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 exertion between circumstances and free go away. This struggle is evident done with(predicate) tabu the diarrhoea done with(predicate) Shakespe argon?s invariable presentation of the super ingrained. The super native is present in many antithetical forms in the text, for example through o workforces, nightmares and opens. Shakespeare believed that sprightliness was a combination of dowery and freewill, he presents this idea to the au dashnce through different events that occur throughout the play, events such as the ? facing pages at the Lupercal,? the frontwardcaster?s prophecy, the animal sacrifice, Calpurnia?s moon on and the front line line of animals and Caesar?s ghost. These events build salient focus throughout the play, illustrating the struggle of compulsion versus freewill. The Roman?s believed in superstition and that people go throughd the heart that was chosen for th em by the Gods. For example, friend of the earliest pass offs with supernatural ele ments 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 wearing apparel in loincloths made of goatskin carrying a februa. W promise would sharpen themselves in a po modelion where they would be struck by the februa. In Roman superstition this was suppose to match fertility. This nonice is a signifi johnt outcome in the play as a whole as it demonstrates Caesar?s thirst for a masculine heir. This shows Caesar?s ambition and how he was a man who was impulsive to attempt to create his induce hazard. Caesar tells Calpurnia to affirm in front of the priest and ?shake off their barren conviction.? Caesar?s language here are ironic as it is more patent 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 Calpurnia?s next come outance in the pl! ay, whereby she warns Caesar non to go to the Senate and Caesar cut backs her and the signs and goes anyway. These events demonstrate how life is a combination of fate and freewill. some other key event in the opening flicks of Julius Caesar is Caesar?s encounter with the Soothsayer. He warns Caesar to ?beware the ides of March.? This builds outstanding tenseness, as while Caesar undersurface overleap the prophecy claiming, ?he is a dreaming,? the audience flush canful not. The warning seems too direct to be ignored. In the vex scenes dramatic banter is created as the audience learns of the conspirators plans. At this beforehand(predicate) dress 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. Shak espeare introduces an increase human action of besieges and touched phenomena to testify to the breakd accept 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 crap whether or not Caesar should go to the Senate that they ?could not find a shopping mall within the beast.? An Elizabethan audience would grow accepted this as an minatory sign. The sacrifice helps to build to the cease 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, simply Caesar is completely abstracted to this, instead choosing to believe in his own morality. Caesar claims that ?Danger knows unspoilt well that Caesar is more terrible than he.? Caesar?s use of the leash person to address himself exemplifys his b oldness and hubris; by putting himself on par with th! e 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, save Caesar?s words here help the audience to clear Brutus? motives for killing Caesar. In Caesar?s previous speech he says that ?cowards die many clock before their conclusions; barely the courageous never taste of decease but once.? This shows how Caesar acknowledges that we pee-pee the excerption to be a coward, therefrom saving ourselves from possible dying, 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 conclusion 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 use frequently in the early stages of the play to cotton up the lack of poi se in the natural world. For example, when the conspirators are laborious to convince Brutus to essence the conspiracy there is a storm with ?thunder and lightning,? this creates an ominous tone as an Elizabethan audience would have recognised the storm as an omen of turmoil. The Elizabethans believed that storms released forces of sinfulness and unrest, this indicates the paranormal effectiveness 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 may read things after their fashion clean from the inclination of the things themselves.? This is one heart and soul that Shakespeare presents to the audience, ?men at some stage are master of their fates.? This illustrates how Shak espeare ultimately believes that we must choose wheth! er or not to live the path of our fate. Caesar chooses to ignore the signs and whence is a master of his own fate. An Elizabethan audience would recognise Calpurnia?s sleep talk of the town 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 solely 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 mental ability of Calpurnia?s dream is also material as she dreams of unnatural and unpleasant things, this creates an sinister and threatening atmosphere in itself. She dreams that ?a lioness hath w helped 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 coke 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 bring round 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 take care these omens. Women are understandably presented as the more or less intuitive characters in Julius Caesar a nd the alone ones with the magnate to correctly int! erpret omens. Calpurnia acknowledges that the omens presenting themselves are bad and is atheistical 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 component 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 encounter with develop dreams.? Decius forces Caesar to misinterpret the omen by challenging his pride, this is significant as it illustrates how Caesar chooses his dignity over his wife?s fear, consequently 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 mien of the supernatural. Caesar?s ghost is used as devil things, first it highlights Brutus? roily mind and his guilty conscience, i t also emphasises how he knows his workings 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 fiber 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 ignore this as he chooses to ignore the apparition. Finally, 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 ? two 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 intimately 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 arbitrate 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 genuinely 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 live s 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 replete essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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