Julius Caesar
by
William Shakespeare
(Character of Caesar)
In
using Julius Caesar as a central figure, Shakespeare is less interested in
portraying a great character than he is in creating a character that suits
other aspects of his play. If Brutus and Cassius were evil people, planning the
cold-blooded murder of an eminent ruler, Julius Caesar would be little more
than a melodrama of suspense and revenge.
On
the other hand, if Caesar was a bloody tyrant, there was no justification for
Brutus's hesitation and Antony's thirst for revenge. In fact, Shakespeare
creates a character in Caesar who is sometimes reasonable, sometimes
superstitious, sometimes compassionate and sometimes arrogant. In doing so, he
introduces Caesar as someone who has only reasons to fear nobility, yet who is
not a villain.
Flavius
concludes
his criticism of Caesar in Act I, Scene 1, expressing his fear that Caesar
wishes to "soar above the view of men / And keep us all in servile
fearfulness." His opinion is credited when, after some time, Caesar and
Antony's attitude towards Caesar shows that they consider him a man whose every
wish should be considered an order by the citizens of Rome. Caesar's opinion of
himself suggests that he complies with that view. He is not afraid of Cassius
because he considers himself beyond mere human reach, and he explains his
inability to experience fear by observing, ". . . for always I am
Caesar."
However, his reference to his partial deafness provides a clear contrast between the concepts of the vain man who considers himself in godlike terms and the real, old man who stands in imminent danger of murder. His capacity for evil is further emphasized, with which he tells Flavius and Marullus "put to silence." Finally, the moment before his death, Caesar compares himself to the gods of Olympus in his determination to continue his arbitrary administration of Roman justice.
Caesar's
ego and pride outweigh his ability to prove himself. He expresses an acceptance
of the inevitability of death when he tells California how strange it is for
him "that men should fear; / Seeing that death, a necessary end, / Will
come when it will come." But it is not his belief, that the time of his
death is predetermined and thus cannot be avoided, forcing him to ignore
threats, his priests and Calphurnia. Instead, he ignores Decius's sense of
pride about his challenge and his ambition. Caesar, who is so perceptive in his
analysis of Cassius, cannot always see "quite through the deeds" of a
calculating deceiver.
From
his first appearance, Caesar openly displays a superstitious temperament, but
from the beginning he displays a tendency for ignoring the warnings and signs
that should alert a man of his beliefs. He enters the play's action by advising
Calphurnia, to treat her sterility by ritual, and he exits, dismissing the
soothsayer as "a dreamer." He ignores the soothsayer, Calphurnia, the
many portents, his priests, and finally Artemidorus because he has ceased to
think of himself as a fallible human being, and because he passionately wants
to be crowned king. He is not afraid of Cassius, although he knows that he is a
threat to political leaders, as he believes that he and Cassius occupy two
different levels of existence. Cassius is a man; Caesar, a demigod. He begins
to think of himself in terms of intangible qualities, considering himself as
bigger and more terrible than "danger". His sense of superiority with
his fellow human beings, as well as his ambition to become king, ultimately
prevents him from seeing and reasoning clearly.
Caesar
as a viable character in the play endures beyond his assassination. Brutus
wants to "come by Caesar's spirit / And not dismember Caesar." In
fact, Brutus and the conspirators succeed in destroying Corporal Caesar, but
they fail to destroy his spirit. Antony invokes the spirit of Caesar first in
his soliloquy in Act III, Scene 1, and he uses it to bring the citizens of Rome
to rebellion in Act III, Scene 2. The ghost of Caesar appears to Brutus at
Sardis and again at Philippi, signifying that Brutus has failed to reconcile
mentally and morally his participation in the murder, as well as signifying
that his and Cassius' fortunes are fading. Caesar's spirit ceases to be a force
in the play only when Cassius and Brutus commit suicide, each acknowledging
that he does so to still the spirit of Caesar.
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