to do so. In the way he acted, you could tell he has sleepless nights over what he should do. He decided to kill Caesar for
Large-scale questions of such ideas are raised in Sophocles’ play, “Oedipus the King”—a story that deals with the tragic hero, Oedipus, and his demise. Oedipus progresses through the play struggling against his own wicked destiny: the prophecy that declares that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Ultimately, Oedipus fulfills this prophecy; in fact, he had completed his fate without his own knowing and before the play even begins. Despite his belief that he was fighting against his prophesized destiny, Oedipus was ironically fulfilling it, and he slowly brings about his own downfall. He becomes a victim of his own fate. In this regard, “Oedipus the King” explores a terrifying concept: Oedipus never had free will—a puppet in every sense to the higher beings that decided his ending for him.
Fate is known as a predetermined course of events that are beyond a person’s control. Those individuals that acclaim their fate are eventually granted happiness over those who deny and try to change it. For years cultural and religious groups have emphasized how important trusting in your fate is. For example, Sophocles’ play entitled Oedipus Rex exemplifies the repercussions of what happens when you slap fate in the face. In Oedipus Rex, the main character, Oedipus tries to run from and change his fate. Oedipus rejects any signs of help, especially signs of his past. Sophocles uses Oedipus as an aid in this play to demonstrate what could happen if you disregard or alter any predictions of your fate. In Oedipus’ life there are three main