The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a drama written by William Shakespeare, one of the most influential writers in the English language. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is based in a real historical event, the murder of Gaius Julius Caesar in ancient Rome. This play describes events that led to the assassination of Caesar. It is known that Shakespeare took inspiration from history because of his depiction of some aspects described in the play (Shmoop University Inc). Shakespeare uses other historical figures of ancient Rome to create a “real” mood in his play. Even though the play is called The Tragedy of Julius Caesar the tragic hero isn’t Caesar himself but Julius Brutus a diplomatic and close friend of Caesar. To add a dramatic effect to his play Shakespeare, like any other author, tweaks the historical characters his used in his play to make them fit perfectly with the dramatic structure and his own idea for this tragedy. Even though Shakespeare tried to
Julius Caesar, a tragic play written by William Shakespeare, centers around the assassination of Caesar with the context of incidents that triggers the murder and the exploration of the aftermath for the conspirators. A succession of ambitious men tries eagerly to acquire the absolute power to rule over the enormous Roman Empire, yet Caesar is the only one who seemingly succeeds. However, his ambition and triumph over Pompey intimidate those who favor democracy and dread Caesar might abuse his power to become a tyrant. As a direct result, those citizens in the name of Roman’s good and justice sake form a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar together. By attempting to persuade more people to participate, the adversaries of Caesar employ animal imagery to reveal Caesar 's ambition and danger.
Although Caesar, as the upcoming ruler of Rome in Julius Caesar, should be portrayed as the ideal leader of the play, he actually has too arrogant of a character to be so. Therefore, Shakespeare places honor in Brutus and allows Brutus to have the role of the idealistic leader of the story. Although Shakespeare writes this play in a controversial time period during England’s political turmoil, he allows the audience to be able to choose the true ruler of loyalty to the crown or the honor of a noble man through the understanding of the two contrasting character
There were many deaths in the book “Julius Caesar” by Shakespeare. Every death or suicide in this book didn’t happen without a strong reason to back them up. Some people were very brave and selfless people, other characters in this book were very selfish people who only thought about themselves, and for those people it ended very badly. There were three main people that come to mind instantly when I think of deaths in this play, Julius Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus. These three characters are the ones that will be talked about during this essay.
Julius Caesar, leader of Rome, had a overwhelming ego and it is shown many times throughout the play of, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”. One of the times Julius Caesar showed his overwhelming ego was towards the beginning of the play when the soothsayer warns Caesar about the “ides of march”. The second time Julius shows his ego is when he says that he is not afraid of anybody - and people may talk behind his back, but never to his face as they would be too scared. The third time Julius shows his ego when he ignores his wife’s caution and worries about going to the Senate. Julius Caesar overall is seen to be arrogant and he has a very large ego.
There are a lot of different themes that could be used to describe the play of Julius Caesar. Power is a big part of the play and is probably the best theme of it. Throughout the play, power has a big impact on the story line and the way the story goes. It is evident to the conspirators that Julius Caesar is headed for absolute power; he becomes a threat to the ideals and values of the Roman Republic. They assassinate Caesar before he can be crowned king. The irony is that Caesar's death results in civil war. As two people with questionable motives try to get power, chaos ensues and the Republic is never the same again.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a Shakespearean play and representation of the assassination of Caesar, is a well written and developed story in which the build up of the characters is very well done. As a matter of fact, the developing of Brutus, the tragic hero on the play, is one of the most important characters and therefore one of the better explained and exposed. Brutus is a character that is marked with three traits that allow him to be the one responsible for Caesar's assassination. Indeed, Brutus is naive, well-intended and hypocrite, as seen when the conspirators convince him to be part of it, and be one of the most important figures in it.
Everyone knows that Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by his friends, so they naturally assume Caesar is a tragic hero. In digging deeper, the real tragic hero of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is revealed. To begin, William Shakespeare’s play is based on historical events that occurred in Rome around 44 B.C. Julius Caesar was born in 102 B.C. and died in 44 B.C. During this time, he became a power-hungry military leader. His rise to power was a result of such actions that made the Roman public love him. Although the Roman public loved him, many higher Romans believed that he was becoming dangerous. These feelings ultimately led to the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. when he was stabbed 35 times. This period of uncertainty lasted approximately
In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare includes prophets, omens, and natural phenomenon that point to the tragic end of the three main characters: Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius. Writing a play based on such a well known historical event, Shakespeare’s audience would have known the outline of the events before entering the theater. Therefore, the inclusion of the omens would have served as a reminder for his audience. Though the omens suggest a sense of predetermination that would have satisfied the historical outlook of the audience, it is abundantly clear that it is the choices that those characters make that dooms them. Ultimately, Shakespeare suggests that it is the flaws of the main characters that leads
It had been noted that all Shakespearean tragedies reflect a flaw in the main character or a conflict with an overpowering force that can be observed in the characteristics of Julius Caesar’s, Brutus’s, and Macbeth’s. In “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, Caesar’s main flaw is his arrogance and ambition, which both led to his doom. His overconfidence and self-love blinded him of the sharp thorns growing from his sides which were masked with loyalty and care. Viciously assassinated by the closest people in his heart, Julius Caesar had been known for centuries as the blind conceited man. On the other hand, loyalty conflicted Brutus, who is argued to be the protagonist of the tragedy. Although he was loyal to Caesar, he was loyal to his nation too and thought that the death of Caesar would be for the best for the nation. Through the cracks of his confusion, Brutus was lured by Caesar’s
Caesar was a great military leader, he was a man of strength, and he conquered all of Rome. Caesar was not afraid to take charge to take Rome high and make them more powerful. If he had to Caesar would kill anyone that stood in his way of making Rome more powerful. “Kill everyone inside” “without hesitation, his men, swords drown, burst inside the bar, and soon the street was quiet.” Caesar would strong enough to step up and make Rome more powerful.
The play begins with Julius Caesar returning from a victory over Pompey to a cheering crowd of Romans. He is an ambitious leader who wants Rome to prosper and looks out for his countrymen over himself, though he has his own, darker, flaws. This selflessness is explicitly demonstrated by him saying “What touches us shall be last served” (III.I.9) when he is told to deal with a letter because it most directly related to him. His goal is to further Rome and gain the approval of his people, which he does very well. He even goes as far as leaving money is his will to be distributed among each Roman in his death. It ends up being his ambition, and the power and loyalty he has accrued through it, that is interpreted as a push toward tyranny, and leads to his death.
Through the play Caesar is a liked person and the people of the town wanted him to be crowned king. He is a person who is trusts his friends and that ends up back firing.In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Caesar portrays a tragic flaw, a realization, and moral ambiguity, which makes him the most tragic character.
In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Marc Antony appears to be a strong advocate for Julius Caesar’s triumphs and increasing power. However, like Caesar, Antony is extremely manipulative and powerful. After Caesar’s death, Antony manipulated the conspirators into believing he was on their side before requesting to speak at Caesar’s funeral. While Brutus and the conspirators remained fooled by Antony’s innocence, Antony took the initiative to inform the Roman citizens of the conspirator’s horrendous actions towards their beloved leader, Julius Caesar. Caesar’s funeral was a time of reflection for the citizens of Rome, as Marc Antony caused them to question their allegiance to Brutus. Marc Antony’s power has always been a part of him. However, after Caesar’s death, his power only intensified as his passion for vengeance grew.
Government officials are expected to state their opinions on important subjects. This supposed transparency should allow citizens to assume how politicians will act once in power. Yet this outward appearance does not always convey all of their thoughts. Some actions, purely for public image, conceal the thoughts inside their minds and create a false appearance. This display of how people want to be seen is defined as a facade. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a tragedy, William Shakespeare creates facades for the historical figures he uses as characters. Although the audience knows the disguises for most characters, they have no choice but to watch them fail. The decline of powerful politicians makes this play a tragedy. In order to remain strong to the citizens of Rome and their enemies, Cassius, Caesar and Antony put up facades to mask their motives.