...William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, set in Rome in 44 B.C, focuses on the character of Julius Caesar and his gruesome assassination by the members of the Roman Senate. Mark Antony, Caesar’s best friend, plots his revenge and incites a riot, causing the exile of the conspirators and their impending defeat. The tragic hero with a tragic flaw can be found in the character of Julius Caesar, an example of this being Caesar’s prominence in society as well as his fatal flaw of hubris. Another example is Caesar’s recognition of his fatal flaw following his betrayal and downfall. A third example is Caesar’s redemption, when his death is fully grasped by Marcus Brutus, who was once Caesar’s friend but betrayed him. The tragic hero is Julius Caesar because of his fatal flaw of hubris, his recognition of his flaw in his...
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...Generated Fears Julius Caesar educes fear in the real world. The events that take place in the tragedy allow the audience and readers to not only sympathize, but to think of the fearful possibilities that might occur in the real world. The story contains scenes where fear is targeted at the audience, allowing them to truly feel for the characters and have a tighter grasp to their own world. Julius Caesar induces the fear of chaos, trouble, panic, and war through the reactions of the people. The brutal assassination of Julius Caesar by Brutus and the Conspirators serves as a cause for chaos in Julius Caesar. After Caesar’s murder, the people are informed of why the task was necessary to be done. But when Antony takes stage, he stirs up the people, generating chaos in Rome when the people realize the brutal acts of the murderers need to be punished. Romans now have anger stirred within them, and they gain a passionate desire to exile or kill the Conspirators, and also “mutiny.” Chaos can drive a country to its demise if the people are angry at the politicians who run the empire. This is a fear that is generated as a result from the assassination, but not the only one. Caesar’s assassination also creates the fear of war. Antony is completely disgusted with the Conspirators’ vile actions and expresses his full desire to avenge Caesar’s death in his soliloquy, as he wished to “Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war (III.i.273).” Romans, after Antony’s...
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...Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare William Shakespeare Renowned English poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare’s birth date is not known; however, he is said to have been baptized on the 26th of April 1564. He died on the 26th of April 1616 but not before he had written about 38 plays, 154 sonnets and other literary pieces. Shakespeare’s plays have been translated into several languages over the years and have been produced in many forms throughout the ages. The Play Julius Caesar is a play about friendship, betrayal and power. The play is a historical tragedy as it presents the biography of one of the greatest man to have ever lived in Rome. Caesar was made Dictator and Consol after he chased Pompey and his forces out of Rome in an attempt to obtain ultimate power. Caesar’s ultimate goal was to become Rome’s first king and he remained focus on this goal until his death in 44BC. His death was as a result of fate and his refusal to acknowledge the many signs and omens that foreshadowed his fall. Brutus a very good friend of Caesar also took part in his assassination. Brutus feared that Caesar would become a tyrant and harm the people of Rome. In an attempt to ‘save’ the people Brutus helped Cassius to take Caesar’s life. After Caesar’s death he is avenged by his loyal servant Antony who skillfully manipulates his way into the band of conspirators. Later, after winning the love of the people Antony pursues and conquers Brutus’ and Cassius’ forces...
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...¨Flexibility is the key to stability.¨ This quotation is in regards to being flexible in decisions and taking other thoughts and/or ideas into consideration. In a play written by William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus has made multiple errors due to inaccurate judgement. Foremost, Brutus does not take Cassius’s thoughts into consideration when thoughts of assassinating Marc Antony are put forth. An additional mistake Brutus made was not only letting Antony live, but letting the mischievous man speak at Caesar’s funeral. Lastly, an important mistake that not only risked their lives, but the people of Rome’s: Brutus denying Cassius’s ideas to wait for the opposing side to reach them before the war. “ Leaders with the ability of flexibility, maintain themselves during chaos. These leaders are open to new ideas, and work with a wide variety of people. Being flexible can include immense changes and adapting to changing conditions” (Flexibility, 1). In Act II, scene I, lines 162-168 of Julius Caesar, Cassius expresses his views of Marc Antony and suggests they assassinate him. Brutus responds with “As for Marc Antony--forget him. He’ll be as useless as Caesar’s arm after Caesar’s head is cut off”(Anderson, 804). There is not much of an argument in this scene for, what...
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...In Julius Caesar, Brutus is a tragic hero. His tragic flaws are honor, poor judgment, and idealism Cassius and the other conspirators take advantage of Brutus’ honor. The conspirators wrote Brutus fake letters from the public to get him to join them. Once he joined the conspirators, they used him to bring good to killing Caesar. This idea worked until Antony showed up. That’s when Brutus’ second flaw showed itself. The second flaw is Brutus’ poor judgment. His judgment is taken advantage of by Antony. The first sign of this is when Antony talks Brutus into letting him speak at Caesar’s funeral. Another example of Brutus’ poor judgment is how Brutus thinks that Antony could cause no harm to the conspirators and their plan. The judgment Brutus made when he let Antony speak at the funeral was the turning point of the play and it led to the conspirator’s downfall. Brutus’ final act of poor judgment was when he decided to attack Antony and Octavius at Philippi. These decisions lead too many deaths including his. Brutus’ final flaw is his idealism. His idealism leads him to believe everything that everybody tells him. His idealism causes him to believe in Antony and Cassius. Cassius uses Brutus’ idealism by getting him to believe that they are killing Caesar for the betterment of Rome. Antony uses the idealism to get to talk to the com Brutus’ tragic flaws are part of what makes him a tragic hero. In Julius Caesar, Brutus is a great example of a tragic hero. His tragic flaws are...
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...Julius Caesar When the name Julius Caesar is heard, it can only trigger the image of a great leader that led Rome into prosperity. Caesar's military excellence brought more power and more land; that lead to the increase of size and strength in Rome. His dictatorship helped the stability and prosperity in Rome. Caesar's assassination lead to a monarchy that was ruled by Octavin. His death lead to a domino effect ending in the ultimate collapse of the Roman Empire. Many people of the 21st century follow the path of Julius Caesar and try to be as great as he was. The assassination of Julius Caesar was a tragedy due to the contributions he made to Rome's prosperity during his life, and the chaos that occurred in Rome after his death. The contributions that Caesar made towards the strength of Rome's success, and the chaos and collapse of Rome after his death made the assassination of Julius Caesar a tragedy. Julius Caesar was assassinated by his own senate on March 15 44 BC; also known as the Ides of March. As he was walking in to the senate house, a man told him to beware the Ides of March. He ignored this statement and walked into the senate house. At this time some of the Senate members surrounded Caesar in a stealthy manner and tugged on his toga. As he looked around he was stabbed by many of the senate members multiple times. He collapsed to the ground and lay on the marble floor dead, next to the feet of Pompey's statue. (Nardo 94) Caesar's military eminence helped...
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...Shakespeare’s tragedies, a tragic hero is identified as a heroic figure that has a flaw that leads to the character's downfall. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, there are many arguments over who is the tragic hero. Some people say it is Marcus Brutus. Others say that it is Julius Caesar. After examining these two options, a solution has been made. Brutus is the tragic hero because he possesses such heroic qualities and dies at the end of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus deserves the title tragic hero for many reasons. First is because Brutus is a noble man. He never deceives anyone in the play. Even though he was part of the conspiracy and killed Julius Caesar, he did it for the benefit of Rome. Brutus stated: “if then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (870). Brutus did everything for the benefit of someone else. Brutus was a noble man and he cared about others more than himself. Another example of this is when Brutus did not tell Portia his plans to murder Caesar because he felt it would stress her even more in Act two, Scene one. Brutus was a noble man....
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...whom the plot’s conflict primarily surrounds, the Roman Dictator Julius Caesar, he focuses primarily on protagonist Marcus Brutus (Brutus) because of his assets, painful experiences, and final fate that clearly verify his position as a tragic hero. Traits and events backed by textual evidence that support this claim include his impressive integrity that serves him publicly, his tragic flaw which takes the form of an idealistic view of the world and leads to his ultimate downfall, and the distress he endures in every aspect of his life. Through identifying Brutus’ role as a tragic hero, readers of Julius Caesar can themselves recognize and appreciate this popular literary trend in other works and better understand Shakespeare’s underlying theme that points out that every personal attribute considered a strength can also act as a weakness. Brutus exemplifies this truth since Rome knows him solely as a man with great virtue and aptitude before others exploit...
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...Injustice Justice and injustice have played a part in many human interactions that have happened throughout history. Judges have long been appointed to decide what is just and unjust among humans. The main problem that arises is to decide whether a happening is justice or injustice since it is often all part of point of view. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, justice and injustice both play huge roles in almost every aspect of the play. The goal of this essay is to identify some of the examples of justice and injustice throughout the play and to describe how those examples represent justice or injustice. In Act I, Scene II, Caesar shows the first sign of justice, or rather injustice, of the play. This act of injustice was, unknowingly by Caesar, aimed at himself and also caused because of his own actions with the Soothsayer. When the Soothsayer warns Caesar of the ides of March, he arrogantly replies,”He is a dreamer, let us leave him. Pass.”(1.2.24). It could be argued that this ultimately is the cause of Caesar's death since he was warned long ahead of time. Caesar's arrogance clouds his logical thinking and keeps him from seeing the danger that the ides of March hold. A second happening of justice comes also in Act I, Scene II, when Cassius notices Caesar's increasing ambition and strengthening pride which in turn causes him to begin to coordinate the overthrow of Caesar. In doing this, he shows how much he cares for the good of the Republic and of the people of Rome and...
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...think about the one’s they are governing and how they could use their powers for the general good of the city and the people. This is particularly relevant to the character of Brutus during the play. During the scenes of William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, characters are able to rise to power through their particular strengths. These characters, Cassius, Brutus, and Antony all have different characteristics that helped them gain power within the city of Rome. However, these people also showed that they were human by having weaknesses that led to their down fall. Within a leader, it is important to look at their trustworthiness, honorability, reputation, and their use of empathy. These three characters all displayed differences within these traits which made them unique in their own ways. Within the scenes of Julius Caesar, Cassius, the leader of the conspiracy against Caesar, displays many strengths that guide him to the rise to power, and weaknesses which direct him to his eventual fall. Cassius believes that the people of Rome are responsible for the government of Rome. They have allowed a man to gain excessive power; therefore, they have the responsibility to stop him, and with a man of Caesar's well-known ambition, that can only mean assassination. Clearly, the most significant characteristic of Cassius is his ability to perceive the true motives of men; in other words, the ability to read or see through other people, which is called empathy. Caesar...
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...Julius Caesar If Caesar had been more astute and willing to accept his own vulnerability, he might have recognized warnings around him which foreshadowed his assassination. One of the warnings, which was very important, was Artemidorus’ letter which contained names of all conspirators. This takes place in Act III scene i lines 5-10. Caesar ignored this warning by refusing to read Artemidorus’ letter, because he wanted to read it last, as he says “What touches us ourself shall be last serv’d.” The second warning that he ignored was Calphurnia’s (his wife’s) dream about Caesar’s blood upon the Capitol (Act II scene ii). After he received this warning, at first he decided not to go, but then Decius came and changed his mind by interpreting the dream such a way that seems to be good. Decius said those bloods and all mean that great Rome regards you as its lifeblood. Therefore, Caesar changed his mind and decided to go to the Senate House. As you see the warnings were all around Caesar and he just had to listen to others. The last warning that I found in the play were fortune-tellers. Before Caesar goes to Senate House, he asked soothsayers and fortune-tellers about it, and they advised him not to go out on that day (Act II scene ii). This is what they said: “Opening up the innards of a sacrifice, they couldn’t find a heart inside the beast.” From these warnings, and assassination of Caesar, we conclude that Caesar was proud of himself, believing himself as eternal as...
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...Julius Caesar full title · The Tragedy of Julius Caesar author · William Shakespeare type of work · Play genre · Tragic drama, historical drama language · English time and place written · 1599, in London date of first publication · Published in the First Folio of 1623, probably from the theater company’s official promptbook rather than from Shakespeare’s manuscript publisher · Edward Blount and William Jaggard headed the group of five men who undertook the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio narrator · None climax · Cassius’s death (V.iii), upon ordering his servant, Pindarus, to stab him, marks the point at which it becomes clear that the murdered Caesar has been avenged, and that Cassius, Brutus, and the other conspirators have lost in their attempt to keep Rome a republic rather than an empire. Ironically, the conspirators’ defeat is not yet as certain as Cassius believes, but his death helps bring about defeat for his side. protagonists · Brutus and Cassius antagonists · Antony and Octavius setting (time) · 44 b.c. setting (place) · Ancient Rome, toward the end of the Roman republic point of view · The play sustains no single point of view; however, the audience acquires the most insight into Brutus’s mind over the course of the action falling action · Titinius’ realization that Cassius has died wrongly assuming defeat; Titinius’ suicide; Brutus’s discovery of the two corpses; the final struggle between Brutus’s men and the troops...
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...According to tradition, Rome was founded by two brothers, Romulus and Remus (Coffin 169). These two brothers had no idea of how this land they founded would grow to be the grand empire it would eventually become. Throughout the course of centuries, Rome would go through many trials and tribulations that would eventually lead it to greatness. However, as all good things, this too came to an end. Rome’s empire did not start out as this large domain of land. They went through a series of changes and wars to expand their borders. They started off with the Etruscan kings ruling the land. However, the rape of Lucretia, a Roman woman by a son of the Etruscan dynasty, turned the Romans against this dynasty and changed the form of government going forward (Coffin 171). They now focused their government in an aristocratic way. This divided the people into two classes, the plebeians and the patricians. After fighting for rights, the plebeians began to gain some recognition as being equal. With this aspect of Roman life settling down, they were able to continue their expansion. They thrived on the strength of the military. There were many wars including the Punic Wars and the Macedonian and Syrian Wars that were victorious for the Romans and assisted in their continued expansion (Linderski 3). Because of the success of the wars, Rome encountered wealth which would change the political and economical standing of the republic. However, this wealth did not benefit the poor class...
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...Decline of the Roman/Han/Gupta Empires Diverse Interpretations Assignment COMPARISONS TO FOCUS ON: * The causes for the decline of the Roman, Han and Gupta Empires * Understanding of how and why the collapse of the empire was more severe in Western Europe than it was in the Asian Empires. * Comparison of the role that religions played in the declines * The impact of missionary outreach of the Christians and Buddhists in these empires RESOURCES * Upshur – “The Decline of Empires” * Stearns - Decline of Empires. * Frank Smitha - “Decline and Fall” * Johnson and Johnson – “Why Don’t Empires Last?” * Spodek – “China and Rome: How do they compare?” * Bulliet pages 168-170 and 186-189. ASSIGNMENT 1. Construct a Venn comparing and contrasting the causes for decline of the Roman, Han and Gupta empires. Information will come from the documents and not the lecture…you already wrote the lecture notes once, why write them again? Rome Han similarities Gupta 2. Write 3 comparative analytical mini-paragraphs about the decline of empires. (generalization, facts, analysis…) Remember that analysis answers the question “why?” Example: The AP World History teachers have very different tastes in beverages. Ms. Forswall likes tea while Ms. Patch likes cola. Green tea and Earl Grey are Ms. Forswall’s favorites; they taste nothing like Pepsi or Coke because soft drinks are much sweeter. Ms. Patch usually chooses a diet style of...
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...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...
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