Examples Of Manipulation In Julius Caesar

One of the big ideas in Julius Caesar is manipulation because many characters manipulate others to get their way. Cassius convinces Brutus to join the conspiracy and Antony persuades the crowd using this tactic. This connects to modern day because manipulation occurs in politics and the media. The theme of William Shakespeare's play, “Julius Caesar” is manipulation can cause people with bad intentions to gain power.

One modern connection to Julius Caesar is manipulation in government. Antony manipulates people similar to how a presidential candidate would manipulate people to vote for them. One example of Antony manipulating the Roman citizens was when he got them to hate Brutus and the conspirators. He uses sarcasm when saying, “Yet Brutus

says he was ambitious, and sure he is an honorable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know” (III.ii.106-109). He repeatedly says Brutus is an honorable man so the crowd thinks Brutus isn’t honorable. He is manipulating them to think Brutus is the bad guy so they seek revenge for killing Caesar. Another way Antony manipulates the crowd is by convincing them he needs to read the will. He says, “But here’s a parchment with the seal of Caesar; I found it in his closet, ‘tis his will. Let but the commons hear this testament-which, pardon me, I do not mean to read” (III.ii.138-142). He knows the crowd will want to hear it if he mentions it, so he acts like he is not going to read it. In reality, he wants to read it because the citizens will realize how nice he was to them. This connects to modern society when presidents try to get people to vote for them by manipulation. During the 2012 election, “Instead of using the debate as a last platform to advertise their strengths, both campaigns used the debate as a tool to manipulate the American people” (Cahn 1). Presidents can focus on the bad things of the other candidate, and get them to dislike the other.
Another modern connection to Julius Caesar is manipulation in the media.

This is similar to how Cassius manipulates Brutus into joining the conspiracy. Cassius explains his plan to get Brutus to join when saying,” I will this night, in several hands, in at his windows throw, as if they came from several citizens, writings, all tending to the great opinion that Rome holds of his name, wherein obscurely Caesar’s ambition shall be glanced at. And after this let Caesar seat him sure; for we will shake him, or worse days endure” (I.ii.318-325). He manipulates Brutus into joining with fake letters that say the citizens want Caesar dead. Another way Brutus is manipulated is by Cassius telling him he is no less important than Caesar. He says, “O, you and I have heard our fathers say there was a Brutus once that would have brook’d the eternal devil to keep his state in Rome as easily a king” (I.ii.164-167). He is trying to flatter Brutus by saying that he could be a king just as much as Caesar could. This is similar to fake news in the media because it makes people believe something that isn’t true. An example of fake news that caused a lot of concern was the death of Morgan Freeman. It stated, “On 5 October 2017, a false story announcing actor Morgan Freeman had died at the age of 80 began spreading on Facebook and Twitter” (LaCapria 1). Even though this was from a fake news site, many people still believed it and didn’t know who to

trust.
In conclusion, there are many examples of manipulation in the play, “Julius Caesar”. They are connected to modern day because manipulation occurs in politics and the media. The overall theme of the story is, manipulation can cause people with bad intentions to gain power.