Julius Cesar
Emma Miller
Mr. Johnson
Honors World Lit. (2nd period)
11/11/13
Burton Raffel, an influential critic, writes “Julius Caesar is a relentlessly honest, profoundly moral portrait of the life of power, in which Shakespeare’s characters freely deceive both each other and themselves”. This statement is partially true, giving a person an abundant amount of power can corrupt their intentions. However, the exploitation of Caesar’s power was an exaggerated and dramatized version of the truth. Not every leader who is given authority craves to become an autocrat. Caesar was so hungry for power he was willing to lie to himself, and to the Roman people in order receive it. Eventually Caesar became so confident in himself that he would not listen to the warnings he was given, ultimately leading to his murder. Caesar hungered for power; there was nothing more satisfying to him than having the love of the Roman people. However, the rising leader knew that if he strove for the crown too soon, that the people would recognize his love for power, consecutively taking the crown he so desperately longed for away from him. When offered the crown, Caesar denied it three times. This deceived the plebeians, who only wanted to inaugurate him more after the denial. However, one of the more knowledgeable onlookers, Casca, saw through the facade and reported to Cassius that “It was\ mere foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark Antony offer him a\ crown… as I told you, he put it by once; but for all that, to\ my thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offered it to\ him again; then he put it by again... And then offered it a third time by; and still he refused\ it”, proving to the conspirators that Caesar was fooling the plebeians. (I.ii.234-243)
Not only did Caesar deceive others about his lust to rule, but he also deceived himself about the danger that he was clearly warned about. Multiple times various people informed Caesar to be cautious, but every time he dismissed the
Mr. Johnson
Honors World Lit. (2nd period)
11/11/13
Burton Raffel, an influential critic, writes “Julius Caesar is a relentlessly honest, profoundly moral portrait of the life of power, in which Shakespeare’s characters freely deceive both each other and themselves”. This statement is partially true, giving a person an abundant amount of power can corrupt their intentions. However, the exploitation of Caesar’s power was an exaggerated and dramatized version of the truth. Not every leader who is given authority craves to become an autocrat. Caesar was so hungry for power he was willing to lie to himself, and to the Roman people in order receive it. Eventually Caesar became so confident in himself that he would not listen to the warnings he was given, ultimately leading to his murder. Caesar hungered for power; there was nothing more satisfying to him than having the love of the Roman people. However, the rising leader knew that if he strove for the crown too soon, that the people would recognize his love for power, consecutively taking the crown he so desperately longed for away from him. When offered the crown, Caesar denied it three times. This deceived the plebeians, who only wanted to inaugurate him more after the denial. However, one of the more knowledgeable onlookers, Casca, saw through the facade and reported to Cassius that “It was\ mere foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark Antony offer him a\ crown… as I told you, he put it by once; but for all that, to\ my thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offered it to\ him again; then he put it by again... And then offered it a third time by; and still he refused\ it”, proving to the conspirators that Caesar was fooling the plebeians. (I.ii.234-243)
Not only did Caesar deceive others about his lust to rule, but he also deceived himself about the danger that he was clearly warned about. Multiple times various people informed Caesar to be cautious, but every time he dismissed the