[Schanzer suggests that Shakespeare intentionally presented an enigmatic, or contradictory, portrait of Caesar to satisfy the different views of him held by Elizabethan audiences. By the close of Act III, the critic declares, various characters offer evaluations of Caesar:S nature that bear little resemblance to one another. Shakespeare calls into question the validity of each of these estimates, at the same time presenting Caesar as afigure who is alternately pompous, shrewd, and benevolent. The dramatist thus provides no direct response to the question ofwho is the real Caesar. Noting that our view of Caesar depends to a large extent on our estimate of thejustifiability of the assassination, Schanzer asserts that although Shakespeare points up thefutility of the murder through his emphasis on Caesar:S spirit in the last two acts of the play, he offers no conclusivejudgment.....
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