Examples Of Ignorance In Julius Caesar

In the famous play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare depicts many of his characters as fraudulant and manipulative. Many of the conspirators use Caesar’s ignorance and prideful nature to their advantage in order to succeed in their overall mission- killing him. As the story escalates, Caesar continues to be oblivious to the deceptive actions of the people closest to him. Ultimately, it is Caesar’s own ignorance that leads to his death. Caesar’s ignorance is plainly displayed during a conversation with Decius Brutus on why he would not be appearing before the Senate. Caesar begins by telling Decius all about Calphurnia’s foretelling dream on how he could possibly die if he went to the Senate that day (2.2.80-87). At this time, he is convinced that Calphurnia’s concerns are justified and that she is right in saying that he should not go. However, some may say that he was not entirely keen on following Calphurnia. Prior to agreeing not to go, Caesar was still set on coming before the Senate. It is only after more convincing from Calphurnia that he decides to stay home (2.2.28-51). Although there is that aspect to his decision, Caesar’s words are still certain in the end, saying he “will not come” (2.2.76) and …show more content…
Starting with him saying the dream was “a vision fair and fortunate” (2.2.89), Decius spins the negative harbinger in a more positive light in order to show Caesar that the dream was misinterpreted, going so far as to say that the Romans are sucking “reviving blood” (2.2.93), not killing him. Here, Decius reinterprets the dream in a way that highlights Caesar’s importance to Rome. He appeals to Caesar’s prideful nature in order to charm and flatter him into agreeing with his interpretation. He knew that this was the way to get Caesar more on his side, as Caesar’s reasoning seems to disappear when others inflate his