|
| ||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar "He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not, is a slave." - Sir William Drumman All men have the power to reason. Some men can reason better, and more thorough than others. Yet nonetheless, all men can reason. In order to reason, one must clear his mind, be completely impartial, and understand the situation to the best of his ability. The play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, is the story of a man trying his best to make reasonable, rational decisions. Marcus Brutus is this struggling character who evades constant pressure from all sides to gloriously pull through, yet dies at play's end. Undoubtedly, Brutus is the main character, and driving force of the play, despite the misleading title of Julius Caesar. Three separate, critical aspects help to show the reader how unimportant Julius Caesar is to the play. Caesar appears, in dreams, and thoughts of multiple people, giving warnings and special messages. Nobody seems to pay attention to him. Another example is illustrated by the way that Brutus seems to dominate his own actions, whatever he is thinking. Also, Antony declares war on Brutus, but not out of love for Caesar, but anger toward the conspirators. As these aspects are explained in further detail one will be sure of the fact that Brutus, without question, clearly dominates the play as a whole. Caesar warns numerous people of ensuing tragedies multiple times, and not once is he listened to. Calpurnia cries out terrified three times during the night, "Help ho - they murder Caesar!" The reader soon learns of a dream in which Caesar's wife visualizes her husband's death. She begs and pleads Caesar to stay home that day, however, nobody ever pays any attention to her dream. In this instance, Caesar has no influence on the outcome of the play. Again, when Brutus sees the likeness of Caesar in a dream, Caesar gives an ominous message implying to Brutus not to go to Philipi. ". . . thou shalt see me at Philipi." The ghost of Caesar, unimportant and unbelieved is perceived as a "day dream." Brutus, not paying any attention to the dead and gone Caesar, does not listen. In this sense, Caesar does not make a strong enough impression upon other characters in the play to be taken seriously. In the battles between Antony and Brutus, Caesar is often mentioned in their dying words. "Caesar, thou art revenged, even with the sword that killed thee." These are Cassius' dying words. Brutus's final words are somewhat similar, "Caesar, now be still; I killed not thee with half so good a will." Their words represent that although final thoughts consisted of the evil crime they had committed, Caesar had nothing to do with their deathThis is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now! Get This Full Article After Registration
|
 Home | Register | Login | Logout | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Help | FAQ | Contact Us | Cancel Subscription Copyright 1998- Electronic References. Electronic References is designed only to assist students and researchers in the preparation of their own work. Anybody who use our services are responsible not only for writing their own papers, but also for citing Electronic References as a source when doing so. By accessing and using this page you agree to the Disclaimer. |
