“the Fault Is Not in Our Stars, but in Ourselves.” What Fault in Man Does Shakespeare Highlight in This Play? Discuss.
In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, he highlights the fact that unfortunate events happen, not because of destiny, but because of the faults in character that are in man. He suggests that depending on how a person acts and the results of their actions are the catalysts for the events that cause their downfall. Each of his main characters in the play holds a fault that would ultimately lead to their deaths. Ambition is explored as a fault, as too much of it can drive people to perform terrible acts. The fault of ignorance is looked upon as it is the lack of knowledge and perception that would lead one to their demise. Bad judgement is another fault that Shakespeare highlights, as it is due to bad judgement that people decide to do things that would eventually be the cause of their ruin. He emphasises that the fault in man is the cause of their destiny throughout the play and their fate is not already predetermined.
The fault of ambition becomes evident when it becomes too much of it and it pushes one to betrayal. Though ambition is considered as good as it drives one to do achieve their goals, it develops into a fault when a person’s ambition causes them to harm others to get what they want. In Julius Caesar, Caesar describes Cassius as having a “lean and hungry look”, indicating that Cassius hungers for power and has the ambition to do something about it, which he does by murdering Caesar. Cassius’ ambition allowed his greed and envy to consume him, which causes the citizens of Rome to turn against him, demanding his death. Caesar’s ambition for power was the cause of his murder, as the conspirators grew afraid of his growing authority. Though Caesar refuses the crown three times, thought Casca says, “but to my thinking he was very loath to lay his fingers off it”, suggesting that Caesar did not refuse the crown because he didn’t want it, but he did so to keep political and to seem more humble and less ambitious than he actually was. This threatens
The fault of ambition becomes evident when it becomes too much of it and it pushes one to betrayal. Though ambition is considered as good as it drives one to do achieve their goals, it develops into a fault when a person’s ambition causes them to harm others to get what they want. In Julius Caesar, Caesar describes Cassius as having a “lean and hungry look”, indicating that Cassius hungers for power and has the ambition to do something about it, which he does by murdering Caesar. Cassius’ ambition allowed his greed and envy to consume him, which causes the citizens of Rome to turn against him, demanding his death. Caesar’s ambition for power was the cause of his murder, as the conspirators grew afraid of his growing authority. Though Caesar refuses the crown three times, thought Casca says, “but to my thinking he was very loath to lay his fingers off it”, suggesting that Caesar did not refuse the crown because he didn’t want it, but he did so to keep political and to seem more humble and less ambitious than he actually was. This threatens