Julius Caesar

p JULIUS CAESAR

Caesar : Contemptible Despot or Benevolent Hero ? Shakespeare gives no direct answer , though he shows Caesar ’92s true spirit in the ’93orchard soliloquy ’94 as Brutus weighs his course

It must be by his death and form my part

I know no personal cause to spurn at him

But for the general . He would be crown ’92d

How that might change his nature , there ’92s the question

It is the bright day that bings forth the adder

And that craves wary walking . Crown him ? — that – ’96 [banner_entry_middle]

p And then I grant , we put a sting in him

That at his will he may do danger with

Th ’92 abuse of greatness is when it disjoins

Remorse from power and , to speak truth of Caesar

I have not known when his affections sway ’92d

More than his reason . But ` ’91tis a common proof

That lowliness is young ambition ’92s ladder

Whereto the climber-upward turns his face

But when he once attains the upmost round

He hen unto the ladder turns his back

Looks in the clouds , scorning the base degrees

By which he did ascend : So Caesar may

Then lest he may , prevent . And since the quarrel

Will bear no colour for the thing he is

Fashion it thus : that what he is , augmented

Would run to these and these extremities

And therefore think him as a serpent ’92s egg

Which , hatch ’92d , would , as his kind , grow mischievous

And kill him in the shell

II ,i , 10-34

’93Fashion it thus ’94 ? In this line , Brutus allows himself to invent an anxiety-driven fantasy , and then to believe it as an excuse for killing Caesar . Caesar is as he describes himself : constant

I could be well mov ’92d , if I were as you

If I could pray to move , prayers would move me

But I am constant as the northern star

Of whose true-fix ’92d and resting quality

There is no fellow in the firmament

The skies are panted with unnumber ’92d sparks

They are all fire , and every one doth shine

But there ’92s but one in all doth hold his place

So in the world : ` ’91tis furnish ’92d well with men

And men are flesh and blood , and apprehensive

Julius Caesar Page Yet in he number I do know but one

That unassailable holds on his rank

Unskak ’92d of motion and that I am he

Let me a littel show it , even in this

That I was constant Cimber should be banish ’92d

And constant do remain to keep him so

II ,i ,58-73

Wanting an excuse for murdering Caesar , Brutus will believe that Caesar will become the monstrous tyrant . And allowing himself to believe this he has an excuse for killing Caesar

Caesar is arrogant and self-idealizing to the point of self-deification , but truthful . Caesar gies his speech in the Senate addressing the senators . Yet all he does is to refuse to let an exile return . He is certainly not tyrannous . After… [banner_entry_footer]