Julius Caesar Conspiracy Essay Example

In the play Julius Caesar,  the playwright, William Shakespare brings forth many themes; one of them being conspiracy. Julius Caesar is a tragedy set in Rome in 44 BC, it is centered around the tragic hero, Julius Caesar and a group of conspirators, mainly Brutus and Cassius. The people of the conspiracy are all in it for one purpose but for one the reasoning behind it is different. Cassius wants to kill Julius as he is jealous of him but has convinced everyone that he is doing it for the good of Rome. Brutus on the other hand did not want to partake in the assasination of Caesar but his reasoning stems from the love that he has for Rome, as he believes that Caesar has the potential to become a tyrant. Conspiracy is highlighted in different ways by the playwright using dramatic techniques, omens and Cassius’ jealousy.

The playwright uses many different forms of dramatic techniques to portray conspiracy, one being foreshadowing. “These growing feathers, plucked from Caesar’s wing, Will make him fly an ordinary pitch” said by Flavius in Act 1 Scene II; this introduced the theme of conspiracy to the readers. This line can be used as foreshadowing the conspiracy’s intentions to turn the people of Rome against him which will make him “fly an ordinary pitch” meaning that he will just become a normal person, without all the power and status that he has now. Another example of dramatic techniques in use is dramatic irony. In Act 2 Scene II lines 13-24 we have Calpurnia (Caesar’s wife), telling him about a dream that she had in which every scene resulted in a blood bath and warning Caesar that he should not leave the house as this could be a prediction of his downfall. Caesar was weary of this but paid no regard as Decius, a conspirator, convinced Caesar that the dream that Calpurnia had is not a sign of danger but rather that of his prosperity. This is dramatic irony because the readers/audience knows that the meaning of Calpurnia’s dream is as she said, a prediction of Caesar’s death, which contradicts Decius as he is a conspirator plotting against Caesar. These two pieces of evidence portray the theme of conspiracy as we can see in example one, the foreshadowing of the conspiracy and in example two the work of a conspirator against Caesar by use of dramatic irony.

Symbolism using omens was another way in which conspiracy was introduced in the play. In Act 1 Scene II while Caesar was in the Capital a soothsayer caught his attention by shouting “Beware the Ides of March”, but Caesar only brushed him off and called him a dreamer. This ties to conspiracy as the Ides of March or March 15th is the day that the conspirators planned to carry out their evil plans and kill Caesar. Another example is in Act 1 Scene II when Casca was telling Cicero of the strange happenings he saw in the capitol, one being an owl in the market place in broad daylight. An owl is a creature of the night that is usually used to represent death, so this owl in daylight could be seen as a foreshadowing of Caesar being killed in broad daylight by the conspiracy members or the planning of Caesar's death by the conspirators prowling around in daylight acting as if it were normal. These omens can be used to represent conspiracy as evidence one tells of the day which the conspirators will be executing their plans and evidence two shows that the conspirators are not ashamed of doing their cunning work as if it were normal.

Cassius’ jealousy played a major part in the illustration of conspiracy, as he was the one who started it in the first place. In Act 1 Scene II Cassius was persuading Brutus to join the conspiracy; he was telling him that he doesn’t see himself as the people of Rome see him. He then goes on further to say that they were born as free as Caesar and why should his name be called more than theirs. Also, in Act 1 Scene II, Cassius was telling Brutus of his experience with Caesar in the river Tiber, telling him about how coward Caesar was and that he was the brave one and he had to usher Caesar into the water. He was trying to convince Brutus that Caesar is weak and a coward and this makes him not fit to be the ruler of Rome. This is supported by Caesar’s lines in Act 1 Scene II where he is saying to Antony that Cassius has a lean and hungry look and that he thinks too much which makes him dangerous. This is saying that Cassius is a power hungry person who cannot stand someone else in a higher position than him. This portrays Cassius’ jealousy because he constantly pointed out Julius Caesar’s weaknesses to show that he is ordinary like everyone else deeming him unfit to rule.

The playwright makes use of dramatic techniques, omens and Cassius’ jealousy to display the theme of conspiracy in the play. In one example the dramatic techniques, foreshadowing and dramatic irony were used to exhibit the theme of conspiracy as it foreshadowed the death of Caesar by conspiracy members. In another instance, the use of omens are used to introduce conspiracy as a theme in this play. Finally, another way in which conspiracy was brought out in this play was the representation of Cassius’ jealousy and the way in which he portrayed Julius Caesar as an ordinary man. Keeping all of this in mind, conspiracy tends to be one of the more prominent themes in this play as it was brought out on numerous occasions. Shakespeare portrayed conspiracy negatively and this is highlighted in the play on several occurrences.