Julius ceasar
It shows quite clearly the structural and psychological features of tragedy. Looked at from the Aristotle point of View, the tragedy despite its title, is the tragedy of Brutus. He is the protagonist, the tragic hero, ‘good but not too good’, towards whom our sympathies are directed. When after the defeat at Philippi and the death of his friend and ally Cassius, Brutus throws him self upon the sword held by his unwilling slave, we feel in full measure the emotions of pity and fear of which Aristotle wrote. All through the play it is the nobility of the Brutus which Shakespeare has worked to emphasize. His natural leadership, his devotion to the good of Rome, his thoughtful and humane character, his open generosity to his enemies, his love of his wife, and his kindness and consideration for servants all these go to complete the picture of a man who is morally good and great. That such a man should come in the end to defeat and death as a result of chance or accident would be shocking rather than truly tragic; for the downfall of a wholly good man is as unsatisfactory in tragedy as that of a wholly bad man. He should be
In the case of Brutus, the hamartia grows out of his very virtue: he is himself so good and so honest that he finds it impossible to believe that other people may be different. Thus, for all his greatness of soul, he is a bad judge of character, and a rather stupid politician. Themis and Nemesis can be seen in Julius Caesar. Themis means something like moral order or natural law, and the man who defied it was punished in the end by natural justice or fate (nemesis). The greatest crime a man could commit was the crime of Hubris (or excessive pride), whereby he set himself up as an equal of the gods. This is the crime of Caesar, where he compares his own strength and constancy with the weakness of ordinary men. After Caesar’s death he accepts Antony’s offer of friendship at its face value, and allows him, despite the warnings of Cassius, to make a public speech at Caesar’s funeral. With almost incredible foolishness he assures that all will be well, because he himself will speak first, and give the people full and satisfactory reasons for Caesar’s death. And before this he has, on the highest moral grounds, refused to lis
Some topics in this essay:
Julius Caesar,
Hamartia Brutus,
Brutus Shakespeare,
Brutus Personal,
Caesar Themis,
Lucia Pella,
Aristotle View,
Cassius Brutus,
Antony Caesar’s,
julius caesar,
Themis Nemesis,
brutus tragic,
defeat death,
caesar’s death,
moral conflict,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 776
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
CUSTOMER SERVICES
| |
|
Example Essays Home
