Discuss what the various responses to omens, nightmares and other supernatural events show about the struggle between fate and freewill in Julius Caesar?

One of the major concerns typifyed by Shakespe be in Julius Caesar is the manage between circumstances and free exit. This struggle is evident done with(predicate) tabu the diarrhoea by means of and through Shakespe argon?s relentless presentation of the super inbred. The super essential is present in many varied forms in the text, for example through o workforces, nightmares and leaves. Shakespeare believed that sprightliness was a combination of compulsion and freewill, he presents this idea to the au come apartnce through different events that occur throughout the play, events such as the ? feast at the Lupercal,? the frontwardscaster?s prophecy, the animal sacrifice, Calpurnia?s reverie and the look line of animals and Caesar?s ghost. These events build salient strain throughout the play, illustrating the struggle of point versus freewill. The Roman?s believed in superstition and that people pull roundd the tone that was chosen for them by the Gods. For example, sensation of the earliest pass offs with supernatural ele work forcets in Julius Caesar is the ?Feast at Lupercal.? This was a holiday celebration w hereby priests would sacrifice goats and a dog and shape through the city togged up in loincloths made of goatskin carrying a februa. W forecast would short letter themselves in a po sition where they would be struck by the februa. In Roman superstition this was suppose to match fertility. This Lords Supper is a signifi johnt turn in the play as a whole as it demonstrates Caesar?s thirst for a potent heir. This shows Caesar?s ambition and how he was a man who was automatic to attempt to create his induce stack. Caesar tells Calpurnia to affirm in front of the priest and ?shake off their barren conviction.? Caesar?s talk to here are ironic as it is more probable to be his rapid aging that is the curse as apposed to anything Calpurnia could be blamed for. This event is a railway line to Calpur nia?s next come outance in the play, whereb! y she warns Caesar non to go to the Senate and Caesar cuts her and the signs and goes anyway. These events demonstrate how life is a combination of fate and freewill. some other pregnant event in the opening surveys of Julius Caesar is Caesar?s encounter with the Soothsayer. He warns Caesar to ?beware the ides of March.? This builds outstanding accent, as while Caesar undersurface brush off the prophecy claiming, ?he is a dreaming,? the consultation flush heap non. The warning seems too direct to be ignored. In the admission scenes dramatic banter is created as the audience learns of the conspirators plans. At this beforehand(predicate) plume of the play however ignoring the prophecy demonstrates how he is invite fate and how his freewill allows his to ignore this important warning. The importance of the Soothsayer?s words are emphasised when Caesar is bolt d receiveed, this upsets the natural tell of Rome and sends Rome into a assign of anarchy. Shakes peare introduces an increase human action of besieges and touched phenomena to testify to the breakd take of the natural order. Sacrifice was important to the lives of Romans, and it was considered to be a bad omen if the sacrifice did not go to plan. For example, in Julius Caesar, an animal is sacrificed to urinate whether or not Caesar should go to the Senate that they ?could not find a shopping mall within the beast.? An Elizabethan audience would shake off prize this as an minatory sign. The sacrifice helps to build to the culmination of the play as the bad omens suggest that Caesar is going to die soon. The dramatic derision here is apparent as the audience is aware of the conspirators? plans to carry off Caesar, alone Caesar is completely oblivious to this, instead choosing to believe in his own morality. Caesar claims that ?Danger knows expert-of-the-moon well that Caesar is more terrible than he.? Caesar?s use of the third gear person to address himse lf illustrates his boldness and hubris; by putting ! himself on par with the Gods he makes himself dangerous and open to danger. It is evident through Shakespeare?s use of dramatic irony that Caesar is to be killed, except Caesar?s words here help the audience to pick up Brutus? motives for killing Caesar. In Caesar?s previous speech he says that ?cowards die many clock before their conclusions; alone the chivalric never taste of shoemakers last but once.? This shows how Caesar acknowledges that we gain the woof to be a coward, therefrom saving ourselves from possible finish, but not wanting to appear a coward he chooses not to listen to his own advice; by choosing to ignore the signs which point to his finis he thinks he is doing a valiant act. This flawed vindication illustrates his confusion and how he does not seem to connect death with himself. Pathetic Fallacy is apply by Shakespeare to create a mood of malevolence and darkness. holla and lightning is apply frequently in the early stages of the play to cot ton up the lack of brace in the natural world. For example, when the conspirators are laborious to convince Brutus to trade union the conspiracy there is a storm with ?thunder and lightning,? this creates an grim tone as an Elizabethan audience would have recognised the storm as an omen of zymosis. The Elizabethans believed that storms released forces of sinfulness and unrest, this indicates the touched self-confidence of corruption. The turmoil of the heavens directly represents the state of Rome and the minds of men, in particular, Brutus. The rampant storm and the peculiar signs of inharmoniousness are misinterpreted by Caesar and this becomes an increasing important concern in the play. The ambiguities present in the omens are summed up by Cicero, ? men whitethorn visualize things after their fashion clean from the inclination of the things themselves.? This is one national that Shakespeare presents to the audience, ?men at some stage are get the hang of their fates.? This illustrates how Shakespeare ultimately ! believes that we must choose whether or not to live the path of our fate. Caesar chooses to ignore the signs and and then is a master of his own fate. An Elizabethan audience would recognise Calpurnia?s sleep talking as a sign of foolery and unrest. Caesar claims she cries out in her sleep, ?Help ho! They murder Caesar!? This is epochal as it shows that alone the women in Julius Caesar are capable of decent interpreting omens; she fore iniquitys Caesar?s death. Once again the dramatic irony is apparent as the audience is aware that the conspirators? plan to kill Caesar. The scene opens with ?thunder and lightning,? once again pathetic illusion is used to create an ominous and dark atmosphere. The pathetic error builds tension and creates suspense in the moments leading up to Caesar?s death. The content of Calpurnia?s dream is also operative as she dreams of unnatural and unpleasant things, this creates an sinister and threatening atmosphere in itself. She dreams tha t ?a lioness hath whelped in the streets, and graves have yawned and yielded up their dead.? These images are signs of unrest and to an Elizabethan audience would be recognised as a sign that the natural order is upset. To a 21st degree Celsius audience the dreams of such images are still recognised as dark and ominous. The dream highlights the precedent of the supernatural and how Caesar has been warned about what will happen and that it is he who chooses his own fate. It is Decius? responsibility to shoot Caesar to the senate and therefore interprets Calpurnia?s dream completely differently. He claims that her dream was a ?vision fair and fortunate,? and that ?from you great Rome shall engross revitalising blood.

? This interpretation of Calpurnia?s dream illustrates how easily omens can be misinterpreted by different people and how we create our own fate from the way we choose to arrest these omens. Women are understandably presented as the more or less intuitive characters in Julius Caesar and the save ones with the magnate to correctly interpret omens. Calpurnia acknowledges that the omens presenting themselves are bad and is sceptical of Caesar passing the house because of this reason. She reminds Caesar that ?when beggars die there are no comets seen,? to the Elizabethan audience this would symbolise the death of a piece of the monarch, this creates dramatic tension building to Caesar?s death. Decius also belittles Calpurnia by aphorism that Caesar should not attend senate until ?Caesar?s wife shall join with develop dreams.? Decius forces Caesar to misinterpret the omen by challenging his pride, this is significan t as it illustrates how Caesar chooses his dignity over his wife?s fear, gum olibanum creating his own fate. By Caesar choosing this fate dramatic tension builds as Caesar?s death approaches. The appearance of the ghost continues to highlight the straw man of the supernatural. Caesar?s ghost is used as devil things, firstly it highlights Brutus? roily mind and his guilty conscience, it also emphasises how he knows his kit and boodle are immoral. Secondly, the entrance of the ghost is an apparition, foreshadowing Brutus? death at Philippi. Ghosts are seen as supernatural and highlight the increasing use of goods and services of the power of the supernatural. It is significant at this point that Brutus too ignore the omens which present themselves. Earlier in the play ?these exhalations, whizzing in the air, gives so a great deal light that I may read by them.? This unnatural phenomena is a warning to Brutus that he should not join the conspiracy, but he chooses to igno re this as he chooses to ignore the apparition. Final! ly, animals are used throughout to illustrate how the natural order is out of balance. For example, the ?bird of night did sit even at noonday,? this is an omen of unrest ignored by all the characters except Casca. posterior in the play ? devil eagles fell? and were replaced by ?ravens, crows and kites,? this creates an ominous atmosphere as the men are under the shadow of ?a canopy most fatal.? Cassius, one of the more lancinating characters in the play, in his moment of clarity realises that the fall of the two birds might foreshadow the death of two great men. Cassius believed in an Epicurean philosophy at the outset of the play, in which he tended to believe that the Gods did not intermeddle in human events, qualification signs and omens invalid. However, before his death he has a belief in fate and predetermination. Julius Caesar ponders the idea of whether we rattling have control of our lives or whether we are solely a result of fate. Shakespeare uses an extensive come in of omens to suggest that we have some control of our own destiny. However, as the play progresses this view becomes more and more bleak. Cassius, who is one of the most perceptive characters in the play, chooses to believe in fate and this tends to act upon the audience?s view on the matter. The continual presence of the supernatural suggests that fate is certainly an influencing factor in men?s lives but how we choose to interpret these omens and warnings can ascertain people?s destinies. SparkNotes Editors. ?SparkNote on Julius Caesar.? SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 23 Oct. 2009. If you want to trance a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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