Events, personalities and situations are portrayed in an inevitably ambiguous light to challenge the angle at which the responder views the text from. This allows for an increased understanding of human attitudes and behaviours as depicted in Shakespeare’s play ‘Julius Caesar’ and Phyllida Lloyd’s film ‘The Iron Lady’.
The personal and public displays of one’s personality can cause the audience to develop a sense of confliction. In ‘Julius Caesar’, Caesar was portrayed as a man who was loved by the populace of Rome, but the target of jealousy of the conspirators as those who achieve greatness in society become the target of those who are incapable of emulating their achievements. The masses admiration for Caesar was the result of his successes as a politician and military general. This outlook of Caesars popularity with the common people is demonstrated in the opening scene as people made ‘holiday to see Caesar and rejoice in his triumph’ after annihilating the sons of Pompey. The audience is left to question whether or not the conspirators really did have Rome’s best interests at heart. Additionally, a Shakespearian audience would’ve known the military history behind Julius Caesar and sympathised him due to the characters of the play thinking ill of him. Therefore the conspirators had to justify their actions and decision to assassinate Caesar in order for the audience to think righteously of the conspirators. So for the first act of the play, the conspirators employ the use of rhetorical devices to sway the views of others and justify the act of the assassination. ‘And why should Caesar be a tyrant then?’ uses a sense of logos and syllogism to present Cassius’ arguments as to why Caesar should be killed. Furthermore, Caesar viewed himself as a god-like figure and felt as though it was his right to possess omnipotent power. This was seen as arrogant and contributed to the ruling elite’s distrust and even hatred of Caesar. His inflated ego eventually led to his downfall as foreshadowed in Cassius’ comparison of Caesar to the Colossus. The Colossus once stood over a Greek harbour allowing ships to pass under and was conceived as standing forever. But the Colossus eventually fell due to its own weight much like Caesar. Caesar being the ultimate ruler forced the civilians to ‘walk under his huge legs and peep about’ showing resemblance to the Colossus’ purpose. People have many sides to their personality and not all sides are truly exposed for the world to see. When these sides are exposed, it allows the audience to create a multilayered picture of the character.
A person’s ambitious attitudes can mean the individual will sacrifice the world around them to fulfil their desires. The only factor that can cease this is the natural forces in life. A person’s willpower will inevitably be overpowered by natural occurrences. In Phyllida Lloyd’s film ‘The Iron Lady’, Margaret Thatcher is depicted as a leader drunk on power. Her ambition for success in politics over rides all other naturally womanly desires in life such as motherly and domestic duties. This is especially portrayed in the scene in which Thatcher pulls away from the family home, not looking back as she leaves the children crying for their mother. This reinforces the lack of emotion shown by Thatcher in regards to her family and how they were secondary to her political ambition. She was so consumed in her success that her husband Denis believed that she was ‘too busy climbing the greasy pole’ and this impacted the relationships she built as she believed she ‘lost track of everyone’. Meryl Streep’s convincing bravura acting techniques portray Thatcher in a light of regret when she thinks of her family. Streep’s acting evokes sympathy in the audience as she encounters ghostly visions of her children running through the corridors of her home and a hallucinatory interaction with her late husband Denis as a result of her deteriorating mind frame. When Thatcher announced to her family that it was her duty to become Prime Minister, Denis claimed ‘it is not your duty, it is your ambition.’ This alludes to the stereotypes of the time that suggest that women should dedicate their lives to their family and sacrifice their working career. Protestors on the streets during the downfall of Thatcher confirm society’s belief of this stereotype as she was perceived to be ‘not a mother but a monster’. Thatcher’s excessive sense of ambition however meant that she opposed this stereotype by acting to succeed in her career over caring for her children and it is therefore ironic that Thatcher believes she is Britain’s motherly figure. But not even Thatchers great ambition can overpower the senility that is consuming her. Even as a person grows old; their ambition will still burn within even though they do not have the physical ability to act upon these thoughts and the natural forces will inevitably overpower the person. Phyllida Lloyd employs the use of colour to convey Thatcher’s state of mind at the time. This provides a contrast through the use of flashbacks which portray the differences in the past and present. During her rise to power Thatcher is bright and colourful which deteriorates over time. Before our eyes she is turned into a vulnerable and frail old lady highlighted by dark and bland colours. People who exercise their ambitious attitudes in life can at times become consumed ultimately forgetting about their personal life in order to succeed in the eyes of the public.
Therefore both texts represent how divergent viewpoints lead the audience to an enhanced awareness of the complexity of human attitudes and behaviour. The audience accepts that diverging viewpoints are an inevitable factor of any text and in life there is no one true meaning that allows the individual to understand the true complexity of texts.