Jealousy In Julius Caesar

The character Cassius in the tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare constantly reflects palpable jealousy. In Act I Scene II, Cassius claims “I was born free as Caesar; so were you:/We both have fed as well, and we both/Endure the winter’s cold as well as he…”(Shakespeare, lines 5-7); and feels king Caesar does not deserve superiority over him. In this scene, Cassius is pointing out to Brutus that he and Cassius deserve the power to lead Rome more than Caesar. In order to prove these points, Cassius shares three stories with Brutus in his speech: one of when he and Caesar had a swimming contest; another when he saw Caesar sickly and frail after a fever; and lastly one where Caesar again is portrayed as a weak and sickly man. In the monologue by Cassius directed at Brutus, Cassius uses paradox, self-heroic word choice and similes throughout three separate stories to give examples of Caesar’s weaknesses. Cassius’ main goal becomes to portray Caesar as any other man; and to rationalize killing the king to gain power for (what he
When describing a day with Caesar, Cassius explains Caesar proposing a swimming race: “I plunged in/And bade him follow: so indeed he did”(13-14). Here Cassius acts as the leader in the duo, therefore giving him leadership status. To become even more courageous than Caesar he compares himself to Aeneas when helping the struggling Caesar out of the water. (Aeneas was the Roman state founder and hero of Vergil’s Aenid) Here Cassius claims, “Caesar cried “Help me, Cassius, or I sink!/I as Aeneas, our great ancestor,/Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder/The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber/Did I the tired Caesar”(20-23). By comparing himself to a well-known Roman hero Cassius puts himself in the limelight by saving the praised Caesar. This comparison also plays as a simile comparing Cassius to a roman