Examples Of Manipulation In Julius Caesar

Ancient Rome had its fair share of conspiracies, betrayal, and gory battles. However, none of these were as important for the development of Julius Caesar as was the theme of manipulation. Manipulation is the ability to alter the position or influence of a person. Persuasion and suggestion are skills that play central roles in Julius Caesar, but they also highlight the willingness of individuals in hard times to hear what they want to hear. The drama, Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, is about a highly ambitious political leader in Rome (Julius Caesar) and his aim to become dictator. Caesar is warned that he must "beware the Ides of March" , a prophecy that later comes true when Marcus Brutus, Cassius, and other conspirators assassinate him. A friend of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, provides the famous funeral oration ("Friends, Romans, and countrymen…") after Caesar’s death. His speech leads the plebeians to go against the conspirators. Brutus and Cassius, finally,

meet their inevitable defeat which plunges the country into civil war. William Shakespeare uses important characters such as Cassius, Decius, and Antony to illustrate the concept of manipulation. It is in these scenes that key events take place and allows the plot of the play to move forward.
One of the first instances of manipulation can be seen in Act I, Scene II, when Cassius decided to send anonymous letters to Brutus.

Cassius says, “ I will this night, in several hands, in at his windows throw, as if they came from several citizens, writings all tending to great opinion that Rome holds of his name, wherein obscurely Caesar’s ambition shall be glanced at” (Shakespeare 1.2.310-315). Cassius wanted to put an end to what he considered a conspiracy, ultimately removing Caesar from his “throne”. He planned to throw the letters through Brutus’ window to convince him that Caesar is not the right person to rule Rome. It was these letters that eventually led to Brutus joining the conspiracy and sealing Caesar’s fate. Without the use of manipulation, Brutus would have never been convinced to go against Caesar and the events in the play would take different routes. Cassius wisely uses manipulation to convince Brutus to go against Caesar and starts his plan of removing Caesar from the

throne.
Another event in which manipulation plays a big role takes place in Act II, Scene II. Decius says “This dream is all amiss interpreted. It was a vision of fair and fortunate. Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, in which so many smiling Romans bathed, signifies that from you great Rome shall suck reviving blood... This by Calpurnia’s dream is signified” (Shakespeare 2.2.83-90). Calpurnia dreamt that dead men walked, ghosts wandered the city, a lioness gave birth in the street, lightning shattered the skies, and she also saw the statue of Julius Caesar being transformed into a fountain from which spouted not water, but blood and the Roman citizens smilingly washing their hands in it. Decius then came by and deviously told Caesar and Calpurnia that she had misinterpreted her horrible dream about Caesar. This is an important event in the play because by Decius interpreting the dream the way he did, he convinced Caesar to go to the Senate, where his murder took place. Without Decius’ power of deception, the predicted fate of Caesar would not have occurred on the Ides of March. Decius manipulated Caesar into thinking it was safe for him to go to Senate, so he dismissed Calpurnia’s interpretation of the dream and followed Decius.
Although manipulation throughout Julius Caesar can be mostly attributed to the conspirators, another major character that influenced the people was Antony. Antony says to the people of Rome, “He was my friend, faithful and just to me. But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome whose ransoms did the general coffers fill. Did this Caesar seem ambitious? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept...Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man...You did all love him once, not without cause. What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?...Thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason. Bear with me” (Shakespeare 3.2.83-92/100-103). Antony’s powerful speech, after Caesar’s death, swayed the thoughts of the people of Rome after they condoned the actions of the conspirators.By asking questions that cannot be answered and repeating certain lines, Antony swayed the people of Rome to believe something that they might not have in the beginning. He used this manipulation tactic to weaken the conspirators, which ultimately leads to war and the destruction of Cassius’ plan.
The theme of manipulation in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is significant, as many important characters used the power of deception to achieve their goals and either obtain more power or make decisions that led to key events. There is Cassius, who manipulated Brutus to join his conspiracy, Decius, who makes up another interpretation of Calpurnia’s dream to get Caesar to come to the Senate, and then Antony, who gave a powerful speech that changed the minds of the people of Rome from being for the conspiracy to being against it. The strong use of manipulation in Julius Caesar asks the question of how often this tactic is used in everyday life and if it’s the best (and potentially) only way of reaching goals and desires.