If Caesar had lived, would he have become a tyrant?

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Paul Abdou

If Caesar had lived, would he have become a tyrant?

Caesar, the emperor of Rome has just come out of battle, with Pompey. The people of Rome celebrate on the streets. There are two men that refuse to celebrate. Indeed, they are strongly opposed to the celebrations taking place. They believe that Caesar is becoming too powerful and is being treated like a God. They are not the only two against the celebrations. There are many others. They find a powerful man, loved by the people of Rome, and turn him against Caesar. Now they are fully equipped. Ready to kill Caesar himself. Was this a blatant act of jealousy, or was Caesar really becoming ‘too big for his boots.’

        There is much bias in this play and many of the characters are corrupt. There are even more lies, and concealed truths. I have to see past those and make a fair analysis of the play.

        In the first scene there is a clash between the upper class, represented by Flavius or Marullus, and the lower class represented by the scores of plebeians, evidently overjoyed with the public celebrations. It becomes clear, especially when Caesar is assassinated, that it is the mob, through their sheer numbers if anything, that hold the power. It is the conspirators’ inability to see this that marks their eventual downfall. Caesar, however, despite all his faults, has the vision to see this, and hence has more power, than all the conspirators together.

        It is in the second scene that we have a series of clues about Caesar’s untimely end. First of all, while celebrating the feast of the Lupercal, a soothsayer confronts the emperor and his gathering. This conversation tells us a lot about Caesar.

Soothsayer: Caesar!

Caesar: Ha! Who calls?(silence is asked for). Speak; Caesar is turned to hear.

Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March.

(Caesar calls for him to be brought closer).

Caesar: What say’st thou to me now? Speak once again.

Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March.

Caesar: He is a dreamer, let us pass.

        At first we are a little surprised that Caesar, even on a day of festivity, turns to speak to someone as lowly as a soothsayer. This is the first time we have met him and yet can already see he is deeply superstitious and holds these men with regard. On the day of his assassination he asks for some soothsayers to make a sacrifice, to determine whether, despite his wife’s bad dream, he should go to the Capitol. He decides, despite the bad omens, to go forth to the Capitol. This proves to be his final and most grave mistake, as he is slaughtered at the feet of one of his very own statues. He  proves to be arrogant, by speaking in the third person. ‘“Caesar is turned to hear.”’  He feigns not to have heard him and so asks for him to be brought closer. Once the soothsayer has bid him to beware the ides of March once more, he quickly turns away and dismisses him. Whether he truly forgets this or not is debatable. 

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Then we meet Cassius, who at this point, without Brutus, is the chief conspirator. He clearly resents Caesar and his influence on the people of Rome. ‘They are merely sheep, and he is the wolf.’ He tries to sway Brutus, but he is not easily convinced. Cassius, in trying to persuade Brutus of the harm Caesar is doing to Rome, then recounts how Caesar swooned and fell down with an epileptic fit. The topic of Caesar being weak leads to him further recounting how Caesar almost drowned in a race across the river Tiber and how he had had to ...

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