Julius Caesar: Themes (AQA GCSE English Literature): Revision Note

Although your exam question on Julius Caesar could cover a wide range of topics, they will often overlap in terms of theme. Having a thorough knowledge of the play and its key themes will help you form a convincing and insightful response on whatever question you are given. Here are four major themes to think about:

• Power and leadership 

• Manipulation and self-promotion

• Fate and superstition

• Honour and bravery

Power and leadership

William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, uses an historical event to examine the chaos and treachery within the political class during Roman times. The play depicts the fear and paranoia of a republic desperate to avoid rule by a power-hungry tyrant, and the deception that follows. In this way, Shakespeare questions the idea of flawed humans in positions of power. 

Knowledge and understanding 

• The play’s exposition (opens in a new tab) introduces a political class ill at ease with the glorification of a popular general, Caesar, and his potential rise to power:

  • Tribunes (officials representing the citizens) Flavius and Marullus try to subdue a celebratory crowd and take decorations off statues of Caesar

  • Cassius, a general keen on maintaining a republic, is conspiring with other senators to prevent Caesar’s kingship

• Shakespeare conveys the constant threat of unchecked ambition in the rising action (opens in a new tab) and reveals the senators’ fearfulness of tyrannical leadership:

  • Ironically, the senators’ fear of dangerous rule leads to more violence

• In the falling action (opens in a new tab) Shakespeare presents a cycle of corruption, as Brutus is haunted by Caesar’s ghost, and argues with Cassius about taking bribes

• By the denouement (opens in a new tab), Antony, Caesar’s loyal general, punishes the conspirators and takes a dubious role in controlling Rome alongside Caesar’s heir, Octavius

What is Shakespeare’s intention? 

• Shakespeare examines the political intrigue within the Roman senate to expose the instability of leadership and the threat of extreme ambition

• The play suggests deception and fear are closely connected, and that this can lead to corruption and violence

• Shakespeare suggests the ruling class is in constant chaos as a result of weak, power-hungry, or mistrustful human beings in positions of leadership

Manipulation and self-promotion 

Typical of Shakespearean tragedy, Julius Caesar involves intricate plots, and critiques superficial, arrogant, and deceptive characters. Shakespeare does this to illustrate societal problems such as, in this play, the use of persuasive language to manipulate others, to deceive, or to garner support and change public opinion.

Knowledge and understanding

• In the rising action, Shakespeare illustrates the power of language to manipulate as Cassius recruits Brutus, a loyal and honourable politician:

  • He exaggerates Caesar’s ambition to Brutus, and in letters, to sway opinion

• Much of the play’s drama comes from sophisticated speeches and soliloquies (opens in a new tab) that reveal characters’ motivations:

  • For example, Brutus, typical of a tragic hero, shows his inner turmoil in a soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 1, when he deliberates the threat of Caesar’s rise

• Often, audiences see how characters promote themselves by forming alliances and being deceptive, such as when Antony undermines Brutus at Caesar’s funeral:

  • This is presented ironically in order to expose the characters as duplicitous 

• By the end of the tragedy, the bloody consequences of deception and manipulation are illustrated in Caesar’s death, and in the deaths of both Brutus and Cassius

What is Shakespeare’s intention?

• Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a criticism of language used to manipulate and deceive, particularly within the political sphere

• Shakespeare presents the power of political rhetoric as dangerous 

• Shakespeare mocks characters who deceive and self-promote by exposing them

Fate and superstition

Shakespeare often examines the delicate relationship between individuals and their sense of powerlessness over their own lives and futures. In Julius Caesar, this is typically explored via the supernatural and superstition versus reason and logic.

Knowledge and understanding 

• Starting the play with an omen spoken by a soothsayer, introduces the idea of fate:

  • Caesar’s choice to ignore the warning, “Beware the ides of March”, becomes his certain future

  • Act 3 Scene 1 begins with Caesar accepting his ‘fate’, declaring to the soothsayer, “The ides of March are come”

• The male characters in the play appear to believe in gods who will help them win battles and praise their bravery or loyalty:

  • Caesar thinks the omen is a test of bravery from the gods: Cassius describes “friendly” gods who support them, and Brutus asks the gods for “speed”

• Throughout the play, Shakespeare’s female characters offer warnings to Caesar and Brutus, implying their spiritual intuition:

  • Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife, has an ominous dream and warns him to stay home, which he ignores, choosing to face whatever comes

  • Portia, Brutus’ wife, senses a “bustling rumour, like a fray,/And the wind brings it from the Capitol”, which she asks the soothsayer about

  • Her final words in the play exclaim how “faint” she grows before she later takes her own life

What is Shakespeare’s intention?

• Shakespeare suggests that man’s fear of their unknown futures and deaths can lead to fatalism

• Shakespeare illustrates how a desire for logic and reason can mimic autonomy

• Shakespeare presents individuals who ignore warnings in an attempt to control forces beyond their power   

Honour and bravery

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, politically-motivated characters illustrate their reliance on reputation. The play explores how this manifests in a desire to be perceived as brave and honourable, particularly in death. 

Knowledge and understanding 

• Shakespeare’s characters exemplify stoic attitudes linked to bravery and honour:

  • Caesar is referred to as a “lion”, presumably for his strength on the battlefield

  • Rome’s senators and generals proclaim their honour and courage throughout the play, speaking hyperbolically (opens in a new tab) about their need to die a noble death

• However, Shakespeare often portrays the characters’ need to prove their courage as foolish, egotistical, and resulting in needless violence:

  • Calpurnia tells Caesar that his “wisdom is consumed in confidence”

  • Ultimately, Caesar is betrayed and killed, and both Cassius and Brutus rather desperately ask their servants to kill them at their moment of capture

• In contrast, the female characters are presented as typically fearful, linking to gender expectations of the time:

  • Calpurnia asks Caesar to stay home and to call it “my fear” so he can save face, and Portia refers to herself as having a “weak” womanly “heart”

What is Shakespeare’s intention?

• Shakespeare suggests that traditional ideals of bravery can lead to fatalistic attitudes 

• Shakespeare illustrates characters desperate to prove their honour by portraying them ironically

• Shakespeare raises questions about needless violence in the name of honour 

Source

https://shakespeare.mit.edu/julius_caesar/full.html (opens in a new tab)