Julius Caesar Conflicting Perspectives Analysis
All texts are deliberately constructed to convey an agenda and a set of values. This means that every composer has a purpose, which is based on the issues arising from their context and audience. To that end, the composer uses conflicting perspectives as a vehicle for successfully conveying their purpose to the audience. So, through the representation of events, personalities and situations (which utilises form, language and structural devices), the responder is positioned to accept the perspective that the composer has represented as valid or credible. As a consequence, the composer is able to successfully impart their values to the audience. Examples of conflicting perspectives in society and the media come in the form of William Shakespeare’s
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play “Julius Caesar” and the drowning death of Tina Watson on an Australian honeymoon trip that turned into a legal and media storm on several continents.
William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” is a tragedy, believed to have been written in 1599.
It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, his assassination and the defeat of the conspirators. Although the title of the play is Julius Caesar, Caesar is not the central character in its action; he appears in only three scenes, and is killed at the beginning of the third act. The protagonist of the play is Marcus Brutus, and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honor, patriotism, and friendship.
Tina Watson, a 26-year-old American died while scuba diving on her honeymoon in Queensland on the 22nd October 2003. She had been married to Gabe Watson for 11 days. He was subsequently imprisoned for her manslaughter. There's more opinion in Australia than America that a miscarriage of justice was done to Gabe Watson in what the tabloids have called the "Honeymoon Murder." A feature on the death of Tina Watson was broadcast in a 90-minute account that aired on Dateline NBC on 19 May 2008. An examination of Tina Watson's death and Gabe Watson's subsequent trial and appeal was published by The Age on 17 July …show more content…
2010.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the ultimate conflicting perspective presented to the audience is that of the choice made to assassinate Julius Caesar and whether it was necessary or an act of envy. This turmoil is presented to the audience through the character Marcus Brutus. Brutus places his ideals of Rome as a republic over his friend Julius Caesar and is willing to murder Caesar to keep these ideals. He justifies this act in his mind with the thought that it is better to sacrifice an innocent ruler than risk his becoming a tyrant. With his clear, cool logic, Brutus convinces the concerned Roman public that Caesar was a tyrant who needed to be eliminated in order for them to be free. Another central character Mark Antony, with his passionate, emotional appeal, just as easily swings the public in the other direction, turning them into an angry mob determined to avenge their beloved Caesar. Brutus is well-known for being a moral and honest Roman, yet he decides to commit murder and sacrifice his morals in hopes of ensuring a better future for Rome. This leaves the audience unsure of which side to take and questioning what is good and what is evil.
The Tina Watson death better known as the “Honeymoon murder case” was brought to trial as it was so unexpected and because of the implausible and conflicting statements given by Gabe Watson.
An inquiry was held in Australia and Gabe Watson gave evidence to the inquest through his lawyers and to the Queensland police. Gabe Watson declined to return to Australia and did not testify during the inquest. During the inquest, prosecutors submitted evidence that Watson's story contradicted the record of his actions stored by his dive computer. They suggested the possibility that he turned off Tina's air regulator and held her until she was unconscious, then turned the air back on and let her sink before surfacing himself. As evidence, they described painstaking multiple re-enactments of various scenarios conducted by police divers. Tina's father claimed Watson had asked his daughter to increase her life insurance and make him the sole beneficiary shortly before their wedding. The insurance company confirmed Watson had twice emailed questions about its dive insurance policies before the honeymoon and had asked about her insurance shortly after Tina's death. Watson also claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars from a travel insurance policy. However, diving expert Dr Carl Edmonds believes a 'grave injustice' may have been done in the manslaughter conviction of Tina Watson's husband. Dr Edmonds justifies this statement saying that Tina Watson, of slim build, was "grossly over weighted"
with nine kilograms of weights for her first ocean dive - more than twice what she needed with the equipment she was using. This would make her cause of death a tragic diving accident due to equipment failure and Gabe Watson an innocent man.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the audience can identify the conflicting perspectives through several dramatic techniques. The main technique used by Shakespeare is the use of soliloquies. Brutus’s soliloquy reveals his idealism – he is a patriot. This quality is presented as a redeeming one and distinguishes him from the other conspirators, impacting on the audience’s final assessment of his character and questioning whether he was evil or just misguided. However, Shakespeare uses irony to highlight Brutus’ underlying desire for control, through his commands, despite claiming to support republicanism; his contradiction highlighting his inner conflict and instability.
Through analysis of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and the Honeymoon Murder trial it can be deduced that a composer’s representation of different personalities can result in conflicting perspectives to occur, but in all texts, the successful person is the one who can manipulate their audience’s opinions of truth to follow their own perspective- whether that person be the composer himself or a character within the text.
By Rebecca Bailey
play “Julius Caesar” and the drowning death of Tina Watson on an Australian honeymoon trip that turned into a legal and media storm on several continents.
William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” is a tragedy, believed to have been written in 1599.
It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, his assassination and the defeat of the conspirators. Although the title of the play is Julius Caesar, Caesar is not the central character in its action; he appears in only three scenes, and is killed at the beginning of the third act. The protagonist of the play is Marcus Brutus, and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honor, patriotism, and friendship.
Tina Watson, a 26-year-old American died while scuba diving on her honeymoon in Queensland on the 22nd October 2003. She had been married to Gabe Watson for 11 days. He was subsequently imprisoned for her manslaughter. There's more opinion in Australia than America that a miscarriage of justice was done to Gabe Watson in what the tabloids have called the "Honeymoon Murder." A feature on the death of Tina Watson was broadcast in a 90-minute account that aired on Dateline NBC on 19 May 2008. An examination of Tina Watson's death and Gabe Watson's subsequent trial and appeal was published by The Age on 17 July …show more content…
2010.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the ultimate conflicting perspective presented to the audience is that of the choice made to assassinate Julius Caesar and whether it was necessary or an act of envy. This turmoil is presented to the audience through the character Marcus Brutus. Brutus places his ideals of Rome as a republic over his friend Julius Caesar and is willing to murder Caesar to keep these ideals. He justifies this act in his mind with the thought that it is better to sacrifice an innocent ruler than risk his becoming a tyrant. With his clear, cool logic, Brutus convinces the concerned Roman public that Caesar was a tyrant who needed to be eliminated in order for them to be free. Another central character Mark Antony, with his passionate, emotional appeal, just as easily swings the public in the other direction, turning them into an angry mob determined to avenge their beloved Caesar. Brutus is well-known for being a moral and honest Roman, yet he decides to commit murder and sacrifice his morals in hopes of ensuring a better future for Rome. This leaves the audience unsure of which side to take and questioning what is good and what is evil.
The Tina Watson death better known as the “Honeymoon murder case” was brought to trial as it was so unexpected and because of the implausible and conflicting statements given by Gabe Watson.
An inquiry was held in Australia and Gabe Watson gave evidence to the inquest through his lawyers and to the Queensland police. Gabe Watson declined to return to Australia and did not testify during the inquest. During the inquest, prosecutors submitted evidence that Watson's story contradicted the record of his actions stored by his dive computer. They suggested the possibility that he turned off Tina's air regulator and held her until she was unconscious, then turned the air back on and let her sink before surfacing himself. As evidence, they described painstaking multiple re-enactments of various scenarios conducted by police divers. Tina's father claimed Watson had asked his daughter to increase her life insurance and make him the sole beneficiary shortly before their wedding. The insurance company confirmed Watson had twice emailed questions about its dive insurance policies before the honeymoon and had asked about her insurance shortly after Tina's death. Watson also claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars from a travel insurance policy. However, diving expert Dr Carl Edmonds believes a 'grave injustice' may have been done in the manslaughter conviction of Tina Watson's husband. Dr Edmonds justifies this statement saying that Tina Watson, of slim build, was "grossly over weighted"
with nine kilograms of weights for her first ocean dive - more than twice what she needed with the equipment she was using. This would make her cause of death a tragic diving accident due to equipment failure and Gabe Watson an innocent man.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the audience can identify the conflicting perspectives through several dramatic techniques. The main technique used by Shakespeare is the use of soliloquies. Brutus’s soliloquy reveals his idealism – he is a patriot. This quality is presented as a redeeming one and distinguishes him from the other conspirators, impacting on the audience’s final assessment of his character and questioning whether he was evil or just misguided. However, Shakespeare uses irony to highlight Brutus’ underlying desire for control, through his commands, despite claiming to support republicanism; his contradiction highlighting his inner conflict and instability.
Through analysis of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and the Honeymoon Murder trial it can be deduced that a composer’s representation of different personalities can result in conflicting perspectives to occur, but in all texts, the successful person is the one who can manipulate their audience’s opinions of truth to follow their own perspective- whether that person be the composer himself or a character within the text.
By Rebecca Bailey