Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a play with a very complex plot and very complex characters. Julius Caesar himself has many aspects to his character and can be seen in many different lights. In the articles H. M. Richmond on Shakespeare's Caesar as an Aging Hero and Jacqueline Pearson on Caesar as a Great and Ordinary Man, two of the many facets to his character are explored. These two ideas about Caesar help further the plot by connecting Caesar to the audience.

Both Pearson and Richmond discuss the character Caesar as a normal human being in their essays. Richmond particularly focuses on Shakespeare's portrayal of the aging hero Caesar. Pearson centers more on the different ways other characters view Caesar: mainly by revealing how Caesar, like every man, has his own personal failings. The two articles speak of Caesar's obvious political superiority--he is the monarch--yet at the same time...