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Juluis Caesar-Shakespheare -- a Parallel Text, Third

Last reviewed: April 13, 2013 ~6 min read
Abstract

William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar provides audiences with an account involving the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, the 44 B.C. conspiracy that resulted in his violent assassination, and the continued violence that dominated Rome consequent to his death. In spite of the fact that the play's title is Julius Caesar, Caesar's character only appears in three scenes. The tragedy's central character is Marcus Brutus and most of the storyline relates to him and to his failure to understand matters from a general perspective when he has the chance to do so. The play actually demonstrates how violence can emerge from individuals misinterpreting behavior seen in others and the idea of violence dominates most of the play, shaping the way that characters interact and think.

Juluis Caesar-Shakespheare -- A parallel text, Third edition- Perfection Learning-2004 copyright the concept violence Write a definition concept violence focused. Sum essence idea. The definition violence lens examine events play, Juluis Caesar.

Violence is one of the most exaggerated forms of physical aggression and it can exist for a series of reasons. It involves a person or a group of persons acting against another person or groups of persons with the purpose to achieve one or several diverse goals. In many cases violence results from individuals perceiving the acts of other people as hostile and thus wanting to act against these people before it is too late. Depending on the situation, more or less individuals might get involved in an act of violence, especially when they consider that it would be essential for them to do so.

William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar provides audiences with an account involving the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, the 44 B.C. conspiracy that resulted in his violent assassination, and the continued violence that dominated Rome consequent to his death. In spite of the fact that the play's title is Julius Caesar, Caesar's character only appears in three scenes. The tragedy's central character is Marcus Brutus and most of the storyline relates to him and to his failure to understand matters from a general perspective when he has the chance to do so. The play actually demonstrates how violence can emerge from individuals misinterpreting behavior seen in others and the idea of violence dominates most of the play, shaping the way that characters interact and think.

From the very first lines of the play audiences are presented with the character of Murellus. This character's temperament and his misinterpretation of a cobbler almost influences him to use violence with the purpose to impose his point-of-view. While the cobbler claims that he wants to assist Murellus, the tribune is confused and becomes angry. "What mean'st thou by that? Mend me, thou saucy fellow" (Shakespeare 1.1.18-19). Audiences are thus enabled to understand that they are about to encounter a series of individuals and scenes involving aggression, both physical and verbal, taking into account the Murellus' mean-spirited attitude. The fact that Murellus is reluctant to acknowledge Caesar's greatness and that he emphasizes his opinion concerning the matter further contributes to setting the stage for the violence that is about to occur in the scenes following his experience with the cobbler.

Individuals like Murellus largely express hesitation about acknowledging the fact that Caesar is probably greater than they will ever be precisely because of their inferior status. Brutus makes no exception from the rule and in spite of his obvious love for Caesar, he cannot stop from providing audiences with the impression that he considers his superior to be an individual who is impossible to equal, at least not while he is still alive. Violence is in many cases considered the solution to problems that have no peaceful resolution and individuals thus come to express support regarding this idea consequent to going over a series of possible ways out of a problematic situation.

Brutus feels that it is his mission to get involved in Caesar's assassination, as violence seems to be the perfect solution to Caesar's presumed interest in wanting to install a monarchy. "What means this shouting? I do fear the people choose Caesar for their king" (1.2.78-79). As a consequence of such thinking, he comes to think of violence as being less absurd than it might have seemed before. Brutus' attitude appears to be motivated by political interests, given that he seems to be a just person and that it would be logical for someone to look at him this way. However, this is actually a power-hungry man who seizes the opportunity to overthrow a person whom he considers to represent a serious rival. Brutus' self-evaluation and his opinion regarding how he is unable to equal Caesar's thinking makes it possible for him to consider violence as an intriguing solution. It is very probable that the other conspirators identify Brutus' fragile nature as a consequence of him being well-acquainted with Caesar's power and thus realize that it would be easy for them to manipulate him by making him achieve his hidden interest while also believing that he is acting on behalf of the masses. Brutus's decision to use violence thus comes as a result of him actually feeling that this would solve both his personal problems and Rome's problems in general.

While Brutus poses into an honest individual in spite of the fact that this is a controversial matter, Antony actually feels unhesitant about openly putting across his deceiving character. Similar to Brutus, he too believes that violence is the answer to his problems and he uses it firstly with the purpose to assassinate Caesar and secondly in an attempt to put down the rebellion. Antony is actually a perfect example of a person who thinks of violence as always representing a viable solution.

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References
1 sources cited in this paper
  • Shakespeare, William, “Julius Caesar”, (Cengage Learning EMEA, 20.08.1998)
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PaperDue. (2013). Juluis Caesar-Shakespheare -- a Parallel Text, Third. PaperDue. https://www.paperdue.com/essay/juluis-caesar-shakespheare-a-parallel-89488

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