Julius Caesar
-Taylor Henderson-
Summary:
“Julius Caesar” is a play over the tragic death of the great Julius Caesar. The play begins in the setting of the roman streets with two senators protesting the arrival and celebration of Caesar and his new found victory over Pompey. They are strongly and misguidedly openly opposed to the amount of power and popularity Caesar holds in Rome, he is an unofficial dictator and they feel no one should be celebrating a victory over another roman lord which in doing so only strengthens Caesar's power over Rome. The story goes on to elaborate and explain to the audience of a plot developing to kill Caesar and re-secure the republic from the hands of a dictator. But this plot lacks one key component to make It a success, a senate member named Brutus. Brutus family was originally responsible for the formation of the republic almost 400 years ago and his family name is a must have to make the murder a success and have the roman people accept it. Brutus is manipulated into killing Caesar and shortly after Caesar's funeral is driven from the city by mobs riled up by Antony, Caesar's main supporter. The city is taken and the control of Rome falls to the newly formed triumvirate. The next few years are spent battling by the triumvirate, and Brutus and other murders of Caesar for control of Rome.
Main character analysis:
Caesar: The official main character of the play, but not necessarily the most important. Caesar is an arrogant, self centered man who has become intoxicated with power and the power he holds over his subjects and the empire of Rome as a whole. But he retains a sense of nobility and honor to his position and the fact that his power comes from the people themselves and not his deeds. His arrogance is eventually his downfall, he is too prideful and diluted by his sense of invulnerability that he ignores all warnings to his assassination.
Brutus: Brutus is a quite complex character and one of, it not the most important character in the entire play. Brutus is the key component to the plot to kill Caesar, he is Caesar's close friend, and is the only person who the people would accept as a replacement to Caesar. Brutus is known to be a very noble and loyal person never breaking the rules and always doing what is best for the people, not himself. Unfortunately he is a fool and easily manipulated, as such is the case when he is deceived into killing Caesar. Although this course of action appears to be the correct course Brutus gullible nature leads him to the worst mistake of his life, it costs him his money, property, good standing with the people of Rome and even his life. His arrogance keeps him from doing what could save him from the war he brings upon himself and his guilt eventually leads him to suicide.
Claudius: Claudius is the evil mastermind, a twisted and evil man that holds a personal grudge against Caesar and brings Brutus to kill Caesar in the name of the people when the people had never actually spoken. Claudius is a spineless, self centered man who only looks out for himself and his intentions with little to no regard for others and the consequences others will suffer on his behalf. With such little regard for others he is left standing alone in the end with no one to turn to and eventually kills himself.
Historical setting:
the setting of this play takes place in the great city of Rome during the height of the empire. The city creates the perfect backdrop to the political turmoil that ensues the return of Caesar form his victory over Pompey. This is shortly after the formation of republics and democracies, the first true beginnings of modern government. This is a crucial time in history and causes the immense stress and pressures upon the senators and government of Rome as it struggles to find the balance it needs to survive. The historical relevance of this fact is echoed throughout the play as the entire purpose for any characters actions is the pursuit of securing, protecting, and managing the government of Rome. The day of Caesar's death it was controversial on where the deed would be committed, his house? The street? The senate? The location needed to be perfect for the murder or it would send the wrong message to the people of Rome. In his home the people would have felt not even their own homes would be safe form the cruelty of the government, the street would make it look messy and spur of the moment as if there was no true reason to the killing. That is why the murder being in front of the senate building was so critical, to show that the government killed its leader on its own ground. A precision strike to free the people from a dictator.
Main Conflicts: Man v. Man (Caesar v. Brutus) Man v. Self (Brutus) Man v. Society (Brutus and Claudius v. Society)
Man v. Man: One of the main conflicts in the story is the conflict between Caesar and Brutus. The two friends whos paths diverge when it comes to the good of the people, and the future of Rome.
Man v. Self: The most important conflict in this play is the inner conflict with Brutus in his decision to kill his friend "for the good of the people".
Man v. Society: after the death of Caesar Antony is permitted to speak at the funeral but this is a terrible mistake on Brutus part. the resulting speech forms a mob and hatred for Brutus and the other murderers of Caesar creating the battle with society.
Symbol:
mobs: the mobs that arose from Caesar's funeral represent the cleansing of the city, the dawn of a new era for Rome and its people. The enraged city cleansed the dirty and sinful senate members to make way for a new ruling class, a new form of leadership, the triumvirate. This symbol shows the audience that with the death of Caesar so did the old ways of government die as well. This symbol is also used as a realization of the senate members to their grave mistake, that their power and influence was directly linked to the very man they hated most.
Death and Rebirth:
at the climax of the play Caesar is killed and so is the seat of power in Rome. This death of power and the old ways of doing things is part of the symbol portrayed by his death, an end to the old ways. His death gave way to rebirth, not in the intended sense of the senate, but a rebirth to the way things were done in Rome. This rebirth was instead lead by Antony and his newly formed triumvirate. A golden age had ended with Caesar, and a new unexplored age had begun after his death.
Love:
in the play love is a hidden, yet powerful force in the play. The conflict of Man v. Self in Brutus is caused by his love and affection for both Caesar, and for his love of Rome. This love tears him apart and in the end is the cause of his downfall. Even in the case of Claudius his love for the hatred and the idea of killing Caesar lead to his greatest mistake and inevitably cost him everything.
Citations:
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/juliuscaesar/canalysis.html
Character analysis and understanding
use: to acquire a better understanding of the characters and the relevance of details to each.
Photo: http://kellyheng.pbworks.com/w/page/13851425/Biography%20of%20Julius%20Caesar%3AThe%20First%20Thirty%20Years
Google image search to find photo
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/caesar.html
factual career and accomplishment account
used in summary
www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/juliuscaesar/canalysis.html
used in summary: used to elaborate an overview of the plot and story line presented to the audience.
used in the summary
“Julius Caesar” is a play over the tragic death of the great Julius Caesar. The play begins in the setting of the roman streets with two senators protesting the arrival and celebration of Caesar and his new found victory over Pompey. They are strongly and misguidedly openly opposed to the amount of power and popularity Caesar holds in Rome, he is an unofficial dictator and they feel no one should be celebrating a victory over another roman lord which in doing so only strengthens Caesar's power over Rome. The story goes on to elaborate and explain to the audience of a plot developing to kill Caesar and re-secure the republic from the hands of a dictator. But this plot lacks one key component to make It a success, a senate member named Brutus. Brutus family was originally responsible for the formation of the republic almost 400 years ago and his family name is a must have to make the murder a success and have the roman people accept it. Brutus is manipulated into killing Caesar and shortly after Caesar's funeral is driven from the city by mobs riled up by Antony, Caesar's main supporter. The city is taken and the control of Rome falls to the newly formed triumvirate. The next few years are spent battling by the triumvirate, and Brutus and other murders of Caesar for control of Rome.
Main character analysis:
Caesar: The official main character of the play, but not necessarily the most important. Caesar is an arrogant, self centered man who has become intoxicated with power and the power he holds over his subjects and the empire of Rome as a whole. But he retains a sense of nobility and honor to his position and the fact that his power comes from the people themselves and not his deeds. His arrogance is eventually his downfall, he is too prideful and diluted by his sense of invulnerability that he ignores all warnings to his assassination.
Brutus: Brutus is a quite complex character and one of, it not the most important character in the entire play. Brutus is the key component to the plot to kill Caesar, he is Caesar's close friend, and is the only person who the people would accept as a replacement to Caesar. Brutus is known to be a very noble and loyal person never breaking the rules and always doing what is best for the people, not himself. Unfortunately he is a fool and easily manipulated, as such is the case when he is deceived into killing Caesar. Although this course of action appears to be the correct course Brutus gullible nature leads him to the worst mistake of his life, it costs him his money, property, good standing with the people of Rome and even his life. His arrogance keeps him from doing what could save him from the war he brings upon himself and his guilt eventually leads him to suicide.
Claudius: Claudius is the evil mastermind, a twisted and evil man that holds a personal grudge against Caesar and brings Brutus to kill Caesar in the name of the people when the people had never actually spoken. Claudius is a spineless, self centered man who only looks out for himself and his intentions with little to no regard for others and the consequences others will suffer on his behalf. With such little regard for others he is left standing alone in the end with no one to turn to and eventually kills himself.
Historical setting:
the setting of this play takes place in the great city of Rome during the height of the empire. The city creates the perfect backdrop to the political turmoil that ensues the return of Caesar form his victory over Pompey. This is shortly after the formation of republics and democracies, the first true beginnings of modern government. This is a crucial time in history and causes the immense stress and pressures upon the senators and government of Rome as it struggles to find the balance it needs to survive. The historical relevance of this fact is echoed throughout the play as the entire purpose for any characters actions is the pursuit of securing, protecting, and managing the government of Rome. The day of Caesar's death it was controversial on where the deed would be committed, his house? The street? The senate? The location needed to be perfect for the murder or it would send the wrong message to the people of Rome. In his home the people would have felt not even their own homes would be safe form the cruelty of the government, the street would make it look messy and spur of the moment as if there was no true reason to the killing. That is why the murder being in front of the senate building was so critical, to show that the government killed its leader on its own ground. A precision strike to free the people from a dictator.
Main Conflicts: Man v. Man (Caesar v. Brutus) Man v. Self (Brutus) Man v. Society (Brutus and Claudius v. Society)
Man v. Man: One of the main conflicts in the story is the conflict between Caesar and Brutus. The two friends whos paths diverge when it comes to the good of the people, and the future of Rome.
Man v. Self: The most important conflict in this play is the inner conflict with Brutus in his decision to kill his friend "for the good of the people".
Man v. Society: after the death of Caesar Antony is permitted to speak at the funeral but this is a terrible mistake on Brutus part. the resulting speech forms a mob and hatred for Brutus and the other murderers of Caesar creating the battle with society.
Symbol:
mobs: the mobs that arose from Caesar's funeral represent the cleansing of the city, the dawn of a new era for Rome and its people. The enraged city cleansed the dirty and sinful senate members to make way for a new ruling class, a new form of leadership, the triumvirate. This symbol shows the audience that with the death of Caesar so did the old ways of government die as well. This symbol is also used as a realization of the senate members to their grave mistake, that their power and influence was directly linked to the very man they hated most.
Death and Rebirth:
at the climax of the play Caesar is killed and so is the seat of power in Rome. This death of power and the old ways of doing things is part of the symbol portrayed by his death, an end to the old ways. His death gave way to rebirth, not in the intended sense of the senate, but a rebirth to the way things were done in Rome. This rebirth was instead lead by Antony and his newly formed triumvirate. A golden age had ended with Caesar, and a new unexplored age had begun after his death.
Love:
in the play love is a hidden, yet powerful force in the play. The conflict of Man v. Self in Brutus is caused by his love and affection for both Caesar, and for his love of Rome. This love tears him apart and in the end is the cause of his downfall. Even in the case of Claudius his love for the hatred and the idea of killing Caesar lead to his greatest mistake and inevitably cost him everything.
Citations:
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/juliuscaesar/canalysis.html
Character analysis and understanding
use: to acquire a better understanding of the characters and the relevance of details to each.
Photo: http://kellyheng.pbworks.com/w/page/13851425/Biography%20of%20Julius%20Caesar%3AThe%20First%20Thirty%20Years
Google image search to find photo
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/caesar.html
factual career and accomplishment account
used in summary
www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/juliuscaesar/canalysis.html
used in summary: used to elaborate an overview of the plot and story line presented to the audience.
used in the summary