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How shakespeare demonstrates power in julius caesar
Manipulation in julius caesar essay
A concise analysis of the play Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
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Through the Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare demonstrates the powerful effects of manipulation. These powerful manipulations are seen when Cassius manipulates Brutus into joining the conspirators, Decius Brutus manipulating Caesar into going to the city council, and Brutus men taking Titinius making Cassius scouts think he was taken by the enemy. These manipulations show many powerful effects throughout the play.
When Cassius tricks Brutus into joining the conspirators by using a series of notes on how these “Romans” feel about Caesar and his actions.Cassius says, “Good Cinna, tale this paper, And look you lay it in the Praetor’s chair, Where Brutus may find it; and throw this In at his window; set this up with wax Upon old Brutus’ statue.”(JC. 1. 3. 147-151). Brutus joining the conspirators caused many things to occur. Brutus takes over the leadership of the conspirators and makes sizable choices throughout the play. He decides not to take Cassius’ advice in killing Mark Antony, he claims that he
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will not seek revenge. Later in the play, Mark Antony joins with Octavius to revenge Caesar. Brutus yet again disagrees with Cassius and chooses to meet Octavius and Mark Antony at Philippi instead of waiting for them. Since doing this, the march to Philippi made the men tired. The outcome of Brutus decisions don’t end well with the conspirators. This is one of many examples of how powerful the outcomes of manipulations can be in Julius Caesar. Manipulation expands through both friend and foes. When Decius Brutus manipulates Caesar and Calpurnia that the dream was of good fortune, Julius Shakespeare shows a powerful aspect of manipulation. Decius pronounces that the fountains of blood pouring from Caesar's body that Calpurnia saw reflected the new life Caesar is giving to Rome, not his death. Decius Brutus says, “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 cuck Reviving blood, and that great man shall press For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.” (Jc. 2. 2. 89). He makes the dream Calpurnia had seem very robust. Decius Brutus says, “This dream is all amiss interpreted.” (JC. 2. 2. 88).This makes Calpurnia and Caesar more at ease. Decious also mentions something about a crown being pronounced in Caesar's name, resulting to the final solution of Caesar going to the council. Mark Antony manipulates the conspirators into thinking that he was not angry with them.
Mark Antony says, “Friends am i with you all and love you all,” (Jc. 3. 1. 241). Mark Antony manipulating the conspirators help insure his revenge and survival at the senate. Mark Antony asks if he can speak in the market in honor of Caesar saying, “”that I may produce his body to the marketplace, And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, Speak in the order of his funeral” (JC. 3. 1. 250). This is another form of manipulation we see Mark Antony use in the play. In the market place, Mark Antony rallies the people, turning them against the conspirators. When Mark Antony says “Let the commons hear this testament, Which pardon me , I do not mean to read, And they would go kiss dead Caesar’s wounds Yea, beg a hair of jom for memory And, dying, mention it within their wills, Bequeathing it as a rich legacy Unto their issue.” (JC. 3. 2. 142-149), he uses manipulation over the
people. These manipulations all cause massive effects in the play. When Cassius manipulates Brutus, Decius manipulation of Caesar and Calpurnia, and Mark Antony’s manipulation of the Conspirators we see how powerful these actions are.
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...
In Act 1 Scene 2 we see that Cassius is trying to persuade and manipulate Brutus into thinking that Julius Caesar is becoming too powerful and that he needs to be stopped before it is too late. He does this using many different techniques. Cassius is able to make Brutus ... ... middle of paper ... ...
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.
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...
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.
Antony deceives Brutus and the other conspirators with his keen wit and his sweet talk. After a brief minute of expressing sorrow, Antony goes right into saying "Friends am I with you all, and love you all" (III, I, 42). Antony is using flattery in order to get Brutus on his good side so he can speak in the order of Caesar's funeral. Antony asks Brutus if he can, Brutus agrees without hesitation.
Cassius is the greatest manipulator in the play, Julius Caesar. Cassius, an envious and ambitious man, believed that the ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar, had too much power over the senate and the people. To put an end to what he considered to be conspiracy, he fabricated a plan to eradicate Caesar for the sake of Rome. Cassius uses manipulation as his weapon of attack using Brutus as the target. Cassius succeeds in persuading Brutus, one of Caesar’s good friends, to join their plot. Cassius uses flattery, self-gain, and the people of Rome to manipulate Brutus into his likings.
In his play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare employs various rhetorical strategies such as direct address, repetition, and apostrophe in Antony’s eulogy to convince the crowd into believing that Caesar was a good ruler. His excellent use of rhetoric begins before he starts his speech through the establishment of familiarity. Before Antony begins his speech, he refers to the crowd as “friends, romans, [and] countrymen” to establish a personal connection, indicating the use of direct address (3.2.82). By referring to the crowd as “friends,” Antony removes any separation between him and the audience, establishing a close bond by choice. As it came first on his list, it emphasizes the importance of his friendship with the audience as friendship implies
We have all come across someone that we do not like at one point or another. Whether you did not like them because of their actions or because you were simply envious of them, I doubt you have disliked someone so much that you decided to kill them. In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Caesar was killed by a group of envious conspirators. With Caesar gone, the people look for leadership and answers. Two individuals, Marcus Brutus and Mark Antony, speak at Caesar’s funeral and each use the art of persuasion to influence the plebeians. While some may argue that Brutus’ speech was more effective, Antony’s speech was clearly superior because of his prevalent use of logos, ethos, and pathos.
As the play unfollows in the first two acts we can see that Brutus is troubled over Caesar's coronation. Brutus is given a choice by Cassius to do something about Caesar. While Brutus thought long and hard about this offer Cassius, the leader of the conspiracy tricks Brutus by writing fake letters from the public to Brutus. Stated by Cassius in act 1 scene 3 “good Cinna, take this paper, And look you lay it in the praetor’s chair, Where Brutus may but find it; and throw this in at his window; set this up with wax upon old Brutus’ statue (Act 1. Scene.lines 144-148) Cassius wrote these letters and purposely left them where Brutus is bound to find them. Once Brutus joined the conspiracy Brutus planned do with what is best for his country Rome, at Caesar's suspense. This plan worked until Marc Antony intervene. That’s when Brutus second flaw of poor judgement takes place (Shakespeare Act 3, scene 1).
‘The character Julius Caesar is presented as arrogant and dangerous in Act 1 of the play.’ Discuss.
In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the play begins with the people of Rome celebrating Julius Caesar’s victory over the deceased Pompey’s sons. Prior to Pompey’s death Caesar and Pompey shared power over Rome, and now that Pompey has died the people of Rome want Julius Caesar to become emperor. Mean While Cassius a powerful general and senator is jealous of Caesar and is leading a conspiracy to assonate. Marcos Brutus is a respected senator of the republic that is Julius Caesars close friend, he is well liked by the public and has strong family connections to the republic but he also has a strong desire to be well liked and thought of as a noble man to the people of Rome. Cassius is able to use those qualities to manipulate Brutus into betraying his dear friend Julius Caesar so that he can benefit from the respectability Brutus involvement will bring. Shakespeare characterization of Brutus’ personality demonstrates that Shakespeare finds Brutus’ motives to be self-centered to glorify himself rather than him simply being a man of honor.
Whether an issue of miscommunication, political disobedience, or confusion found in mob mentality, Shakespeare so cleverly grouped together these events to allude to the undoing of Brutus’s conscience and, ultimately, life. The reader is able to learn valuable lessons from Brutus on both a historical and moral level. Though people seek to do what is best for the greater good, consequences always follow these very decisions and Shakespeare acknowledged that fact in the dreadful words that depicted the Tragedy of Julius Caesar.