Mob Mentality In Julius Caesar

Is Shakespeare’s portrayal of the common people of Rome realistic? Why did the common people of Rome kill Cinna the poet? Shakespeare’s portrayal of the common people of Rome is realistic since he shows how people act when they are part of a crowd. The image of disordered society also influences the act of Rome populace since there are no rules. Shakespeare realized that people tend to follow the crowd; therefore, he uses this point to exemplify mob mentality which is prevalent throughout the play.

In Act I, the commoners are cheering for Caesar after the defeat of Pompey, Marullus, a tribune, reminds them of how they had similarly cheered for Pompey in the same streets. The people once wait “with patient expectation, to see great
This illustrates how fickle the people are and how they are able to quickly change loyalties to whoever is in power. Not much has changed in modern times. Most people still tend to follow whoever is in charge because they feel it is safer to stick with what everybody else is doing. This is an example of mob mentality. Mark Antony understands this fact about the people and uses it to his advantage when the conspirators later assassinate Caesar. The commoners’ new loyalty to Caesar is similar to the ease with which Cassius convinces Brutus (with no real evidence) that Caesar wants to be king and should therefore be murdered. This is another example of mob
Brutus first sways them to the plight of the conspirators, but Antony manages to convince them to riot in the end. They become worked up and eager to cause violence. This causes them to kill the poet Cinna in Act III, Scene III. Cinna is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The mob demonstrates an act of herd behaviour, which is when individuals in a group act together without planned directions. They ask Cinna for his name and after learning what it is, they immediately attack him even Cinna explains that he is Cinna the poet, not Cinna the conspirator. The crowd, hungry for blood, kill the innocent poet anyway, explaining that they should. This shows how the crowd, in the heat of the moment, acts irrationally. They realise that he is the wrong Cinna, but they are so enraged, they slay him anyway. Still driven by fury, the commoners then decide to torch the homes of Brutus, Cassius, Decius Brutus, Casca and