Julius Caesar

Why study Shakespeare's Julius Caesar? One of the purposes of literature is help us to see into the human heart- to give us experiences through which we can live vicariously, so that we can be prepared and know how to act and respond in our real lives.

Julius Caesar and the Spreading of a Bad Report


In act one we see Cassius approaching Brutus and engaging him in conversation. Very subtly Cassius draws Brutus in and essentially says, "You don't seem like yourself lately- is everything okay?" In the conversation that ensues, we find out that Cassius is feeling Brutus out to see if he will listen to slander. Cassius is jealous of Caesar's power and the people's love of Caesar. Caesar is being honored in Rome with parades and speeches- and Cassius cannot stand it. He feels that *he* is the one who should be honored and praised- and hold the power in Rome.

I was born free as Caesar; so were you:
We both have fed as well; and we can both
Endure the winter's cold as well as he:
For once, upon a raw and gusty day,
The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,
Caesar said to me, "Darest thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angry flood
And swim to yonder point?" Upon the word,
Accoutred as I was, I plunged in,
And bade him follow: so indeed he did.
The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside
And stemming it with hearts of controversy;
But ere we could arrive the point proposed,
Caesar cried, "Help me, Cassius, or I sink!

In this passage and the monologue which follows, Cassius communicates that he and Caesar are equally gifted and equally worthy of both praise and power- and that it is not fair that Caesar has what Cassius deserves.

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus; and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonorable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves,that we are underlings.
"Brutus" and "Caesar": what should be in that "Caesar"?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with them,
"Brutus" will start a spirit as soon as "Caesar."
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed
That he is grown so great?

Cassius draws Brutus in, and once he has him hooked, he goes after other of Caesar's friends. They listen to slander and they take up Cassius's offense. By act 3 Cassius and the others who have listened to slander take up daggers and murder Caesar-- only because they have listened to slander and taken up another's offense.

By act 4 Rome is embroiled in civil war and friends are fighting against friends.

Many times in our lives we are presented with act 1 of this play. We are presented with a decision. Do we listen-- or do we walk away? If we listen, we are in danger of taking up the offense of another. Proverbs 16: 28 says A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends. The stakes couldn't be higher. Just walk away.