Julius Caesar Essay
Question: Shakespeare’s characters are intriguing because they struggle with both
internal flaws and external conflicts.
The ability to feel and express emotions is the fundamental essence that defines humans.
Shakespeare’s characters are no exception to this, as seen in the complex relationships and
personalities the characters of Julius Caesar possess. Brutus’ utopian and idealist vision are
both his noble virtue and dramatic hamartia, while the persisting elements of honour and
loyalty prove to be the key drivers of the play and exhibited to different degrees in all its
characters. Furthermore, the power and exploitation of morality and virtue in the play secure
its characters and their interconnections to be fascinating for vastly different audiences
throughout time. This intriguing complexity of the characters and their fascinating internal
flaws and powerful external conflicts cannot be better analysed than through the differences
between the private and public self of the characters.
The presence of a dream and vision sparks extreme passion towards a cause within the
individual, but if it falls into the wrong hands, the individual can be greatly manipulated.
Brutus’ ancestors overthrew the tyrannous kings of Tarquin and helped establish the Roman
Republic. The ideas of liberalism are close to Brutus’ heart: both his noble reputation and
deadly flaw. Brutus noticed Caesar’s personality shifting towards a threat to his democratic
ideals, allowing Cassius to exploit this rigid belief. From the earliest stages of the play
Cassius recognises this internal flaw in Brutus and follows through with flattering Brutus
with fake “Writings, all tending to the great opinion / That Rome holds of his name” (1, 2;
lines 307-308). The power of a letter is attached to its individualistic purpose: it has only one
Question: Shakespeare’s characters are intriguing because they struggle with both
internal flaws and external conflicts.
The ability to feel and express emotions is the fundamental essence that defines humans.
Shakespeare’s characters are no exception to this, as seen in the complex relationships and
personalities the characters of Julius Caesar possess. Brutus’ utopian and idealist vision are
both his noble virtue and dramatic hamartia, while the persisting elements of honour and
loyalty prove to be the key drivers of the play and exhibited to different degrees in all its
characters. Furthermore, the power and exploitation of morality and virtue in the play secure
its characters and their interconnections to be fascinating for vastly different audiences
throughout time. This intriguing complexity of the characters and their fascinating internal
flaws and powerful external conflicts cannot be better analysed than through the differences
between the private and public self of the characters.
The presence of a dream and vision sparks extreme passion towards a cause within the
individual, but if it falls into the wrong hands, the individual can be greatly manipulated.
Brutus’ ancestors overthrew the tyrannous kings of Tarquin and helped establish the Roman
Republic. The ideas of liberalism are close to Brutus’ heart: both his noble reputation and
deadly flaw. Brutus noticed Caesar’s personality shifting towards a threat to his democratic
ideals, allowing Cassius to exploit this rigid belief. From the earliest stages of the play
Cassius recognises this internal flaw in Brutus and follows through with flattering Brutus
with fake “Writings, all tending to the great opinion / That Rome holds of his name” (1, 2;
lines 307-308). The power of a letter is attached to its individualistic purpose: it has only one
