Julius Caesar Feminist Analysis Essay
Chiarelli 1
Stephen Chiarelli
Ms. MacDonell
5/03/2014
ENG4U
Passage Master
The play, Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, exploits the new historicism approach for the era it was written in and the era that it takes place in. The approach concentrates on how places, events and culture within a society affect or influence a written work. Therefore, using the knowledge of Shakespearean era, “1564-1616” (bbc.co.uk) and the Ancient Roman era, “100 BC-44 BC” (bbc.co.uk) one can analyze the texts from Caesar.
1.
FLAVIUS. Hence! Home, you idle creatures get you home!
Is this a holiday? What, know you not,
Being mechanical, you ought not walk
Upon a laboring day without the sign
Of your profession? – Speak, what trade art thou?
CARPENTER. …show more content…
Why, sir, a carpenter.
MURELLUS. Why is thy leather apron and thy rule? What dost thou with thy best apparel on?
-- You, sir, what trade are you?
COBBLER. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am but, as you
Chiarelli 2 would say, a cobbler.
MURELLUS. But what trade art thou? Answer me directly.
COBBLER. A trade, sir, that I hope I may use with a safe conscience, which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.
MURELLUS. What trade, thou knave? Thou naughty knave, what trade?
COBBLER Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me. Yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you.
MURELLUS. What mean’st thou by that? “Mend” me, thou saucy fellow? (1.1.1-17)
In the opening scene of the play, two tribunes, Murellus and Flavius, are persistent and rude to the cobbler and the carpenter because they are a higher status than he. The two characters are classified as fickle due to their affiliations between Caesar and the past ruler of Rome, Pompey. They were faithful to Pompey before he was dethroned and resent Caesar because he is the ruler that condemned him, although he did not die at Caesar’s hands. Therefore, Flavius and Murellus’ views can be swayed easily.
The author of the play, William Shakespeare, utilizes the two characters to show the castes in Ancient Roman times. Using the new historicism approach, one could view the contrast of the different classes as the norm in Ancient Rome. Flavius and Murellus have higher classified occupations than the cobbler, so that allows them to be rude, “Rome had nothing comparable to our middle class; the gulf between these two upper classes and the much larger lower classes was immense” (vroma.org). The cobbler’s profession is meek and they insult him for following Caesar,
Chiarelli 3 since they are a higher class than he. The approach can be viewed from when the play was written, several hundred years prior to the events in Ancient Rome. The socio-economic divisions amongst citizens were still existent in Shakespeare’s era, and he incorporated that clash from the times of London in which he lived.
2.
CICERO. Good even, Casca. Brought you Caesar home?
Why are you breathless? And why stare you so?
CASCA. Are not you moved when all the sway of earth
Shakes like a thing unfirm? O Cicero, I have seen the tempests when the scolding winds Have rived the knotty oaks, and I have seen
Th’ ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam To be exalted with the threatening clouds,
But never till tonight, never till now,
Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.
Either there is a civil strife in heaven,
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods,
Chiarelli 4
Incenses them to send destruction.
CICERO. Why, saw you anything more wonderful?
CASCA. “A common slave—you know him well by sight—
Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn
Like twenty torches joined, and yet his hand/ Not sensible of fire, remained unscorched. Besides- I ha’ not since put up my sword—
Against the Capitol I met a lion, Who glared upon me and went surly by, Without annoying me. And there were drawn
Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women,
Transformed with their fear, Who swore they saw
Men all in fire walk up and down the streets.
And yesterday the bird of night did sit
Even at noon-day upon the marketplace,
Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies
Do so conjointly meet, let men say,
“These are their reason. They are natural”
For I believe they are portentous things
Chiarelli 5
Unto the climate that they point upon. (1.3.1-32).
The new historicism approach can be related to the way that Shakespeare had written scenes like these, scenes with pathetic fallacy. The imagery that is described by Casca of the unnatural events creates a dark, unsettling mood within the reader. Shakespeare created the literary technique to describe the unbalance in nature by contrasting imagery with unnatural events to generate emotion in the audience. For example, the author writes, “Against the Capitol I met a lion,/ Who glared upon me and went surly by” (1.3.20-21). The author used higher literacy intellect in the theatres of London “1564-1616” (bbc.co.uk) to evoke fear into the audience, however pathetic fallacy- the device he created- was most effective in his audiences. The lion on the Capitol is an example of pathetic fallacy that Shakespeare had incorporated into the plays that were performed in London in the 1500’s.
3.
CAESAR. Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry “Caesar!”—Speak. Caesar is turned to hear.
SOOTHSAYER. Beware the ides of March. (1.2.17-20)
The diction in this scene is relatable to the new historicism approach. The language used in, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is different than the language from the modern age. For example, “Beware the ides of March” (1.2.20), is a reference to a date that would not be used in the common age. In Shakespearean time, “William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and
Chiarelli 6 was baptized a few days later on 26 April 1564.” (bbc.co.uk)this language was easily understandable, whereas in the 21st century only those who study Shakespeare or old English would comprehend.
The word choice that Shakespeare used is adaptable in our age from the study of the era in which Shakespeare lived as well as the era which Julius Caesar existed. In Julius Caesar, the play utilized multiple languages. In Rome during Caesar’s era (100-44 BC), they spoke Italian, Greek and Latin. William Shakespeare highlights these languages, when he gives Caesar’s final words, “Et-tu Brute? – Then fall, Caesar?” (3.1.79). According to historians these may not have been Caesar’s final words, as there is no final record of the death in Pompey’s theatre.
4.
CASCA. ’Tis Caesar that you mean. Is it not, Cassius?
CASSIUS. Let it be who it is. For Romans now
Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors,
But – woe the while!—our fathers’ minds are dead, And we are governed with our mother’s spirits.
Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish (1.3.80-85)
Cassius response is formed in a manner which is sexist and from the new historicism approach and the feminist approach it can be noted that the disrespect of women is used here.
In this time of Ancient Rome, within the castes and families of those that lived, the women were seen as less than equal. The power difference between men and women were substantially weighted on one side, “women were defined by the social status of their fathers or husbands” (pbs.org). When the play was written, the same respect for females was shared. In London during Shakespeare’s time, women were still not seen as fully equal. For example, “Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish” (1.3.85). William
Chiarelli 7
Shakespeare was influenced by his own culture and that of the Roman culture when the play was written. Therefore, the feminist and new historicism approach both acknowledge the fact that sexism existed in both Ancient Rome and old English times.
5.
BRUTUS. Our courses will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards,
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar.
Let us be sacrificers but not butchers, Caius. We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar,
And in the spirit of men there is no blood.
Oh, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit
And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it. And, gentle …show more content…
friends,
Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully.
Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds.
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Chiarelli 8
Stir up their servant to an act of rage
And after seem to chide ‘em. This shall make
Our purpose necessary and not envious,
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be called purgers, not murderers.
And for Mark Antony, think not of him,
For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm
When Caesar’s head is off.” (2.1.164-185) Brutus, a close friend to Caesar and a higher ranking nobleman, agreed to the murder of Caesar with the conspirators stating that the deed which they will be doing is not out of envy but out of honor and respect for Rome.
The irony in this is that the catalyst for the other Conspirators is exactly the opposite of his, being out of resent and greed. Brutus’ hamartia is the sense of honor that he carries. Brutus is easily swayed by those that resent Caesar, only to be taken advantage of, because of his high ranking and respectfulness by the Roman citizen’s. The new historicism approach can be noted in Brutus’ speech. He stated that the murder of Caesar is not unjust and is like a sacrifice more than a murder. For example, Brutus exclaims, “Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully./ Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods, “ (2.1.174-175). Brutus truly believes that the wrath of Caesar is harmful to Rome. Due to his patriotism, he believes that the sacrifice of Caesar will save Rome. The idea of sacrifice was appropriate in Ancient Rome, where the setting takes place, but is absurd in the modern era.
Chiarelli
9
Even in Shakespearean time, when the play was written, martyr was seen as irregular. Although sacrifices were performed in religious ceremonies, human sacrifice in the Common Era is not normal. Brutus sees sacrifice as the only appropriate decision in the era (BCE) which Julius Caesar ruled, therefore Brutus soliloquy, when analyzed with the new historicism approach, is unjust.
Proposed Thesis: Caesar was a visionary with a mind like no other.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, and John Crowther. Julius Caesar. New York, NY: Spark Notes, 2003. Print.
"Julius Caesar." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Feb. 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. .
"William Shakespeare." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Feb. 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. .
"BBC History." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
"BBC History." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
"Roman Social Class and Public Display." Roman Social Class and Public Display. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .
"bbc.co.uk." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .
"pbs.org." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .
Stephen Chiarelli
Ms. MacDonell
5/03/2014
ENG4U
Passage Master
The play, Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, exploits the new historicism approach for the era it was written in and the era that it takes place in. The approach concentrates on how places, events and culture within a society affect or influence a written work. Therefore, using the knowledge of Shakespearean era, “1564-1616” (bbc.co.uk) and the Ancient Roman era, “100 BC-44 BC” (bbc.co.uk) one can analyze the texts from Caesar.
1.
FLAVIUS. Hence! Home, you idle creatures get you home!
Is this a holiday? What, know you not,
Being mechanical, you ought not walk
Upon a laboring day without the sign
Of your profession? – Speak, what trade art thou?
CARPENTER. …show more content…
Why, sir, a carpenter.
MURELLUS. Why is thy leather apron and thy rule? What dost thou with thy best apparel on?
-- You, sir, what trade are you?
COBBLER. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am but, as you
Chiarelli 2 would say, a cobbler.
MURELLUS. But what trade art thou? Answer me directly.
COBBLER. A trade, sir, that I hope I may use with a safe conscience, which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.
MURELLUS. What trade, thou knave? Thou naughty knave, what trade?
COBBLER Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me. Yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you.
MURELLUS. What mean’st thou by that? “Mend” me, thou saucy fellow? (1.1.1-17)
In the opening scene of the play, two tribunes, Murellus and Flavius, are persistent and rude to the cobbler and the carpenter because they are a higher status than he. The two characters are classified as fickle due to their affiliations between Caesar and the past ruler of Rome, Pompey. They were faithful to Pompey before he was dethroned and resent Caesar because he is the ruler that condemned him, although he did not die at Caesar’s hands. Therefore, Flavius and Murellus’ views can be swayed easily.
The author of the play, William Shakespeare, utilizes the two characters to show the castes in Ancient Roman times. Using the new historicism approach, one could view the contrast of the different classes as the norm in Ancient Rome. Flavius and Murellus have higher classified occupations than the cobbler, so that allows them to be rude, “Rome had nothing comparable to our middle class; the gulf between these two upper classes and the much larger lower classes was immense” (vroma.org). The cobbler’s profession is meek and they insult him for following Caesar,
Chiarelli 3 since they are a higher class than he. The approach can be viewed from when the play was written, several hundred years prior to the events in Ancient Rome. The socio-economic divisions amongst citizens were still existent in Shakespeare’s era, and he incorporated that clash from the times of London in which he lived.
2.
CICERO. Good even, Casca. Brought you Caesar home?
Why are you breathless? And why stare you so?
CASCA. Are not you moved when all the sway of earth
Shakes like a thing unfirm? O Cicero, I have seen the tempests when the scolding winds Have rived the knotty oaks, and I have seen
Th’ ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam To be exalted with the threatening clouds,
But never till tonight, never till now,
Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.
Either there is a civil strife in heaven,
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods,
Chiarelli 4
Incenses them to send destruction.
CICERO. Why, saw you anything more wonderful?
CASCA. “A common slave—you know him well by sight—
Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn
Like twenty torches joined, and yet his hand/ Not sensible of fire, remained unscorched. Besides- I ha’ not since put up my sword—
Against the Capitol I met a lion, Who glared upon me and went surly by, Without annoying me. And there were drawn
Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women,
Transformed with their fear, Who swore they saw
Men all in fire walk up and down the streets.
And yesterday the bird of night did sit
Even at noon-day upon the marketplace,
Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies
Do so conjointly meet, let men say,
“These are their reason. They are natural”
For I believe they are portentous things
Chiarelli 5
Unto the climate that they point upon. (1.3.1-32).
The new historicism approach can be related to the way that Shakespeare had written scenes like these, scenes with pathetic fallacy. The imagery that is described by Casca of the unnatural events creates a dark, unsettling mood within the reader. Shakespeare created the literary technique to describe the unbalance in nature by contrasting imagery with unnatural events to generate emotion in the audience. For example, the author writes, “Against the Capitol I met a lion,/ Who glared upon me and went surly by” (1.3.20-21). The author used higher literacy intellect in the theatres of London “1564-1616” (bbc.co.uk) to evoke fear into the audience, however pathetic fallacy- the device he created- was most effective in his audiences. The lion on the Capitol is an example of pathetic fallacy that Shakespeare had incorporated into the plays that were performed in London in the 1500’s.
3.
CAESAR. Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry “Caesar!”—Speak. Caesar is turned to hear.
SOOTHSAYER. Beware the ides of March. (1.2.17-20)
The diction in this scene is relatable to the new historicism approach. The language used in, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is different than the language from the modern age. For example, “Beware the ides of March” (1.2.20), is a reference to a date that would not be used in the common age. In Shakespearean time, “William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and
Chiarelli 6 was baptized a few days later on 26 April 1564.” (bbc.co.uk)this language was easily understandable, whereas in the 21st century only those who study Shakespeare or old English would comprehend.
The word choice that Shakespeare used is adaptable in our age from the study of the era in which Shakespeare lived as well as the era which Julius Caesar existed. In Julius Caesar, the play utilized multiple languages. In Rome during Caesar’s era (100-44 BC), they spoke Italian, Greek and Latin. William Shakespeare highlights these languages, when he gives Caesar’s final words, “Et-tu Brute? – Then fall, Caesar?” (3.1.79). According to historians these may not have been Caesar’s final words, as there is no final record of the death in Pompey’s theatre.
4.
CASCA. ’Tis Caesar that you mean. Is it not, Cassius?
CASSIUS. Let it be who it is. For Romans now
Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors,
But – woe the while!—our fathers’ minds are dead, And we are governed with our mother’s spirits.
Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish (1.3.80-85)
Cassius response is formed in a manner which is sexist and from the new historicism approach and the feminist approach it can be noted that the disrespect of women is used here.
In this time of Ancient Rome, within the castes and families of those that lived, the women were seen as less than equal. The power difference between men and women were substantially weighted on one side, “women were defined by the social status of their fathers or husbands” (pbs.org). When the play was written, the same respect for females was shared. In London during Shakespeare’s time, women were still not seen as fully equal. For example, “Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish” (1.3.85). William
Chiarelli 7
Shakespeare was influenced by his own culture and that of the Roman culture when the play was written. Therefore, the feminist and new historicism approach both acknowledge the fact that sexism existed in both Ancient Rome and old English times.
5.
BRUTUS. Our courses will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards,
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar.
Let us be sacrificers but not butchers, Caius. We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar,
And in the spirit of men there is no blood.
Oh, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit
And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it. And, gentle …show more content…
friends,
Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully.
Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds.
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Chiarelli 8
Stir up their servant to an act of rage
And after seem to chide ‘em. This shall make
Our purpose necessary and not envious,
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be called purgers, not murderers.
And for Mark Antony, think not of him,
For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm
When Caesar’s head is off.” (2.1.164-185) Brutus, a close friend to Caesar and a higher ranking nobleman, agreed to the murder of Caesar with the conspirators stating that the deed which they will be doing is not out of envy but out of honor and respect for Rome.
The irony in this is that the catalyst for the other Conspirators is exactly the opposite of his, being out of resent and greed. Brutus’ hamartia is the sense of honor that he carries. Brutus is easily swayed by those that resent Caesar, only to be taken advantage of, because of his high ranking and respectfulness by the Roman citizen’s. The new historicism approach can be noted in Brutus’ speech. He stated that the murder of Caesar is not unjust and is like a sacrifice more than a murder. For example, Brutus exclaims, “Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully./ Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods, “ (2.1.174-175). Brutus truly believes that the wrath of Caesar is harmful to Rome. Due to his patriotism, he believes that the sacrifice of Caesar will save Rome. The idea of sacrifice was appropriate in Ancient Rome, where the setting takes place, but is absurd in the modern era.
Chiarelli
9
Even in Shakespearean time, when the play was written, martyr was seen as irregular. Although sacrifices were performed in religious ceremonies, human sacrifice in the Common Era is not normal. Brutus sees sacrifice as the only appropriate decision in the era (BCE) which Julius Caesar ruled, therefore Brutus soliloquy, when analyzed with the new historicism approach, is unjust.
Proposed Thesis: Caesar was a visionary with a mind like no other.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, and John Crowther. Julius Caesar. New York, NY: Spark Notes, 2003. Print.
"Julius Caesar." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Feb. 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. .
"William Shakespeare." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Feb. 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. .
"BBC History." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
"BBC History." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
"Roman Social Class and Public Display." Roman Social Class and Public Display. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .
"bbc.co.uk." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .
"pbs.org." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .