William Shakespeare 's Julius Caesar

    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,

The topic of leadership in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar has been discussed and argued ever since the play was written. The most prevalent discussion of leadership in the play revolves around Shakespeare’s tragic hero, Marcus Brutus, and the cause of his downfall. According to Shakespeare critic James Bundy, “Brutus... is a man whose affections sway more than his reason, in whom there is this tragic confederacy of passion and imagination against reason” (qtd. in Palmer 402). Ernest Shanzer, however, says that Brutus is “by no means devoid of political shrewdness and practical wisdom”, but he is a “bad judge of character” (Shanzer 1). Although both critics’ descriptions of Brutus have merit, Brutus’ shortcoming, as well as the success of the opposing leader, Mark Antony, is more accurately explained using the observations of Niccolo Machiavelli in The Prince. In this book Machiavelli outlines the characteristics of a successful leader. When using The Prince as a lens to read Julius Caesar, the correlation between a leader’s Machiavellianism and their success becomes very apparent. Marcus Brutus is undoubtedly an honorable and respectable man, but his morality prevents him from adhering to Machiavelli’s principles. Due to his lack of princely virtues, Brutus is doomed to fail, while Antony, a much more Machiavellian prince, successfully seizes power.

The protagonist in this play is Julius Caesar. He is the Protagonist for many reasons. One is that the main plot if the play is to kill Caesar for being a bad ruler against Rome. The consipators were making plans to kill Caesar. There are many warnings in the story that Caesar is going to die, but he ingores all of them because the consipators tell him not to.If he wasn’t the Protagonist then there would be no need to have him in the play for most of them time. Even after his death Caesar still makes many appernices in the book and that makes the other charcters die. Protagonist is the main charcter in a story and that is what caesar is. It is clear that no one else is the Protagonist except for Casear. Caesear lives on in the

There have been many rulers in history who have been betrayed by those they trust, but The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare,1959) still holds a special place in Western literature as one of the most enigmatic human beings to ever exist. Powerful men like Julius Caesar shaped the life and times of the late Roman Republic, just before Rome would officially become the Roman Empire on the crowning of Augustus as the first Roman emperor. Julius Caesar was a powerful general who expanded Rome's power and who was beloved by the people for his generous charity after his successful conquests. Despite knowing the story of Julius Caesar to some extent, most 16th/17th century English would not have ever visited Rome, nor would know what the Roman Republic was like, which presented a unique opportunity to William Shakespeare to create a play unlike any other he had created before. (Shakespeare Julius Caesar, 1599) Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a reimagining of Rome from a Elizabethan point of view, and despite some inaccuracies, the play depicts an enlightening view on Roman life, and the life of the Roman general, Julius Caesar.

Brutus’s character goes from a well respected and honored man to a traitor in a few short acts. Brutus is introduced to the audience with a bang, quite literally, as the city of Rome celebrates Caesar’s triumphs. This dramatic entrance fits Brutus’s personality and growth over the play. Brutus struggles with a love for country and a love for a man in Scene 2, “I know no personal cause to spurn at [Caesar], / But for the general. He would be crown’d: / How that might change his nature, there’s the question” (JC 2.1.11-13). Brutus is more afraid of what might happen if Caesar is crowned King to realize that Caesar is still the man that Brutus knows. In the end, Brutus chooses his fear of the future and Caesar falls, knowing the man he considered a son had betrayed him. Brutus’s lack of empathy with Caesar causes much of the tension in the later half of the play. Brutus acknowledges his choice to kill his paternal figure here, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome / more” (JC 3.2.23-24). Brutus sees himself as connected to the people of Rome through his love for them but fails to see how the plebeians loved noble Caesar. He also fails to see the implications of his actions on his loved ones.

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.

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

No matter how hard one tries to avoid being manipulated, it is impossible to avoid all sources such as documents, leaders and friends. Manipulation, the ability to alter the position or influence a person, occurs everywhere one goes. Throughout Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and The Life of Caesar by Plutarch, the theme of manipulation was revealed through countless instances showing both its sources and effects. Several of the characters in both accounts, such as Brutus, Caesar, and the people of Rome, were manipulated one time or another, by sources such as their close friends who merely desired their ideas and plans to continue forward.

William Shakespeare, in his historical play Julius Caesar, makes the characters Brutus and Antony utilize rhetorical strategies in order to win the favour of the Roman people for their own purposes. These two speakers try to convince the audience of different things: where Brutus, who speaks first, was trying to subdue the passions of the mob and use logic to win acceptance for his murderous actions, Antony, who had to follow Brutus, was trying to awaken the passions of the mob and stir up the need for revenge. In addition, Antony had the additional challenge that he was not allowed to speak ill of Brutus and his fellow conspirators. To persuade their audience, the characters manipulate the use of persona to move the audience’s perception of themselves, to establish or reinforce the strengths of their positions, and to undermine each other’s arguments.

Caesar and Brutus are both important men in very high positions. They both were political leaders who are respected and looked up to by many people. They are also close friends. By the beginning of the play, Caesar and Brutus both are trying to become the single most powerful man in Rome.

Brutus was a man of noble birth. He had multiple servants and was often referred to as “Lord”. In Rome he was highly thought of which indicated a certain level of respect towards him. Brutus demonstrates the qualities of a tragic hero in order to be classifed as one that Aristotle once wrote. In the play Brutus is Caesar's best friend and someone he could trust. Caesar was at the tip of the iceberg to being crowned king of Rome. Cassius and the other senators did not want Caesar to be king since Rome was a republic governed by senators. They feared that if Caesar would be king they would no longer have power. Including Rome would become a dictatorship and they didn’t want this. Cassius and the other senators enved

“You, too, my child?” (History) were Julius Caesar’s alleged last words, spoken to his protégé, Marcus Brutus, as his own trusted senators took Caesar’s life. From building the first inroads into Britain, to conquering all of Gaul with his powerful army, Julius Caesar paved the road for the Roman Empire that history has come to know. Julius Caesar was one of Rome’s most influential leaders that fought many battles and evolved all of Rome while serving as Dictator for Life before he was unfortunately assassinated by the people he trusted the most.

Power is a highly coveted mistress. She is sought after by senators, presidents, kings, and emperors. Most of them willing to do whatever it takes to get her. The history of this world is overrun with conflict and war as different parties compete for her hand. There are those that will obtain her by physical force on the battlefield, while others seduce her to their side through sweet persuasion. However, the act of obtaining power is nothing compared to the work of keeping her. Power is an unfaithful mistress, in need of constant wooing. In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the battle for power is always in a state of flux, constantly changing hands. Though the players in this play sometimes use physical force to obtain power, it is persuasion and manipulation that have the strong hold on her. Through close examination of this text, the use of persuasion and manipulation in obtaining and maintaining power will be explored.

What shows the true power of words? William Shakespeare, in his play Julius Caesar, demonstrates how brilliant command of the English language can convey a deeper depth of meaning than just the denotation of words. Towards the beginning of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare introduces Brutus, a close friend of Caesar, and Cassius, another honored Roman. Due to a fear of Caesar attempting to become emperor, Cassius wants to assassinate Caesar. With this desire, Cassius decides to add Brutus in his plot to eliminate Caesar, and together they execute Caesar. After Caesar is murdered in cold blood, Antony, Caesar’s right hand man, craves revenge. In an attempt to win over public opinion, Brutus allows Antony to give a eulogy honoring Caesar. During the speech, Antony incites the citizens of Rome to rebel against Brutus and Cassius, leading to anarchy. In this chaos, Antony allies with Octavius, Caesar’s nephew, to avenge Caesar. As war approaches in act 5 scene 1, Antony and Octavius exchange their final lines with Brutus and Cassius before the battle begins. Throughout the first four acts, Shakespeare was able to skillfully draw out the plot while implying an underlying significances. In the following scene, Shakespeare effectively uses explicit phrasing, physical gestures, and selective word choice to characterize relationships between these four main characters.

The Renaissance was a time in which mankind was rediscovering itself. For ages, men were simply trying to exist, survive more than anything else. The Renaissance was a period in which men no longer had to just get by everyday, but could begin exploring morality. No other Renaissance author characterizes this more than William Shakespeare in the early 1600s. His plays highlight the internal moral struggle that every man goes through, the concept of what is right and what is wrong in a world that is full of gray areas. More specifically he deals with the concept of honor and morality in several of his plays. Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and Henry V, to a lesser extent, deal with how men handle these and can reconcile otherwise heinous acts. Now, being well aware that Shakespeare does not account for all the Renaissance writers, however his are the most prevalent still today and it can be argued that Shakespeare did not work alone. For the sake of organization, it is far easier to tackle these literary works in chronological order and analyze the individual pieces first and then view them all as one whole.