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Theme of appearance in julius caesar
Themes of the tragedy of julius caesar
Themes of the tragedy of julius caesar
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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
The law of the Yukon states that only the strong shall survive and the weak shall perish. In many ways this principle is related to society today. Those that are creative, smart, and hardworking have success whereas those that are lazy and dull do not. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, it is quite the opposite. Many characters that have positive traits in the play fall victim to those that have more negative qualities through manipulation. Manipulation, also known as changing or altering one’s views, is frequently used in the play by Antony, Cassius, and Decius to change the actions of more respectable and smarter characters such as Brutus and Caesar for their own benefit. Through the characters of Caesar, Brutus, and the commoners, this play shows that characters with more positive characteristics such as loyalty, pride, and sympathy are more susceptible to be manipulated, which eventually causes their downfall.
Brutus’s loyalty to Rome is used by Cassius to effectively manipulate Brutus. In the beginning of the play, Brutus is troubled by the idea of Caesar becoming ruler of Rome. Having a dictator in power would destroy the Republic; however, Brutus doesn’t want Caesar to be harmed. His ideas drastically change when Cassius comes to talk to him.
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Cassius manipulates Brutus by flattering and complementing him. Cassius states, “And it is very much lamented, Brutus, / That you have no such mirrors as will turn / Your hidden worthiness into your eye / That you might see your shadow” (I.ii.55-56). Later in the play, Cassius manipulates Brutus by writing fake letters to Brutus in order to trick Brutus into thinking they were from the commoners. When Brutus finds the letters, he states, “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). After Brutus reads the letters, he automatically thinks that he must join the conspiracy and kill Caesar. Cassius took advantage of Brutus’s loyalty, knowing that Brutus will do anything for Rome and its people. Because Cassius manipulated Brutus into joining the conspiracy, Brutus meets his downfall when Antony wages war against him. Caesar is also manipulated by Decius when Decius takes advantage of Caesar’s pride.
Decius states, “But when I tell him he hates flatterers / He says he does, being the most flattered. / Let me work” (II.i.207-209). Decius knows Caesar’s pride is Caesar’s weakness and uses that to manipulate Caesar. Caesar can’t wait to be crowned in front of the senate and is eager to go, but Calpurnia has a dream of him being killed. Caesar, who is very superstitious, decides not to go; however, the conspirators need Caesar to go so that they can assassinate him. In order to convince Caesar to go, Decius manipulates Caesar into thinking the dream is positive. Decius
states: 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 portrays the dream as positive and states how the Romans love Caesar. Caesar’s pride overcomes him; he is eager to go to the Senate. When Caesar goes to the Senate, he is killed by the conspirators. Decius effectively manipulates Caesar using Caesar’s pride to convince him to go, which causes Caesar’s death. Antony manipulates the commoners using emotional appeal to gain power. At first, Antony is perceived as an ignorant party boy and is mistakenly overlooked by Brutus. After Caesar’s death, Brutus and Antony give speeches to the commoners to explain the death and to give a funeral. When Brutus leaves, Antony recites his speech. Antony states, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears” (III.ii.74). Antony establishes the commoners as friends; the commoners are now going to trust and give more sympathy to Antony. Antony states, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / and I must pause till it come back to me” (III.ii.107-108). Antony uses sympathy to manipulate the crowd into doing what he wants. The commoners are not very smart and Antony knows that emotional appeal will win them over. After his speech, the crowd is so upset with the conspirators, that they begin to riot through the streets. Since Antony manipulated the commoners with sympathy, the commoners are negatively affected because the Republic is destroyed and a civil war breaks out. Throughout the entire play, manipulation is used by many characters to get what they want; however, it is more common for the manipulator to use positive characteristics against someone to manipulate them. Cassius manipulates Brutus using Brutus’s loyalty against him so Caesar can be killed. The manipulators in this play don’t have any consequences for tricking others, but the people that were manipulated reach their downfall because of it. Shakespeare sends a message through the outcome of this play that the most respected and smartest people may be the most ignorant of them all.
In the beginning of the Book Cassius uses anecdotes of Caesar’s weakness and faults, argumentum ad antiquatum, and ethos on Brutus to persuade him to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar, this works on Brutus and shows that anyone, even people as stoic as Brutus, can be persuaded by appealing to their motivations. Cassius, a very suspicious character thru ought the play tells Brutus to “be not jealous on me” (827), in the quote he tells Brutus to not be suspicious of him because he is just a friend who genuinely cares. Cassius does this to put himself on Brutus’ side and not seem like a distant person, this allows him to criticize Caesar and suggest that he is a bad influence on Rome which appeals to Brutus’ desire to keeping Rome safe. After setting himself up as a friend to Brutus, Cassius uses harsh anecdotes on the weakness of Caesar to show that he isn’t fit to rule Rome. Cassius recollects on a time when he and Caesar went swimming in the river Tiber and Caesar screamed “Help me, Cassius or I sink” (828) to de...
Brutus is loyal to Rome and also to his friendship with Caesar. He wants Rome to be led by a good leader. But he allows himself to be lead away with this thought by Cassius, who tells him that he is the better man and not
Brutus’ loyalty helps shape whether his cause was justice or unjustified. In the beginning, Brutus is walking with Caesar. He even helps him when a soothsayer tells him to beware the Ides of March. “What man is that? / A soothsayer bids you beware the Ides of March” (I, ii, 18-19). If Brutus always had the thoughts of a villain, he would have kept quiet, letting whatever the threat is, overcome Caesar. Also, another reason to determine his loyalty is when Brutus is with Cassius and Cassius want’s Brutus’ help. “Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, / That you would have me seek into my self / For that which is not in me”...
Initially, Brutus was wary of Cassius when Brutus said, “Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius?” (1.2.69). Subsequently, Brutus is persuaded as he states, “.what you have said / I will consider” (1.2.176-177). Cassius is willing to control any person who stands in his way. Cassius successfully turned Brutus against his best friend in order to achieve what Cassius believes to be best for Rome.
Every person has their own individual beliefs and values that they live by. There is a line that one believes they will never cross. However, people can also be easily persuaded to abandon these values if the reasoning is fair enough. This is human nature. To manipulate someone is to use or change them for a specific purpose. In Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, he illustrates how easily people can change their minds through manipulation. He conveys how people can be manipulated, how they manipulate themselves, and how they manipulate others.
Cassius needed a reason to motivate Brutus to join the conspiracy so that the plan would develop. “Brutus, I do observe you now of late: I have not from your eyes that gentleness…” (1.2.34) Cassius is saying that Brutus hasn’t been as affectionate toward him as he typically is. Maybe he suspects something is wrong with Brutus and he thinks it has something to do with Caesar. But I think he didn’t really care about how Brutus was treating him, he was just “buttering him up” so to say. Brutus thinks that Cassius is just being his friend and trying to help, when in reality Cassius is manipulating him. This manipulation of friendship is what drives the rest of the play. Brutus has a hard time seeing through this manipulation of Cassius and it ends up driving him to assassinating his friend, Caesar. Cassius fabricated letters to make them seen like they were from the people of Rome saying that they wanted Brutus as their leader. These letters were really the controlling factor of the assassination because they gave Brutus another reason to assassinate Caesar. Cassius then realized how easy it was to manipulate Brutus. “Well, Brutus, thou art noble. Yet I see thy honorable mettle may be wrought from that it is disposed. Therefore it is meet that noble minds keep ever with their likes; for who so firm that cannot be seduced?” (1.2.320-324) Cassius is saying that even
Throughout most of the play Brutus is constantly internally conflicted. Does he do what he believes is best for Rome or stay loyal to his friend and leader? Should he assist in the murder of one person to benefit many? Although killing Caesar was in the end a bad choice, Brutus always tries to do what is best for Rome and for the people. However even though all of Brutus’ motives are good he still has the tragic flaw of pride, which ultimately leads to his downfall. The reason that Brutus gets caught up in the conspiracy is because Cassias appeals to his pride and flatters him with forged letters from the Roman people saying he is a greater leader then Caesar.
The play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare showcases many characters and events that go through many significant changes. One particular character that went through unique changes was Julius Caesar. The 16th century work is a lengthy tragedy about the antagonists Brutus and Cassius fighting with the protagonists Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus over the murder of Julius Caesar. Although the play’s main pushing conflict was the murder of Julius Caesar, he is considered a secondary character, but a protagonist. Throughout the theatrical work Julius Caesar’s actions, alliances, character developments, and internal and external conflicts display his diverse changes.
Brutus’ leadership and compassion for others make him a popular figure amongst the Roman people, and it is his reputation that establishes him as an influential individual. For example, despite the fact that Brutus loves Caesar like a brother, he warily joins the conspiracy to assassinate him. He does this because he believes that Caesar’s ambition would become tyranny and that Caesar’s death is a necessary evil in order to preserve the liberties of the Roman people. In his own words Brutus claims, “It must be by his death; and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general.”(Act 2, Scene 1, Page 1116). In addition, Brutus takes the reins of authority from Cassius and becomes the leader of the conspiracy. He gains this prerogative because of his convincing tongue and powerful influence. His leadership is evidenced when he begins to challenge Cassius’ ideas. When Cassius asks the conspirators to “swear our resolution”(Act 2...
Brutus is shown as being easily manipulated in the play. This trait is shown a few times in the play. At the beginning, Brutus is tricked by Cassius into believing that killing Julius Caesar would be for the better of Rome (1, 2, ll. 32-321). Cassius is able to deviously influence Brutus into thinking that Caesar is no different from Brutus. He says, “Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that Caesar?/ Why should that name be sounded more than yours?” (1, 2, ll. 142-143) Cassius also uses many other examples to manipulate Brutus. Later on, when the conspirators gather at Brutus’ home, Brutus believes that the other conspirators are killing Caesar for the good of Rome as well (2, 1, ll.114-116). After Brutus and the conspirators have killed Caesar, Mark Antony masks his anger ...
His honor and loyalty shape the world around him. You can see how honor and loyalty shaped the world around him when Cassius comes to him to ask him for help in dealing with Caesar. Even thou Brutus love 's Caesar and knows that Caesar is a good man, he lets Cassius talk him into looking deeper and see that Rome can 't have a tyrant as a leader. He tells Cassius "Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, That you would have me seek into myself, for that which is not in me?" (1.2.65-67). Brutus knows that killing his best friend is not something he wants to do, but he 's ready to commit such crime because it 's for the good of the Rome and the people of
Decius uses flattery and persuasion when speaking to Brutus. Decius is an active member of the Conspirators so he is very motivated into getting Caesar to go to the Senate House. The first thing that Decius says when he walks into Caesar's house is "Caesar, all hail! Good morrow, worthy Caesar" (II, ii, 30). Decius also goes on and calls Caesar "most mighty". Decius is already on Caesar's good side. After catching up on Calpurnia's dream, he uses his quick wit to distort Calpurnia's foreshadowing dream by saying it is "misinterpreted". He explains that the dream "Signifies that from (Caesar) Rome shall suck/Reviving blood, and that great men shall press/for tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance" (II, ii, 31). Caesar seems to be amazed by this version of the interpretation; in fact, he likes this version a lot better mainly because Decius uses so much flattery.
Throughout the entire play, Brutus proves to have Rome’s best interest in mind and strives to be honorable. In the beginning of the play, Brutus is talking to Cassius and he remarks, “set honor in one eye and death i' th' other, and I will look on both indifferently, for let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor more than I fear death” (1.2.88-91). Brutus feels very strongly about having a humble mindset. Brutus is so humble that he worries more about
Honor and power is what drives the conspirators to assassinate Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Caesar is now the single leader of Rome, and members of the Senate have concerns that he will abuse his sole power. Therefore, they plot and accomplish the assassination of Caesar in an attempt to rebuild the balance of Rome. Rome falls into chaos with an unknown future with no central leader for the people to follow. In Act I, Scene 2, Cassius, a member of the Senate, explains to his friend, Brutus, that Caesar is not the god he makes himself out to be. Instead, he argues both he and Brutus are equal to Caesar and are just as deserving of the throne. Cassius’ speech to Brutus diminishes Caesar’s godly demeanor through
Brutus had a strong relationship with Caesar but a stronger relationship with Rome and its people. I think during Roman times, the only way for someone to get close to a person of high rank is if he/she is a close friend or relative to him/her. Brutus loved Caesar but feared his power and ambition. In the early acts of the play, Brutus says to Cassius, "If it aught toward the general good, set honor in one eye and death in the other, and I will look on both indifferently…,,"(act 1, scene 2, ll.85-89), as he is speaking to Cassius. "He then unto the ladder turns his back..."(act 2, scene 1, line 25). As the quote says, Brutus would not allow Caesar to rise to power and then turn his back on the people of Rome. This is the only reason Brutus would conspire against Caesar. Brutus says to himself, "I know no personal cause to spurn at him...How that might change his nature..."(act 2, scene 1, and ll.11-13)