Julius Caesar Feminist Analysis Essay

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Stephen Chiarelli
Ms. MacDonell
5/03/2014
ENG4U
Passage Master
The play, Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, exploits the new historicism approach for the era it was written in and the era that it takes place in. The approach concentrates on how places, events and culture within a society affect or influence a written work. Therefore, using the knowledge of Shakespearean era, “1564-1616” (bbc.co.uk) and the Ancient Roman era, “100 BC-44 BC” (bbc.co.uk) one can analyze the texts from Caesar.
1.
FLAVIUS. Hence! Home, you idle creatures get you home!
Is this a holiday? What, know you not,
Being mechanical, you ought not walk
Upon a laboring day without the sign
Of your profession? – Speak, what trade art thou?
CARPENTER.
In this time of Ancient Rome, within the castes and families of those that lived, the women were seen as less than equal. The power difference between men and women were substantially weighted on one side, “women were defined by the social status of their fathers or husbands” (pbs.org). When the play was written, the same respect for females was shared. In London during Shakespeare’s time, women were still not seen as fully equal. For example, “Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish” (1.3.85). William
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Shakespeare was influenced by his own culture and that of the Roman culture when the play was written. Therefore, the feminist and new historicism approach both acknowledge the fact that sexism existed in both Ancient Rome and old English times.
5.
BRUTUS. Our courses will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards,
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar.
Let us be sacrificers but not butchers, Caius. We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar,
And in the spirit of men there is no blood.
Oh, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit
And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it. And, gentle
The irony in this is that the catalyst for the other Conspirators is exactly the opposite of his, being out of resent and greed. Brutus’ hamartia is the sense of honor that he carries. Brutus is easily swayed by those that resent Caesar, only to be taken advantage of, because of his high ranking and respectfulness by the Roman citizen’s. The new historicism approach can be noted in Brutus’ speech. He stated that the murder of Caesar is not unjust and is like a sacrifice more than a murder. For example, Brutus exclaims, “Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully./ Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods, “ (2.1.174-175). Brutus truly believes that the wrath of Caesar is harmful to Rome. Due to his patriotism, he believes that the sacrifice of Caesar will save Rome. The idea of sacrifice was appropriate in Ancient Rome, where the setting takes place, but is absurd in the modern era.
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