Truth in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Research Paper
TRUTH IN JULIUS CAESAR.
Shakespeare
[pic]
Albert Camus said “Truth, like light, blinds”. This similie, used in The Fall is meant to reveal the ambiguity of this notion. Truth is a concept that obviously defines the quality of being true as opposed to false. It is like rooted in every human being, as an ultimate goal, nearly as powerful as any belief because it requires faith as well. Also, it is well-known that one of the main philosophical representations of truth is a blinding sun. In Julius Caesar, a tragedy written by Shakespeare in 1599, there is something worth saying about the opposition between light and darkness as suggestive of the opposition between truth and lie in the play.
Julius Caesar is based on the story of the famous emperor’s assassination but William Shakespeare heightens the conspiracy which led to his death and threw light on the use of truth to reach one’s goal. As in a bipolar world made of good and evil, light and darkness, there is a duality between truth and lie in the play. How this dualism applies to Shakespeare’s work?
In the first place, it is important to keep in mind that truth is an abstract concept, meant to disqualify lie and liars by approving or not a statement. But truth is also linked to reality in the sense of it is a conformity to a fact in which one should trust, it has to be seen to be believed. Finally, it is important to dicover the “true truth” about fact and fiction, between history and the story.
* * *
To begin with the analysis of truth in Julius Caesar, it is absolutly important to define what the meaning of this term is. Truth is the conformity between what it is said and the reality of things. It is a statement proven to be or accepted as true.[1]
It is obvious that in a story of a murder plot, truth will be used in a misapproporiate way. Julius Caesar, the
TRUTH IN JULIUS CAESAR.
Shakespeare
[pic]
Albert Camus said “Truth, like light, blinds”. This similie, used in The Fall is meant to reveal the ambiguity of this notion. Truth is a concept that obviously defines the quality of being true as opposed to false. It is like rooted in every human being, as an ultimate goal, nearly as powerful as any belief because it requires faith as well. Also, it is well-known that one of the main philosophical representations of truth is a blinding sun. In Julius Caesar, a tragedy written by Shakespeare in 1599, there is something worth saying about the opposition between light and darkness as suggestive of the opposition between truth and lie in the play.
Julius Caesar is based on the story of the famous emperor’s assassination but William Shakespeare heightens the conspiracy which led to his death and threw light on the use of truth to reach one’s goal. As in a bipolar world made of good and evil, light and darkness, there is a duality between truth and lie in the play. How this dualism applies to Shakespeare’s work?
In the first place, it is important to keep in mind that truth is an abstract concept, meant to disqualify lie and liars by approving or not a statement. But truth is also linked to reality in the sense of it is a conformity to a fact in which one should trust, it has to be seen to be believed. Finally, it is important to dicover the “true truth” about fact and fiction, between history and the story.
* * *
To begin with the analysis of truth in Julius Caesar, it is absolutly important to define what the meaning of this term is. Truth is the conformity between what it is said and the reality of things. It is a statement proven to be or accepted as true.[1]
It is obvious that in a story of a murder plot, truth will be used in a misapproporiate way. Julius Caesar, the