What is Julius Caesar like?

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What sort of a man is Julius Caesar? Consider the evidence offered by at least four different characters, including Julius Caesar himself.

“… he doth bestride the narrow world

Like a Colossus, and we petty men

Walk under his huge legs and peep about

To find ourselves dishonourable graves.”  (Cassius I.ii.135-137)

This is what history tells us about Julius Caesar and probably what Julius Caesar would like us to think of him. However, the quotation is not just Cassius’ view; it is probably William Shakespeare’s and many historians’ as well. However, Julius Caesar is more complex than that. To discover what sort a man he is in Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, we must examine what he says, what he does and what others say about him. The characters of Brutus, Mark Antony and Cassius are vital to finding out what sort a man Caesar is.

In Act Two, Shakespeare presents to the audience a Julius Caesar character that is wide open to interpretation through Caesar’s actions. In the second scene of the act, Julius Caesar relies on the gods to guide him when he hears of Calphurnia’s dreams about him being killed. This is also a link to Elizabeth the First’s character, the monarch at the time of the writing of the play.

“Go bid the priests do present sacrifice,

And bring me their opinions of success.” (Caesar II.ii.5-6)

There are two hugely differing interpretations of Caesar made available from the quotation above. The first interpretation is that Caesar is showing necessary qualities for a leader of the Roman Empire; he is being pious. It can be interpreted that Caesar is observing religion, making the gods sacrifices was considered a normal and religious thing to do - piety was considered a necessary quality in a leader in the Roman times.

The second interpretation to the quotation presents the audience with a very different Julius Caesar. Caesar is supposed to be a practical politician; making sacrifices and asking for guidance from elsewhere could be seen as being superstitious lacking self-confidence. Yet, self-confidence was another vital ingredient in becoming a good Roman leader. However, there is strong opposition to this second interpretation of what sort of a man Caesar is. He does not take into account any of what Calphurnia, an ignored soothsayer, or what the soothsayer in the streets of Rome has said. Ignoring soothsayers and going to the senate despite Calphurnia’s dreams is far from being superstitious. However, Caesar may have gone to the Senate because of the prospect of being made king of Rome. This raises the question, “Is Caesar an ambitious man?” This question will be answered later.

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In performance, on the other hand, Shakespeare can present the interpretation that he wants to put across by instructing the actor what sort of facial expression to put on and what tone of voice to use. For example, if the actor used commanding voice with a confident expression will show the audience that Caesar is sacrificing to the gods through piety. Should the actor put on a worried expression accompanied by a stutter and incoherent speech, he would give the impression that Caesar is sacrificing through being anxious and superstitious.

Another way of finding out what sort of ...

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