In the following scene, Caesar is set to receive his crown. The night before, Calpurnia sees bad omens, and hopes that Caesar will stay home. On the other hand, the conspirators are planning the assassination of Caesar at the Capitol, and they need him there to receive his fate. Knowing Caesar well, Decius urges Caesar to go to the Capitol and receive his crown. Using various rhetorical devices, Calpurnia attempts to urge Caesar to stay home, while Decius tries to get Caesar to the Capitol. Calpurnia attempts to scare Caesar into staying at the house instead of going to the Capitol. She begins with ethos to establish her credibility and justify her concerns. Calpurnia “never stood on ceremonies”, but now they “fright her,” juxtaposing that the omens never scared her, but are frightening enough that she now is attentive to them. Because women were not as powerful in Rome, Calpurnia further credits her argument by including the “watch.” Using selection of detail, Calpurnia Even the guards, who are men, have seen the strange events, and they are scared. Since even men are scared, it should implicate to Caesar that he should be scared as well. Calpurnia sees a lioness, an image, normally associated with strength and courage, “whelp[ing] in the streets.” The lioness is essentially crying, scared of something. Caesar is also strong, but should be scared as well. When ethos fails to impact Caesar, Calpurnia switches to using pathos to try and scare Caesar. “Fierce fiery warriors [fighting] upon the clouds,” is an image that connotes war. In war, there is death and Caesar should be afraid of death. Calpurnia uses the image of “drizzled blood upon the Capitol,” connoting death, scaring Caesar of what is to come if he chooses to go to th... ... middle of paper ... ...the Capitol before the Senate change their minds. Because Caesar does not want to give the image that he is weak, Decius includes the image of “break up the Senate till another time, when Caesar’s wife shall meet with better dreams.” Caesar does not want the Romans to think of him as weak, hiding behind a woman, so he is going to go to the Capitol. Decius attempts to make staying home sound weak, and Caesar does not want to appear weak. Decius’s argument in the second half is very effective, as it focuses on the things that Caesar himself is concerned with, which is power and money. In conclusion, Decius’s argument prevails, for he argues in what appeals to Caesar, while Calpurnia tries to scare Caesar with things that scare her. Caesar is not frightened by bad omens, but he worries over lack of power. Caesar decides to go the Capitol, and his impending death.
The rhetorical question is used to make Caesar feel as if he is being immature and difficult for not wanting to take the chance of meeting his end. He addresses Caesar by saying, “If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper/’Lo Caesar is afraid.” (2.2.105-106). The rhetorical question intentionally draws to light the matter of what the people will believe if the mighty Caesar chooses not to arrive. Resurfacing on his policy of inflating Caesar’s ego, he contradicts his earlier claims of how mighty he is. Caesar has been told frequently and for a long period of time just how great he is by nearly every soul he comes across. The sudden declaration of his frailties shocks Caesar to the reality of his predicament, that being that it is only a matter of time before his power will run out. Caesar feels that if he waits too long or makes the wrong moves he will never receive the opportunity to fulfill his one wish in life, to become king. The ultimate goal of Decius’s sermon was to unknowingly lead Caesar to his death. This goal is reached due to Caesar’s unwavering desire for power. The use of repetition, inversion, and rhetorical questions helped push Caesar towards his dismal
The book Julius Caesar is full of happiness, conspiracy, power, and betrayal. The people of Rome deeply loved julius Caesar and wished to make him their king. A group of senators however were not so fond of this idea and formed a conspiracy. The leader of this group was a man by the name of Cassius. In order to make sure that his scheme of killing Caesar would work and would look honorable he had to convince a senator by the name of Brutus to help. After being convinced that they had to kill Caesar to protect Rome from a tyrant Brutus joined the conspiracy and soon became the principal conspirator.On the day in which Caesar was to be crowned king he was on the way to the senate when he was stabbed by all the conspirators panic ensued and to convince Rome of their honorable intentions Brutus gave a funeral speech. Mark Antony, a very close friend of Caesar, gave his speech after Brutus had given his. Mark Antony’s speech is more persuasive to the Roman people because of his outstanding use of pathos, sarcasm, and logos.
In this scene, Caesar shows no eagerness to gain power or fame as the citizens have assumed therefore showing no ambition whatsoever. The imagery and logical reasoning persuade the audience into rethinking if Caesar was ambitious and believe that Caesar was
Julius Caesar is the leader of Rome and is seeking to become king in a matter of time. Though he is a good military strategist, he lacks knowledge in running government and is too greedy to have any concern for the peasants when he is alive. Caesar is all about conquering and power and he is afraid of nothing. Before he is murdered, he says “The things that threatened me ne’er looked but on my back. When they shall see the face of Caesar, they are vanished” (II, ii, 575). Th...
CAESAR: He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. Pass.” (1.2.28-29) Othsayer appears to be the fortuneteller who tries to warn Caesar of an unknown danger in this situation but Caesar quickly dismisses the idea. Caesar demonstrates his control of his own life, that the predictions are merely dreams that can never turn into reality. Under such conditions, it cannot be the fate but rather the free will of Caesar himself to blame for his death for taking risks and facing life in his own way. Another instance of fate is Casca's observations of a dreadful night. He describes the setting as if there are burning slaves, crawling lion, and ghostly women on the street of the Capitol. (1.3.25-32) These omens are usually associated with fate, as that supernatural sights hints the happening of a tragedy soon, but they don't necessarily define the tragedy itself. They can refer to a series of other events and not the assassination of Caesar. Lastly, the night before the assassination, Calphurnia convinces her husband to stay home due to a nightmare, but Caesar responds with as if it is no big matter in "CAESAR: Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace tonight. Thrice hath Calphurnia in her sleep cried out "Help, ho, they murder Caesar!" (2.2.1-3) In her dream, Calpurnia claims to see the death of her husband whose blood flows all over Rome. Her fear toward
Cassius believes that he should not be ruler of Rome for a few very specific reasons, so to combat this he convinces Marcus Brutus to join his conspiracy by forging fake letters. Brutus is very honorable and is loved by many people in Rome, so he would bring the people to their side. On the 15th of March Caesar went to the capital despite the multiple warnings he was given. Calpurnia ,Caesar’s wife, dreamt of his statue running with blood and begged him to stay home. Although Caesar ignored it when Decius convinced him that it represented the good and richness that he would bring to Rome.
However, when Decius arrives at Caesar’s home, he tries to convince Caesar that he has misinterpre...
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.
The conspirators had already decided how and when they would kill Caesar, and Brutus, Cassius, along with Decius, knew they had to lure Caesar close. They had an advantage at this because they knew that all they would have to do was prove to Caesar that they had a good, solid friendship, and this would help their situation and leave Caesar completely sightless to the fact that his situation had grown dire. So they decided to use their friendship with Caesar in a horribly deceptive manner, effectively, in order to kill him. Decius managed to start this off well by using flattery and quick wit in order to trick Caesar into going to the senate house, despite the fact that Caesars wife, Calpurnia had dreams of Caesars murder the night before.
In this play, Cassius’ motivation is completely inspired by evil and hatred. His jealousy of Caesar and greed for power drives him to create the conspiracy and start plotting the death of Caesar. While talking to Casca, he says, “What trash is Rome, / What rubbish and what offal, when is serves / For the bas matter to illuminate / So vile a thing as Caesar!” (I.iii.109-112). This shows some of the true feelings Cassius has about Caesar. He believes that Caesar is not worthy of his power and does not want anyone to hold more power than him. Although he justifies the killing of Caesar as an act for freedom from tyranny, his motivation is full of bad intent. In an attempt to disguise his true motives, Cassius convinces Brutus, an honorable and well-respected man, to join the conspiracy. He tells Brutus, “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. / Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well. / ...
...ed a vital role in the novel was when the fearfully voiced her opinion on whether Caesar should go to the Senate and when she was reported to have had a dream in which she, “…in her sleep cried out, ‘Help, ho! They murder Caesar!’ Who’s within?” (Act 2, ii, 3-4). Foreshadowing the murder of her husband, and begging him to not go out, Calpurnia essentially controlled the fate of Caesar. It is remarkable to think that if Caesar had only listened to his wife, the entire course of the story would have been dramatically different.
...n remind us of ourselfs, and how we often try and fail. We see him lose his dear wife and continue warily onward. His only impetus seeming to be the love he feel towards his country. "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." (948). In the end he has not only lost many companions, but he has lost his quintessent name. This will cause him to be judged forevermore, by many generations, and the realization that he has lost his good name is the culminating force that pushes him to end his life.
In conclusion, this passage showcases many aspects of Shakespeare’s style. While this play is actually a shift from his normal rhetorical style in that is displays simple prose or poetry, as opposed to his usually complicated and flowery style, Shakespeare’s use of pun is characterizing of his traditional work. Shakespeare shift in style can be attributed to his desire to authentically imitate and portray Roman life, as to make his play more effective. Shakespeare’s maintenance of iambic pentameter meter throughout this passage is also consistent with Roman or Classical society in that it symbolizes, or seeks to achieve balance. The passage also reveals or maintains many things about some of Julius Caesar’s characters. For examples, Brutus’ initial motive for wanting to assassinate Caesar—that it is for the overall good of Rome, and Cassius’ malicious motives.
The conspirators had planned the death of Julius. Brutus and Cassius, along with Decius, knew they had draw in to Caesar close. Proving Caesar that they had a firm friendship, that would solidify their situation and leave Julius completely sightless to his doomed fate. Caesar's wife Calphurnia would have a dream. She would see Caesar's statue run with blood and men with swords surrounding him.
Calpurnia’s dream predicted Caesar’s death well, after being stabbed by all of his friends and bleeding to death, the men that killed him bathed in his blood happily thinking Rome will be safe. The omen of Caesar’s ghost visiting Brutus represented Brutus’s death. Caesar said “I will see you in Philippi,” meaning he will see Brutus at the place of the battle and watch him die, which he did. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar had the ongoing theme of Fate versus Free Will, but it seemed that fate was mostly shown.