Calpurnia And Activation Synthesis Theory In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
In the play, Calpurnia has a nightmare about Caesar's body spurting out blood like a fountain. “She dreamt tonight she saw my statue, which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts, did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans came smiling and did bathe their hands in it” (II.ii.81-84) Calpurnia’s ominous nightmare causes her to beg Caesar to stay home. Which Caesar almost does so, only for Decius to convince him otherwise. “This dream is all amiss interpreted. It was a vision fair and fortunate. Your statue spouting blood in any pipes, in which so many smiling Romans bathed, signifies that from you great Rome shall suck Reviving blood, and that great men shall press for tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance. This by Calpurnia's dream is signified....Besides,
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it were a mock Apt to be rendered, for someone to say 'Break up the senate till another time, When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams.' If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper 'Lo, Caesar is afraid'?”” (II.ii 89-95;101-106)
In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus has a dream of sorts about Caesar visiting him as a ghost.This is like a scene from Macbeth. Where Macbeth’s guilt causes him to see the ghost of Banquo sitting in a chair but only to be invisible to everyone present. In another one of Brutus’s dream Caesar appears on the battlefield telling Brutus that he believes that it’s time for Brutus to die. “ Why this Volumnius: the ghost of Caesar hath appeared before me two several times by night -- at Sardis once and this last night here in Philippi fields. I know my hour has come” (V.v. 19- 23)
“The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.” (Freud) The Freudian theory of dreaming, proposed by Sigmund Freud, reveals hidden desires and fears of one’s subconscious. Dreams are useful in therapeutic settings. This is because dreams are often clues to an individual's emotions and desires. The theory also interprets dreams as encoded messages. The Freudian Theory relies on symbols in dreams; such as seeing blood or a ghost, and interpreting it as hidden meanings in the person’s life. For example, if one is playing soccer in a dream, it could be a symbolization of an ability to be quick on one’s feet.
In contrast, the Activation Synthesis theory relies on random impulses and emotions.
Activation Synthesis theory simply states that dreaming is simply the brain’s way of processing those said impulses. Humans and even animals experience this random stimulus as dreams. “Dreaming may be our most creative conscious state, one in which the chaotic, spontaneous recombination of cognitive elements produces novel configurations of information: new ideas. While many or even most of these ideas may be nonsensical, if even a few of its fanciful products are truly useful, our dream time will not have been wasted” (Hobson, 1999) Activation Synthesis theory was first proposed by John Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley, in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
In the context of Activation Synthesis theory, Calpurnia and Brutus’ dreams have no meaning to it. The dreams are simply random impulses of them dealing with their emotions of the current situations. In Calpurnia's case, she’s dealing with her gut-feeling and her displeasure of ceremonies. “Caesar I never stood for ceremonies, yet now they frighten me.” (II.ii. 13-14). With Brutus he’s dealing with the emotional charge of the mobs, and the war, along with his moral dilemma of whether killing Caesar was the right thing to
do.
As for Freudian theory, to see the ghost of a deceased friend or relative in a dream could suggest guilt and regrets concerning the preceding relationships with that particular person. The dream fits Brutus's situation in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, accurately. While Brutus did assassinate Caesar for the good of Rome, his moral dilemma disturbs him. Much like Macbeth, Brutus regrets what he has done to his friend, and the image of them as a ghost will forever taunt him. As for Calpurnia’s dream it’s a little trickier. According to Freudian to dream that others are bleeding could signify an emotional cry for help. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, like Portia, Calpurnia is limited by her gender. Woman are seen a weak and irrelevant. Caesar dismisses Calpurnia's disturbing and ominous dream, so people won’t think of him as weak and cowardly for listening to a woman. Calpurnia is hardly seen throughout The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, due to this idea. So, it’s possible for her emotional cry for help to be related to her gender.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar deals with themes such as; jingoism, nationalism, dictatorship, democracy and malfeasance, but it also deals with Freudian theory and Activation Synthesis theory. Freudian Theory and Activation Synthesis Theory help reveal in character traits for Brutus and Calpurnia in the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Such as, Brutus’s guilt for murdering Caesar and Calpurnia feeling limited to status as a woman like Brutus’s wife, Portia. As the character Hamlet once said “To die, to sleep; to sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come”
it were a mock Apt to be rendered, for someone to say 'Break up the senate till another time, When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams.' If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper 'Lo, Caesar is afraid'?”” (II.ii 89-95;101-106)
In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus has a dream of sorts about Caesar visiting him as a ghost.This is like a scene from Macbeth. Where Macbeth’s guilt causes him to see the ghost of Banquo sitting in a chair but only to be invisible to everyone present. In another one of Brutus’s dream Caesar appears on the battlefield telling Brutus that he believes that it’s time for Brutus to die. “ Why this Volumnius: the ghost of Caesar hath appeared before me two several times by night -- at Sardis once and this last night here in Philippi fields. I know my hour has come” (V.v. 19- 23)
“The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.” (Freud) The Freudian theory of dreaming, proposed by Sigmund Freud, reveals hidden desires and fears of one’s subconscious. Dreams are useful in therapeutic settings. This is because dreams are often clues to an individual's emotions and desires. The theory also interprets dreams as encoded messages. The Freudian Theory relies on symbols in dreams; such as seeing blood or a ghost, and interpreting it as hidden meanings in the person’s life. For example, if one is playing soccer in a dream, it could be a symbolization of an ability to be quick on one’s feet.
In contrast, the Activation Synthesis theory relies on random impulses and emotions.
Activation Synthesis theory simply states that dreaming is simply the brain’s way of processing those said impulses. Humans and even animals experience this random stimulus as dreams. “Dreaming may be our most creative conscious state, one in which the chaotic, spontaneous recombination of cognitive elements produces novel configurations of information: new ideas. While many or even most of these ideas may be nonsensical, if even a few of its fanciful products are truly useful, our dream time will not have been wasted” (Hobson, 1999) Activation Synthesis theory was first proposed by John Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley, in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
In the context of Activation Synthesis theory, Calpurnia and Brutus’ dreams have no meaning to it. The dreams are simply random impulses of them dealing with their emotions of the current situations. In Calpurnia's case, she’s dealing with her gut-feeling and her displeasure of ceremonies. “Caesar I never stood for ceremonies, yet now they frighten me.” (II.ii. 13-14). With Brutus he’s dealing with the emotional charge of the mobs, and the war, along with his moral dilemma of whether killing Caesar was the right thing to
do.
As for Freudian theory, to see the ghost of a deceased friend or relative in a dream could suggest guilt and regrets concerning the preceding relationships with that particular person. The dream fits Brutus's situation in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, accurately. While Brutus did assassinate Caesar for the good of Rome, his moral dilemma disturbs him. Much like Macbeth, Brutus regrets what he has done to his friend, and the image of them as a ghost will forever taunt him. As for Calpurnia’s dream it’s a little trickier. According to Freudian to dream that others are bleeding could signify an emotional cry for help. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, like Portia, Calpurnia is limited by her gender. Woman are seen a weak and irrelevant. Caesar dismisses Calpurnia's disturbing and ominous dream, so people won’t think of him as weak and cowardly for listening to a woman. Calpurnia is hardly seen throughout The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, due to this idea. So, it’s possible for her emotional cry for help to be related to her gender.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar deals with themes such as; jingoism, nationalism, dictatorship, democracy and malfeasance, but it also deals with Freudian theory and Activation Synthesis theory. Freudian Theory and Activation Synthesis Theory help reveal in character traits for Brutus and Calpurnia in the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Such as, Brutus’s guilt for murdering Caesar and Calpurnia feeling limited to status as a woman like Brutus’s wife, Portia. As the character Hamlet once said “To die, to sleep; to sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come”