Ceasar’s power is also demonstrated through the actions of other characters towards him. For example, Antony says: “when Ceasar says ‘do this’, it is perform’d”. This quote insinuates that the commands of Caesar are law to many Romans.
The start of the power shift from Caesar to the Conspirators is when cassius initiates the idea of displacing Ceasar from power. Cassius is the ultimate manipulator, as well as someone incapable of emulating their achievements. Through constant talks with Brutus, he gradually turns him into a loyal friend of Ceasar, who is not interested in power for himself, to a living and breathing robot under his control who becomes concerned that power is not being exercised properly. This leads to the assassination of Ceasar, lead by Brutus. Ceasar’s ambition eventuall leads to destruction by the man he trusted most. At this moment in time, Brutus officially has gained the power shift from Caesar & the conspirators.
Despite gaining power, Brutus does not use it wisely. His attempt at persuading the crowd into believing that Caesar was murdered for the good of Rome lasts all but merely 200 lines. Antony, exercising the power of manipulation in blank verse, rather than Brutus’ prose is successful in regaining the support of the populace, changing the mood of his audience, as well as the power which is supplementary to it. The mob of people then become enraged with the murder of Caesar – such to an extent that they destroy anything remotely similar, (Cinna – a poet with the same name as a conspirator is killed).This is the 2nd major power shift in the play (from Brutus to Antony), which highlights Brutus’ ruthlessness.
Antony realizes that the manipulation of a populace, and thus power are both unable to be seized by force. It is the people of Rome who must give him the power. This demonstrates a higher understanding of power by Antony than his predecessors. However, once again, power is used incorrectly. Antony uses his power to crush his enemies and allows Octavius to assume power. Octavius is the only protagonist who does not become mad with power and employs it with integrity to such an extent to restore order in the roman world at the end of the play. Thus, it is clear that all other preceding controllers of power fail to hold onto it, and as a result they lose more than just power, but also their veracity to a point where they become ruined.
Language is a powerful tool in Julius Caesar. The play gives detailed consideration to the relationship between rhetoric & power. This is shown through the ability to make things happen through words alone – as evident in Antony’s oration after Brutus’ soliloquy. Irony is used as a dramatic device to increase tension. It is heavily used in Act 3, scene 2 when Antony plays on the word ‘honorable’. “for Brutus is an honorable man; so are they all, honorable men”. The repetition of ‘honorable’ no less than 8 times eventually rings out in a fierce condemnation of the murderers. Rhetorical questions are also used by Antony in the same Act and scene – “did Caesar seem more ambitious?”. This is much more effective than a statement.
The text, ‘The Wyrd Sisters’ by Terry Pratchett is a fictional children’s narrative that explores the power of the supernatural. The central focus of the text is witches in the story and their power over ‘normal’ people. The narrative positions us to such an extent that we believe the normal people fear and hate the powers of the supernatural. This is shown through a tremendous storm with human qualities (personification). The storm represents the close connection the witches have with the universe, and thus their proficient ability to exercise power. The normal people, just like many of the protagonists in Julius Caesar, lack the understanding of power. As a result, the witches exercise complete power (with understanding – not going mad), while the normal folk exercise minimal power due to their lack of understanding of power’s attributes.
An article in ‘The Bulletin” on 16/1/03 titled “Enron’s Failed Power Plan” illustrates corporate power to such an extent that it becomes corrupt. Many executives of Enron (a US based gas, water & electricity utilities firm), as well as outsiders (including Arthur Anderson – a big 5 firm) had been making highly unethical deals which promoted the use of creative (false) accounting for their personal benefit, spreading to collateral damage. This demonstrates the shift of power from loyal employees to those who become deceitful leaches. As the article explains, “it was the scariest type of scandal. Executives, lenders and auditors all managed to look the other way while the company ran amok”. Money was the main force behind this. The gods had made Enron’s executives mad with the power to control in excess of $200 bn in 2000. However, by late 2002 all but 1% of the company’s value had been completely destroyed. Yet another case in which people who had exercised power incorrectly had been all but totally destroyed.
As can be seen through these three texts, power is a complex form of supremacy that is easier to earn than maintain. Those who become mad with power will ultimately be destroyed through their unethical and selfish actions. Hence, the statement: “whom the gods would destroy, they first made mad with power” is accurate when associated with powerplay.
