'Ruthless leader....loving brother....boring Puritan....gracious victor.' Explore the way in which Shakespeare presents the character of Octavius Caesar in 'Antony

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'Ruthless leader….loving brother….boring Puritan….gracious victor.' Explore the way in which Shakespeare presents the character of Octavius Caesar in 'Antony and Cleopatra'

Shakespeare portrays Octavius Caesar as a very complex character in 'Antony and Cleopatra.' Shakespeare shows the audience how he has very strong feelings about War, leadership, the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra, and his sister Octavia. These attitudes can be seen as being too rational, too ambitious, and too efficient. However it is these characteristics which in some ways, form the particular contrast with Antony, which shows us his complex character, which also contributes to the conflicts which arise in the play. Shakespeare is very clever in the portrayal of Caesar; he uses Caesar as a foil for Antony, however he is a character in his own right.

Shakespeare shows Caesar to be, what you could say, a contradiction. The audience see how Caesar respects Antony's soldier-ship yet still fights him; they see how he clearly loves his sister, but uses her unscrupulously as a political device; and they are shown how he is very rational and dull, yet he surprisingly tells his soldiers, as well as some Egyptians about how he would parade the defeated Cleopatra. He wants to do this because he feels that 'her life in Rome would be eternal in our triumph.' This shows the reader how Caesar has strong emotional outcries, which contrasts his initial characteristics. The first impressions the audience gains of Caesar show him to be a complete contrast to what the audiences have previously observed about Antony, one of the other leaders in the Triumvirate.

Caesar is very strong-minded about leadership, and prioritises rules and regulations over love and fun. This is one of the reasons why he is so opposed to the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra. He disapproves of Antony's behaviour. He criticises Antony to Lepidus and although Lepidus does not agree completely with Caesar's views, Caesar persistently reminds Lepidus what Antony does when in Egypt. Caesar disagrees with the way Antony spends his time, he feels as though he 'wastes The lamps of night in revel.' This is said within Caesar's first speech, which shows how Shakespeare instantly portrays him.coaa aar seaaaaw oraa aak inaa foaa aa;

When watching the 1975 Royal Shakespeare Company performance of 'Antony and Cleopatra' Corin Redgrave, the actor playing the role of Caesar memorably played this particular part with a very disgusted facial expression. This initial portrayal by Redgrave, I think, shows Shakespeare's point effectively and cleverly. This part of the play is the first time the audience see Caesar, and the first impression is of great importance. The immense disgrace felt by Caesar was also recognised through Redgrave's performance due to the fact that for the majority of the rest of the play he played the role of Caesar very blankly, with little expression whatsoever. The effect of this is showing a direct contrast between him and Antony, which instantly suggests to the audience that there is going to be some conflict between the two characters. And the way in which Redgrave's performance matched the ideas of Shakespeare helped to recognise the effects of the playwright's ideas.

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Antony tries to make Caesar live for the moment. During Pompey's banquet at Pompey's Gallery Antony and Enobarbus in particular try and convince Caesar to enjoy himself, and encourage him to 'Be a child o' the time.' Caesar's reaction is very rigid and instantly replies by explaining that he would 'rather fast from all four days.' This again shows how Caesar's ascetic nature rejects fun and frivolity. Even Pompey reminds Antony and his close followers that it is not 'an Alexandrian feast.' This reflects what Caesar is probably thinking, however Caesar does not state this idea directly, he avoids the ...

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