The depiction of Roman politics is a major issue in Julius Caesar. The nature of this concern lies in the question of whether Caesar's assassination should be considered murder or a justifiable action. One argument maintains that Shakespeare portrayed Caesar as a contemptible despot with a seemingly limitless appetite for conquest. Brutus joins the conspirators because he fears that the Roman republic will be destroyed if Caesar becomes king. From this perspective, Julius Caesar can be interpreted as a conflict between liberty and tyranny in which the conspirators' assassination of the would-be dictator is noble and just. A contraxy reading asserts that Shakespeare created a benevolent, If somewhat vain, leader in Caesar, who is brutally murdered by envious traitors who manipulate Brutus's republican ideals to give their cause some credibility. This interpretation is manifested in the.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 750 words. This
study guide contains 78,389 words (approx. 261 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Julius Caesar Access Pass.