Julius Caesar Essay

552 Words2 Pages

A lot is learned about Julius Caesar in the first two acts of Shakespeare’s play. One of his qualities includes being superstitious. In act one scene two, Caesar tells Mark Antony to touch Calpurnia’s stomach while he passes by in the race “for our elders say the barren touchèd in this holy chase, shake off their sterile curse.” Caesar believes that by having an athletic man touch her stomach, Calpurnia, a barren woman, will be able to bear children. However, Caesar sees this superstitious behavior as a weakness, and Julius Caesar does not show weakness. When the Soothsayer warned Caesar to “beware the Ides of March” in the same scene, he passed it off as silly and ignored the warning. Caesar thought that if he showed fear, then others would think he is not fit for the throne. At that time in the play, all the people of Rome seemed thrilled to offer Caesar the crown. They were almost desperate, and Caesar used that advantage to quench his need to be fawned over. When Casca is telling Cassius and Brutus what happened with Caesar, he tells them that Caesar was offered the crown twice ...

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