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Julius caesar summary
Analysis of Julius Caesar
Shakespeare julius caesar rhetorical devices
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Close Reading of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (2.2.114-161)
Act two of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar begins the detailed planning of Caesar’s assassination, which follows soon after in the third act. One particular passage of interest during this act is found in scene one. This particular passage deals with the conspirator’s justification of their motives for wanting to kill Caesar, as well as the fine-tuning of their machination. As is consistent throughout Julius Caesar, Shakespeare’s verse here differs much from his usual, flowery, beautifully poetic, and complicated verse that can be found in plays as Macbeth. The verse in Caesar is simple. This change in Shakespeare’s style has been attributed to his desire to imitate Roman society in this work, as to give the audience or the reader some context through which to receive the play, and to accurately portray his Roman characters.
While discussing Shakespeare’s language, his verse should also be studied in greater depth. Shakespeare has chosen to compose this play using pentameter lines—that is lines that contain five sets of iambic feet, or one stressed and one unstressed syllable. An example of iambic pentameter line is: “So let high-sighted tyranny range on/” (2.1.117). However, some lines also contain an extra stressed or unstressed syllable, as can be seen with this example: “The sufferance of our souls, the time’s abuse” (2.1.114). In this case the second “the” is an unstressed syllable just as “souls” before it. When lines occur in this manner, the double stressed or unstressed syllables are called spondees. The sustained use of pentameter lines is also a reflection of Shakespeare’s goal of imitation Roman society or Classicism, which reflected balance in all aspects of life.
Shakespeare has also incorporated several literary devices into this passage. Consider these lines: “Old feeble carrions, and such suffering souls/That welcome wrongs…” (2.1.128-129). The words in bold all being with the same consonant sounds of the word that precedes or follows it. This device is called alliteration and is effective in emphasizing the words that are being alliterated. Another literary device Shakespeare incorporates into this passage is the pun, which can be defined as a “play on words”. In line 133 of the aforementioned ...
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...ntriver. And you know his means/If he improve them may well stretch so far/As to annoy us all…” (2.1.154-159). What is also evident here is Cassius’ fear of another power suppressing his, or that of his co-conspirators, which is another reason he probably wanted to include Cicero in their plans in the aforementioned lines.
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.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
Shakespeare evinces perspectives of situations, events and characters as innately conflicting, as the impossibility of a single and stable objective reality comes to advocate the embrace of truth and meaning as endlessly deferred and enigmatic. The Stoic Brutus' epideictic "not that I loves Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" positions the twin motivations of a personal allegiance and socially altruistic pursuit of Republicanism as irreconcilable within a system of static moral precepts. Cassius embodies a humanistic subversion of the divine as the epistrophe "Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius" is contrasted with the ironic anaphora "Therein, ye gods, you make the weak so strong, therein ye gods, you tyrants do defeat" as the stage direction and pathetic fallacy "thunder continues" signifies a violent departure from theocentrism and the subversion of a single stable discourse. Caesar is subject to competing representations; by himself as metaphorically "as constant as the northern star"; by Anthony as benevolent as benevolent through the parralelism "when the poor hath cried, Casesar hath wept"; and as Cassius as undeservedly revered and poignantly mortal, through the dramatic imagery "Help me, Cassius, or I sink". These conflicting perspectives cannot be resolved into a stable and tru...
Throughout the play many characters are not who they turn out to be. Julius Caesar is a very good judge of character, he does not ruts Cassius, he says “ He thinks too much man, such men are dangerous”( shakespeare,1.2.195). Caesar foreshadows now dangerous Cassius is, Cassius is one person who stabs Caesar. Unlike Caesar, Brutus trusts people too much to see who they are. After Caesar 's death, Brutus trusts Marc Antony to give his speech, but Cassius says “ You know not what you do. Do not consent./ that Antony speak in his funeral. I know you how much the people may be moved/ by that which he will utter.” (shakespeare,3.2.333-335). Caesar was an amazing military leader, Brutus was not. Before Caesar becomes king, he gained land back to Rome “ Julius Caesar has just returned to Rome after a long civil war in which he defeated the forces of pompey” (applebee) Caesar led his military to victory and has the chance to take full control of Rome. brutus is a humble military leader company to Caesar. After Brutus won his battle over Octavius’ army, he left his men begin looting. Instead of helping Cassius’ army “ O Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early,/ who, having some advantages on Octavius/ took it too eagerly. His soldiers fell to spoil/ whilst we by Antony are all enclosed .(Shakespeare,5.3.5-8) Brutus had a bad call when he did not send his army to help Cassius. With Caesars flaw being
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”. Elements of Literature. Ed. Deborah Appleman. 4th ed. Texas: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2009. 843-963.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Elements of Literature. Ed. Edwina McMahon et al. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1997.
In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two speeches are given to the people of Rome about Caesar's death. In Act 3, Scene 2 of this play Brutus and Antony both try to sway the minds of the Romans toward their views. Brutus tried to make the people believe he killed Caesar for a noble cause. Antony tried to persuade the people that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward Caesar and were traitors. The effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both Antony's and Brutus's speech to the people are conveyed through tone and rhetorical devices.
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. / ...
In the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, Caesar, the new emperor, was being conspired against by many men, specifically Brutus and Cassius. Following Caesar’s murder, Rome turns in on itself and a war between The Conspirators and the friends of Caesar starts. In Act 1 Scene 3, Casca, a conspirator, recounts unnatural events that had come upon the city such as men on fire, owls in the day, and a lion roaming the streets of Rome. In this section, Shakespeare uses diction to develop a mood of mystery.
Shakespeare shows Caesar to be, what you could say, a contradiction. The audience see how Caesar respects Antony's soldier-ship yet still fights him; they see how he clearly loves his sister, but uses her unscrupulously as a political device; and they are shown how he is very rational and dull, yet he surprisingly tells his soldiers, as well as some Egyptians about how he would parade the defeated Cleopatra. He wants to do this because he feels that 'her life in Rome would be eternal in our triumph.' This shows the reader how Caesar has strong emotional outcries, which contrasts his initial characteristics.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is an intimate portrayal of the famed assassination of Julius Caesar and the complex inner workings of the men who committed the crime. In one particularly revealing scene, two of the men closest to Caesar, one a conspirator in his murder and one his second-in command, give orations for the deceased. Despite being simple in appearance, these two speeches do much of the work in developing and exposing the two characters in question. Though both have a love for Caesar, Mark Antony's is mixed with a selfish desire for power, while Brutus' is pure in nature, brought to a screeching halt by his overpowering stoicism. These starkly-contrasted personalities influence the whole of the play, leading to its tragic-but-inevitable end.
responds to Cassius' fear that his friend Brutus disapproves of him. Brutus assures Cassius that he is not
In addition to adding an incredible amount to the language, Shakespeare’s work offered a reflection on the language itself through his use of iambic pentameter in his verse. Iambic pentameter is a style of poetic writing in which each line is ten syllables, alternating from soft to hard accents (five soft, five hard). Iambic pentameter captures the natural underlying rhythm in English speech. Some of Shakespeare’s most memorable lines have been written in iambic pentameter. For example, the opening line in one of Shakespeare’s most renowned plays, Romeo and Juliet, reads “Two households both alike in dignity” (I, i, 1).
In Act 3, scene 2, Polonius states an allusion to Julius Caesar, a Roman dictator of around 44 B.C. Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” was likely written at around the same time as “Hamlet,” and thus it is most likely the subject matter in his mind when writing the other. This allusion refers to Caesar's assassination by his comrade Brutus. It is especially important because it reminds us of King Hamlet’s murder by Claudius as well as young Hamlet's quest to avenge his father's death. In this one allusion, Shakespeare is able to tie in several themes in the play: revenge, betrayal, and death. In this Act, there are undeniably allusions related to mythology, which was an interest at that time. Mythological characters were familiar to the Elizabethans.