How Is Julius Caesar Manipulated

Effects of Manipulation

Manipulation is very prevalent in today’s society, and always has been. Whether it’s someone tricking her sibling into making her food or fetching the remote from across the room, manipulation is an everyday occurrence. It usually does not have a very drastic outcome, but when it comes to killing one’s closest friend, things tend to get pretty serious. William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is a true story of a Roman dictator who is killed and the effects it has on the people who killed him. Several characters in the play use manipulation, the act of managing or influencing, to get others to do what they want. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus is easily manipulated which ultimately leads to serious consequences and his own demise.

Brutus is an obvious example of a character whose life is put in danger because he is manipulated. He is very loyal to Rome, which makes him vulnerable. Cassius wants Brutus to

join the conspiracy, so he first tries to flatter him by stating, “‘Brutus’ and ‘Caesar’: what should be in that ‘Caesar’? /

Why should that name be sounded more than yours? / Write them together: yours is as fair a name” (I.ii.142-144). He wants Brutus to believe that Caesar is not any better than he is; this is the first step to Brutus believing Caesar must be killed. Cassius continues his manipulation by writing several letters pretending to be different Roman citizens and having Brutus find them. He subtly tells Brutus to kill Caesar in each of them, but leaves him to think of the idea himself. After reading one of the letters, Brutus proclaims, “Am I entreated / To speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise, / If the redress will follow, thou receivest / Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!” (II.i.58-61). This finally pushes him over the edge; he joins the conspiracy and agrees to kill Caesar. He used to think very highly of him, but agrees purely because he was made to believe that him becoming king would be bad for Rome. If Brutus did not allow Cassius to persuade him, he would not have been involved in any of this, and he would not have put his life in danger in the first place. Brutus is manipulated in other ways as well.

Furthermore, Brutus is manipulated because of the high standards he holds for himself and others, which causes him to be very naive to the intentions of others. After the conspirators kill Caesar, Caesar’s companion, Antony, asks if he can speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus replies, “You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, / But speak all good you can devise of Caesar, / And say you do ’t by our permission” (III.i.259-261). Antony agrees, “Be it so. / I do desire no more” (III.i.266-267). Brutus hears this and expects Antony to keep his word as he would himself. Despite Cassius’s hesitations, Brutus trusts Antony, which turns out to be a fatal mistake. He convinces the Roman citizens that what the conspirators did was wrong, even though they just agreed with Brutus during his speech preceding Antony’s. The Romans revolt against the conspirators and they are forced to flee. Brutus ends up killing himself in battle against Antony and his triumvirate two years later all because he allowed Antony to speak at the funeral. However, Brutus is not the only person taken advantage of in this play.

Caesar is manipulated because of his great hubris, which leads to his death.

He was given many signs of his death, such as the Soothsayer’s warning, “Beware the ides of March” (I.ii.25) and the giant storm with raining fire. He had finally decided not to go to the Senate because of Calpurnia’s dreams, but when he tells Decius this, he replies, “Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause, / Lest I be laughed at when I tell them so” (II.ii.69-70). Caesar doesn’t want to seem weak or scared so he tells Decius about Calpurnia’s dreams where he dies several times. Decius reinterprets the dream and tells Caesar:

This dream is all amiss interpreted.

It was a vision 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, and that great men shall

press

For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.

This by Calpurnia's dream is signified. (II.ii.83-90)

Decius knows that Caesar has extensive pride and if he is told that his dream has a positive connotation about how great he is, he will not be able to turn down going to the Senate to receive his crown. Even though Caesar is given many warnings about his death, he is still persuaded to go to the Senate just by a little flattery, which is how he dies. Yet another example of people who are manipulated in this play are the Romans.

The Romans change their minds very easily, which leads them to believe in the wrong things and causes the Republic to die. They are portrayed as easily manipulated from the very beginning of the play when Marullus exclaims:

Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft

Have you climbed up to walls and battlements,

To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops, [...]

And do you now cull out a holiday?

And do you now strew flowers in his way

That comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood? (I.i.39-41,49-51)

He is disgusted with the fact that the Romans had loved Pompey not long ago and are now celebrating his death and Caesar’s victory. Their indecisiveness is also shown during Caesar’s funeral. After Brutus gives his speech, they all shout, “Live, Brutus! Live, live!” (III.ii.45), and after Antony’s speech, they want to burn down Brutus’s house. They allow Antony to persuade them that Caesar didn’t deserve to be killed and that the conspirators are the enemies. This causes the second triumvirate to form and eventually Octavian becomes the first emperor of Rome. The Romans were trying to save the Republic, but they ended up killing it because they were too easily convinced that the conspirators were wrong.
Shakespeare incorporates manipulation several times throughout this play, Julius Caesar. It proves that if one is too easily taken advantage of, it could have serious consequences. He uses Brutus repeatedly because he is so easily manipulated, given that he is very loyal to Rome and expects others to hold themselves to the same standards he does. Shakespeare also uses Caesar to show that sometimes trying to act tough and put together can lead to being naive and not seeing that there are serious consequences to the action about to be made. The Romans in general are a good example because they are the epitome of being naive and easily manipulated. Manipulation has always been a huge part of human lives, and it always will be.