William Shakespeare - Julius Caesar

 William Shakespeare  

Julius Caesar 

 

William Shakespeare is a well-known writer who has continued to impress readers and audiences all over the world for nearly 400 years with his power to express the human condition in his plays and poems. The tragedy of Julius Caesar which is well-known, takes over one of the most famous assassinations of the world, yet this play differs from real history. Shakespeare focused on the inside of the characters, particularly Brutus and Caesar. He rebuilt their life, ideas and behaviours.  

 

The play has been interpreted as the struggle of Julius Caesar and his followers, who want to wear the imperial crown, and dictatorial tendencies are getting stronger with the republicans. From this perspective, Brutus is noble, a patriot, and an idealist, furthermore the assassination of Caesar is a rebellion. The betrayal of Brutus to Caesar means Roman is superior to all things. William Shakespeare created a new Caesar, his Caesar is a person both glorious like a god and weak like a people. Caesar's power and victories are respected by people. He is arrogant. Caesar who wants to show his power, does not listen to anyone, and he goes to die. Shakespeare may try to show us that arrogance is how bad thing (I do not want to share a spoiler).  

 

Shakespeare shows us Brutus. He is a good husband and a kind person. He is a patriot and people who want to kill Caesar, use his patriotism to kill Caesar. Brutus and Caesar have a good relationship. In Roman culture, an honourable image is fairly significant. Brutus thinks that it is necessary to give the image of the saviour instead of the murderer to legitimize the assassination of Caesar. 

 

Finally, was Caesar a tyrant who deserved to be killed, and was Brutus a saviour? We can see that Shakespeare uses more than one evaluation while he is editing his plays. I think we should avoid judging characters, and consider how complex human personality can be.  

Et tu, Brute?