Foreshadow In Julius Caesar
A “Shadow in the Sun”: Green-eyed Baby Brother’s Blues
There is victory in all but Richard Gloucester whose internal battlements still smoke, with their muzzles pointed sunward. Accepting his fate given title of “villain,” (30) Gloucester isolates himself from the “glorious summer” (2) of triumph to release his frustration and self pity - lending the play both voice for foreshadow and basis for thematic growth.
As Gloucester begins his sorrowing, he reflects upon the war, where he was “arms” (6) in arms with his brothers until the victorious end when War “capers nimbly” (12) away to rest. Although Gloucester was there making “dreadful marches” (8) he does not gain any “delight” (8) nor relief as his brothers have. Instead, Gloucester, …show more content…
with green eyes, separates himself from War’s afterparty to weep and resent, unable to find reasonable joy in these times of glory. In the wake of war, Gloucester solidifies the divide between his brothers and himself, with juxtapositions of features and fate. Gloucester, lacking all his brothers’ natural swagger and beauty, scowls like the gloomy “clouds” (3) to only be “buried” (4) behind the fierce rays of his brothers’ greatness. Jealousy and anger plague Gloucester, blinding him from keeping peace and motivating him to unleash a battle between brothers.
Personified and idealized, War is built up to mirror King Edward and to embody all that Gloucester is not: intimidating, strong, and adept at wooing whomever and whatever.
War is the epitome of man and this, sets the foundation for Gloucester’s jealousy; because he is “cheated of feature” (19) and physically “not shaped” (14) to court chicks and sport tricks. Pent up with rage, Gloucester can not see himself as more than a “shadow” (26) in the “sun”(26) of the manly and preferable King Edward. The “son of York” (2), a beautiful pun on ‘sun,’ whose rays cast a “shadow” of disgruntled and envious Gloucester build on the motif of separatism and isolation. It does not matter that they fought the war together, Gloucester will still be in the dark, hating the “idle pleasures” (31) that King Edward has restored. Ironically, while the idealized image of War - glorified King Edward and Clarence - clearly contrast “weak” (24) Gloucester, in both demeanor and recognition, there are parallels between the two that create tension and reason for the baby brother’s bitterness. Building on the motif of battle, Shakespeare keeps the burning fight lit within Gloucester that shows determination, strength, and “fright” (11) that War also portrays except these characteristics lay beneath Gloucester’s deformity; his ‘War’ is buried in the “deep bosom” (4) of his ugliness. Although Gloucester has the drive and determination, he simply “cannot prove a lover” (28) because nobody, including himself,
can look past his “unfinished” (20) disposition and so, takes his fateful role as “villain”(30) to his hero esque brothers.
Sinister “hate” (31) prove to be poignant with Gloucester’s character and through conflicting portrayals of feature, Shakespeare builds an overpowering jealousy that rages in this monologue and lingers to complete the foreshadow: jealousy will ruin man and men. Envy, a trait both wicked and dominate, will grow and devour Gloucester and those who he envies. By pinning the “true and just” (36) apart from the “false and treacherous” (37), Shakespeare contrasts ideas of beauty with deformity and victory with battle, to allow jealousy full reign, centerstage.
A repetitious “our” (6) ironically opens the monologue disguising, momentarily, Gloucester’s disjunction. Shakespeare’s opening diction falsely lead an audience into believing the presence of a brotherly “bound,” (5) allowing the force of Glocester’s isolated shift to hit harder, and intensify his pangs of jealousy and malevolence. Shifting from unity in battle to solidarity in ‘peace’, Gloucester’s lonely self-confinement suggests the roots of his envy and deliberately inflicts bitter spirits upon the audience.
Through green eyes, King Edward’s power and stance is elevated, proposing a deeper insight to Gloucester than Edward. While his brother is compared to the sun, Gloucester proclaims to be a mere shadow in his brother’s magnitude.
There is victory in all but Richard Gloucester whose internal battlements still smoke, with their muzzles pointed sunward. Accepting his fate given title of “villain,” (30) Gloucester isolates himself from the “glorious summer” (2) of triumph to release his frustration and self pity - lending the play both voice for foreshadow and basis for thematic growth.
As Gloucester begins his sorrowing, he reflects upon the war, where he was “arms” (6) in arms with his brothers until the victorious end when War “capers nimbly” (12) away to rest. Although Gloucester was there making “dreadful marches” (8) he does not gain any “delight” (8) nor relief as his brothers have. Instead, Gloucester, …show more content…
with green eyes, separates himself from War’s afterparty to weep and resent, unable to find reasonable joy in these times of glory. In the wake of war, Gloucester solidifies the divide between his brothers and himself, with juxtapositions of features and fate. Gloucester, lacking all his brothers’ natural swagger and beauty, scowls like the gloomy “clouds” (3) to only be “buried” (4) behind the fierce rays of his brothers’ greatness. Jealousy and anger plague Gloucester, blinding him from keeping peace and motivating him to unleash a battle between brothers.
Personified and idealized, War is built up to mirror King Edward and to embody all that Gloucester is not: intimidating, strong, and adept at wooing whomever and whatever.
War is the epitome of man and this, sets the foundation for Gloucester’s jealousy; because he is “cheated of feature” (19) and physically “not shaped” (14) to court chicks and sport tricks. Pent up with rage, Gloucester can not see himself as more than a “shadow” (26) in the “sun”(26) of the manly and preferable King Edward. The “son of York” (2), a beautiful pun on ‘sun,’ whose rays cast a “shadow” of disgruntled and envious Gloucester build on the motif of separatism and isolation. It does not matter that they fought the war together, Gloucester will still be in the dark, hating the “idle pleasures” (31) that King Edward has restored. Ironically, while the idealized image of War - glorified King Edward and Clarence - clearly contrast “weak” (24) Gloucester, in both demeanor and recognition, there are parallels between the two that create tension and reason for the baby brother’s bitterness. Building on the motif of battle, Shakespeare keeps the burning fight lit within Gloucester that shows determination, strength, and “fright” (11) that War also portrays except these characteristics lay beneath Gloucester’s deformity; his ‘War’ is buried in the “deep bosom” (4) of his ugliness. Although Gloucester has the drive and determination, he simply “cannot prove a lover” (28) because nobody, including himself,
can look past his “unfinished” (20) disposition and so, takes his fateful role as “villain”(30) to his hero esque brothers.
Sinister “hate” (31) prove to be poignant with Gloucester’s character and through conflicting portrayals of feature, Shakespeare builds an overpowering jealousy that rages in this monologue and lingers to complete the foreshadow: jealousy will ruin man and men. Envy, a trait both wicked and dominate, will grow and devour Gloucester and those who he envies. By pinning the “true and just” (36) apart from the “false and treacherous” (37), Shakespeare contrasts ideas of beauty with deformity and victory with battle, to allow jealousy full reign, centerstage.
A repetitious “our” (6) ironically opens the monologue disguising, momentarily, Gloucester’s disjunction. Shakespeare’s opening diction falsely lead an audience into believing the presence of a brotherly “bound,” (5) allowing the force of Glocester’s isolated shift to hit harder, and intensify his pangs of jealousy and malevolence. Shifting from unity in battle to solidarity in ‘peace’, Gloucester’s lonely self-confinement suggests the roots of his envy and deliberately inflicts bitter spirits upon the audience.
Through green eyes, King Edward’s power and stance is elevated, proposing a deeper insight to Gloucester than Edward. While his brother is compared to the sun, Gloucester proclaims to be a mere shadow in his brother’s magnitude.