Examples Of Disparity In Julius Caesar

Disparity of Public and Private Persona
There is much to be said about the disparity between public and private persona in the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. When studying the characters’ human nature, it helps to delineate how the characters’ deepest avidities so greatly influence their choices. Both Brutus and Antony are very public figures throughout the play. However, the conflict of their duplicitous actions emerges from what is kept private and what they reveal to the public.
The character, Brutus, in the play is guilty of putting his personal allegiances aside and putting what he thinks the public desires him to do first, which in this case is to kill his friend Caesar. His actions stem from his fidelity to Rome, which he evidently loves more than Caesar, a dear friend. An example of Brutus’s change in nature is between him and his wife, Portia. Portia and Brutus are close, and Portia is clearly used to Brutus confiding in her; however, Brutus keeps his personal thoughts in and continues to make his decisions on the account of what he thinks is good for the public. Knowing that Brutus is so close to Portia, it is hard to dismiss the scene where he receives the news of her suicide. As soon as he receives the news he replies: “Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of
wine/In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius”(4.3.163-164). Brutus acts as though he can forget it easily, but, in fact, he is deeply affected by the news. Brutus outwardly professes his loyalty and friendship to Caesar. It appears, though, Cassius and the remainder of the conspirators are able to quickly persuade Brutus, who has no genuine purpose to kill Julius Caesar. Brutus knows internally that his fellow conspirators do not have the same intentions as he does and are only out for bettering themselves. In truth, he has no desire to harm Caesar, yet he is quite resolute in wanting the best for his beloved Rome: “Brutus has no personal destiny that separates from and contravenes his political role”(Ornstein 51).
Contradicting Brutus, it appears Antony’s main concern following Julius Caesar’s death is not to mourn his close friend, but to take advantage of the aftermath of the assassination to eventually take Caesar’s place. Antony craves power, but lets the public think he is solely grieving his friend’s death. An example of how Antony uses lies and deceitfulness for his own good is his relationship with Lepidus. Antony insults Lepidus in private: “ So is my horse, Octavius, and for that/ I do appoint him store of provender”(4.1.29-30). The image that Antony displays is of a favorable fashion; however, privately he reveals very different thoughts, which incorporate into the conflict.
Both Antony and Brutus are cautious about the image they convey to everyone else because they know that all of their actions are projected in front of the Roman people.
Following Caesar’s death, Antony and Brutus speak their feelings in their soliloquies, in which they convey both their sides of the story. In Brutus’s speech, he directs his words towards the Roman citizens and refers to Caesar as “ambitious”, which creates the idea that Caesar is conceded and does not care about his people. On the other hand, before Antony starts his persuasive speech, he visits with the conspirators and shakes their hands. During the scene, Cassius asks Antony where his loyalty
lies: Therefore I took your hands, But was indeed, sway’d from the point, by looking down on Caesar
Friends am I with you all, and love you all Upon this hope, that shall give me reasons Why, and wherein, Caesar was dangerous. (3.1.220-223)
Antony’s speech is filled with applaud to Caesar, and he relays Caesar’s will to the people to make Caesar out to be almost god like: “Here was a Caesar! When comes such another?”(3.3.241) He eventually starts to persuade the Roman people that Caesar did not deserve to be killed and that the group of conspirators are just a group of murderers. This takes place just shortly after Antony met with the assassins and shook their hands; therefore, Antony obviously has an alternate motive. This creates a conflict that Antony wanted from the beginning. Antony is a follower of Caesar’s in public, but evidently all along he wanted only his extreme power. Clearly, Antony is a man looking out for himself. Snider compares Antony and Brutus decisions: “Antony is, moreover, a man of pleasure, and acts, from impulse; Brutus pretends to be a philosopher and to be guided by fixed principles.”(Snider 248).