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Characterization of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
An analysis of julius caesar as a tragedy
The play Julius Caesar as a Tragedy
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In Shakespeare's “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, between the two extremes of being a tyrant or sympathetic, Caesar would definitely be more leaning toward a monstrous tyrant. One example of Caesar’s power hunger is his brutal acts towards his opponents. Early on in the story that civilians began to cheer in the streets for Caesar’s victory in killing Pompey when the soldiers confront them about it.“To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome./ And when you saw his chariot but appear,/ Have you not made a universal shout/...And now you strew flowers n his way/ That come in triumph over Pompey’s blood?” (I.i.42-51). The soldiers chide the civilians for their utter ignorance to Caesar's rule and become worried for Rome itself from the conduct of these citizens. By Caesar killing In a well functioning republic, the leaders must listen to all that the people say and not do whatever he wishes. This part of the play displays Caesar’s sexism but also his lack of thought for others concerns that is similar to a tyrant view. Lastly, Caesar shows arrogance subtly through his words to make himself feel powerful. When Calpurnia warns Caesar of her visions, Caesar starts speaking in third person that personally seems like the zenith of someone being supercilious. “Caesar shall forth. The things that threatened me/Ne’er looked but on my back; when they shall see/ The face of Caesar, they are vanishéd.” (II.ii.10-11). Caesar basically says that because he is so great and powerful he will never be defeated. He also talks in third person which is quite arrogant of a leader to do. Whenever people feel too anxious for leadership they may let it all go to their head, another reason why he turned into a tyrant. People need to watch for tyrannical or corrupt politicians as they can get too power hungry and cannot be
During the Republic, the people of Rome had a major disinclination towards any sort of Royalty, which is why when Caesar attempted to lead undemocratically indefinitely, he disrupted one of the core stances that romans shared communally. Caesar over indulged in power when he retitled himself as ‘dictator in perpetuo’. “And as Caesar was coming down from Alba into the city they ventured to hail him as king. But at this the people were confounded, and Caesar, disturbed in mind, said that his name was not King, but Caesar, and seeing that his words produced an universal silence, he passed on with no very cheerful or contented looks…..But the most open and deadly hatred towards him was produced by his passion for the royal power.” Caesars egotism and self-importance made him uncherished by members of the senate. “Everybody knew that Caesar's ego would never allow him to play second fiddle to another senator, and it was equally well-known that another famous military leader, Pompey the Great, had similar ambitions. In January 49, more or less at...
Julius Caesar, even though he is considered great, turns out to contain many flaws. He believes himself to be untouchable, and has a confidence that he cannot be harmed, even though that is not the case. He says so when he says, “Caesar shall forth. The things that threatened me ne’er looked but on ...
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...
Even though Julius Caesar portrayed positive qualities while performing negative actions, they were still positive in that as a leader, he was seen as strong and reliable. Keeping promises, though brutally, and obsessing over the image of himself and his empire did make Rome one of the greatest Empires of all times. Therefore, Caesar may have been harsh, but he was honest and committed to being a powerful leader and establishing a powerful
First of all, Caesar always felt entitled to himself and always had the audacity to see everyone as beneath him. A great example of Caesar’s bravery and fearlessness is when he was eighteen and was escape the punishment from the dictator Sulla, so in the process he was captured by pirates, who decided to be help for ransom. “When they demanded twenty talents for his ransom, he laughed at them for not knowing who he was, and spontaneously promised to give them fifty talents instead, Next after he had dispatched friends to various cites to gather the money…he felt so superior to them that whenever he wanted to sleep, he would order them to be quiet” . Even being surrounded by murderous pirates clearly out numbered, he refused to let them think that they were in charge while he was in their captivity for thirty-eight days.
“Caesar was a brilliant general, a clever engineer, and administrator of genius, and a leader who demanded and commanded loyalty. He also was a corrupt politician” (Dando-Collins 4). Caesar would go on to be a dictator and his gain in power would corrupt him. He often bypassed the Senate, taking their power away. With Caesar’s growing power the Senate feared that they would soon lose their political relevance.
“Tis very like: he hath the falling sickness”. (2.2.45) Caesar showed his arrogance and ambitiousness to his people. He didn't want to take the crown from Antony for defeating Pompey. If Caesar would have taken the crown from Antony if would had made him not so arrogant. He would have been more of a stronger leader. “Ambition should not be soft. Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man.” (3.1.58) Caesar was also a hard headed man. He didn’t like to listen to anyone. He had his servant get the priest for the sacrifice after Calpurnia cried three times her in sleep, “Help someone! they’re murdering Caesar.” Caesar told his servant to perform the sacrifice immediately and to bring him the results. Caesar done things that could have put him in a bad
Many ancient Romans considered Julius Caesar to be a hero. But there were also those who thought of him as a tyrant. Caesar may have seemed like a tyrant but those people failed to see the good he did for Rome. Caesar was more of a hero then he is a tyrant. For example in “Killing Caesar” by Jon Herman he was able to feed everyone including the homeless that the senators before him failed to help. He gained even more land for Rome to expand its empire. Also he took the jobs of the senators that were failing to govern the empire.
Was Caesar a hero or a tyrant? Caesar did many things that show he was a hero, and a tyrant, but which was he really. Did Caesar deserved to be praised like he was, or assassinated? “A law authored by Caesar had been found, but not yet introduced, which would proclaim Caesar a living god.” Caesar did seem the type of person to be a tyrant, but what he actually did while he was in power was good for Rome.
Some nobles were jealous because Julius Caesar was so successful. Others believed that it was bad for one man to have so much power. Was Julius Caesar a Hero or Tyrant? Despite, the fact that he killed many to get where he was and in his willingness to gain power he lost his life, Julius Caesar was the best thing that could have possibly happen to Rome. He was a great leader because he led well and gained glory and wealth for the Empire. Caesar is known to be a very great leader but in Spain and Gaul, Caesar betrayed Roman allies by terminating their towns and enslaving friends of Romans. One wouldn’t say he was or was not good, evil, or bad. It was simply the fact that people dedicated themselves to his leadership until their own downfalls of death; without even being forced to, that’s how powerful he was. He certainly wasn't a tyrant, though his enemies tried to portray him as so. He was a Roman of the first class,
Julius Caesar was a Roman politician and military general who experienced true betrayal from who he believed were his closest friends. As close as he was to becoming Rome’s new leader, he was just as far away. In the play, “Julius Caesar” Shakespeare portrayed Caesar as almost clueless but a power-hungry politician who was willing to take over Rome any second. Unfortunately for Caesar, he was killed before he had a chance to truly fight for the right of the crown. With the exemption of Brutus, Cassius and Decimus were those who suffered from severe jealousy. Brutus simply wanted what was best for Rome and Julius Caesar was not it. What ultimately lead to Caesars death was his greed and plain ignorance.
One major reason Caesar was a tyrant is because he was tremendously deceitful. It started out when he was elected high priest “allegedly by heavy bribes” (McGill). This shows us that whe would do anything to gain power. Caesar was also in great debt from taking loans to fun and win-over the audience by using gladiator fights. These beloved fights made the people of Rome love caesar. Another prime example of he deceitfulness is when the “senate supported Pompey” and Caesar attacked Pompey and chased and killed him in Egypt (McGill). Caesar was willing to steal, kill, and bribe to rule. Caesar deceived many people including the Roman public, political figures, and would stop at nothing to gain power.
He put on a false impression of invincibility and power to gain public support. After he defeated Pompey, the previous leader, the people greatly admired him and wanted him to lead Rome. However, few knew that he was not as invincible as he seemed. Brutus claimed that Caesar “had a fever when he was in Spain and when the fit was on him, I did mark how he did shake. ‘Tis true, this god did shake” (I.2.121-123). Not only was Caesar extremely susceptible to disease, but he also cried like “a sick girl” (I.2.130). Cassius also tells a story about Caesar’s weaknesses. Caesar once dared Cassius to swim in the Tiber River with him, yet Caesar almost drowned and cried, “Help me, Cassius, or I sink!” (I.2.113). Although Caesar is clearly seen as weak and vulnerable, he portrays himself as powerful and invincible to the general public to gain their support. Although the people elected him as their ruler, he was assassinated shortly afterwards by the people who knew his true self. His assassination tore Rome apart and resulted in a civil war. By writing about Caesar’s contrasting personalities, Shakespeare implies that one’s internal strife will lead to general
In addition, he prevails his weaknesses by say this in that he shows that he realizes anyone with power could easily kick him off the throne; this is the reason that he is trying to take complete control of Rome and deplete everyone else of any power. Obviously, this is a terrible mentality to have as a leader and always leads to a corrupt government that takes away all the rights of its citizens and this mentality that Caesar had justifies his
The theme of the Shakespearean play Julius Caesar is the ultimate demise of inflexible individuals. Throughout the play, specifically portrayed in the characters Brutus and Caesar, individuals who have inflexible morals end up being blinded by their beliefs and do not try to compromise with others, causing a downwards spiral to happen. Julius Caesar was so completely adamant on becoming the king of Rome, just as Brutus was completely adamant on maintaining his honor, that he began to ignore everything around him and refused to compromise or conform in any way because of his personality. With this, we see how Julius ultimately fell, as he was oblivious to the fickle people around him, due to his inflated ego, refused to pay attention to