JULIUS CAESAR
The play Julius Caesar is about dirty politics and power in Rome, how some would do anything for leadership and anything for their city.
The play opened in a lively theatrical manner, noisy citizens soon grabbed the attention of Flavius and Marullus, the importance of the crowd was immediately established. The crowd were in holiday mood ready to cheer Caesar. We saw they were easily manipulated, Flavius & Marullus interrogated some of them with questions. They speak to a carpenter and a cobbler, the cobbler is in a jolly mood and answered Marullus in an impolite manner, Marullus soon demanded them to leave, ‘‘Tongue – tired in there guiltiness,’’ is what he says. This is where we see excessive desire for power and freedom by Flavius and Marullus, in other words we see greediness and disliking of Caesar from Flavius and Marullus.
Caesars wife Calphurnia, had failed to have any children, so Caesar decides that if Calphuria stands in Antony’s way during the Lupercal ceremonies, then she would be able to conceive. Whilst Caesar was at the Festival of Lupercal, he was approached by a soothsayer, the soothsayer warns Caesar to ‘‘Beware the ides of march.’’ Caesar dismissed him as a dreamer and moved on, Caesar said ‘He is a dreamer let us leave him: pass’’. This clearly indicated Caesar did not really take into consideration what the soothsayer said.
In Act 1 Scene 2 Cassius approaches Brutus, a close companion of Caesar. Cassius aim was to persuade Brutus into disliking Caesar. Cassius started of by comparing himself and Brutus to Caesar, “I was born free as Caesar ; so were you ; we both have fed as well, and we can both endure the winters as well as he.’’ Said Cassius. (Extract from Act 1 scene 2 lines 8,9,10) Cassius was trying to point out that Caesar is nothing different from them, he is nothing special. Cassius personal hatred now became clear he said “Caesar is now treated like god,’’ but he himself is no more than a “wretched creature.” who must bow and scrape for Julius Caesar. Cassius kept stressing on about Caesars physical weakness, he refers to epilepsy in Spain, when Caesar shook. There was a lot of jealousy in Cassius reference to Caesar, for example as “a sick girl.” Cassius clinches the meeting by a subtle appeal to Brutus’s pride in his ancestry. He said “the last king to rule Rome was Tarquin,” Tarquin who was driven out by citizens and Rome was once again a Republic. Cassius knew that the present Brutus, likes to trail his ancestry back to the earlier brutus. At the end of this conference Brutus was persuaded by Cassius, and now felt his comrade Caesar was far to ambitious, and wanted to be king of Rome.
