Manipulation In Julius Caesar

Improved Essays
There are many examples of places in which manipulation is used today. One such example is in the politics. Political leaders, for example Donald Trump, try to sway the public 's emotion so that they will get elected for office. Just like in the real world, there are many different areas where manipulation occurs in the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. These areas include manipulation in politics, manipulation within your family or friends, and manipulation within ourselves.
One example of a person who manipulates in politics is Cassius, who manipulates Brutus into joining the conspirators and into killing Caesar. Julius Caesar is gaining a lot of support and may become dictator or ruler. Cassius feels like Caesar should be killed
…show more content…
One character who manipulates her own family member is Portia, the wife of Brutus. Brutus has been thinking about what Cassius said about how Caesar is ambitious and he should be killed. Brutus does not know which side to support, because although what Cassius is saying is for the future of the Republic of Rome, Caesar is his friend.Portia notices a change in the behavior Brutus and realizes that he is worried. She asks him why and he responds that he is sick.Portia sees right through Brutus, and she says that she has the right to know because she is his wife. Brutus still refuses, and Portia says that if he does not tell her, this like of trust shows that “Portia is Brutus’ harlot, not his wife” (2.1.189). She then goes on to prove her faithfulness to Brutus by “giving [herself] a voluntary wound here in the thigh” and saying that if she can suffer from this pain and still not complain, she is faithful enough to her husband to hear his worries (2.1.302-303). This emotional manipulation causes Brutus to give in and he tells her the reason why he is worried. One character who manipulates his friends is Antony, who manipulates Lepidus. Lepidus is an able soldier who is supposed to be part of the Second Triumvirate with Octavius and Antony. Antony, however, does not view Lepidus as smart and questions Octavious if he should even be in the triumvirate. Antony thinks that Lepidus “is a slight, meritable man, …show more content…
The primary example of this manipulation in Julius Caesar is Brutus. Brutus is considered to be very noble by almost everyone in the play. Brutus wants to keep this image, and therefore he tries to convince himself that killing Caesar is the right thing to do. Caesar is his friend and it is very hard for Brutus to convince himself, but in the end with some help, he thinks that “it must be by [Caesar’s] death” that the Republic of Rome is saved (2.1.10). This manipulation causes Brutus to kill Caesar, thinking that Caesar is too ambitious, even though Caesar has not done much to show his ambition. Another person who manipulates himself is Julius Caesar. Caesar appears to think that he is above and better than all the other people around him. Right before Caesar is about to be killed, Metellus Cimber asks Caesar if he can repeal the order for the banishment of Metellus’ brother. Caesar, being as he is, tells Mettelus to not be foolish enough “to think that [he] bears such rebel blood that will be thawed” by flattery (3.1.40-41). Metellus continues to request and Brutus and Cassius join him. Caesar then arrogantly responds that “[he] could be well moved if [he] were as [Brutus, Cassius, and Metellus]” (3.1.58). Caesar manipulates himself into thinking that he is above all people, and this is one of the causes of his downfall. Soon after Metellus begs him, Caesar is killed by the conspirator 's for being too

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In Julius Caesar the only person who is actually seen convincing people to conspire against Caesar is Cassius. Cassius has a personal vendetta against Caesar. He thinks that if Caesar were to become emperor he would become a tyrant. Cassius assumes Caesar would make his life a personal hell. Cassius believes that Caesar must be killed for the greater good of the Roman Empire.…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fletcher Reed in the movie “Liar Liar” also showed an example of manipulation, but in this case he was actually the one being manipulated since he was not able to a lie at that time. The specific example was when he was in court with his client and he told her he cannot lie, but she manipulating him back into lying for the sake of her benefit and reputation. This shows how people can use deception in the form of manipulating the situation to go the way they expect it to…

    • 1667 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet embodies this theme; he manipulates what others believe to be true. However, he ensures his own downfall and he secures the death of others. For example, “the fair Ophelia” (Shakespeare III, i, 90) is an innocent victim of Hamlet’s manipulative nature. She believes Hamlet to be in love with her, yet he continually disturbs her with his appearance and makes cruel comments towards her. Though this all fits into Hamlet’s ploy to manipulate others into believing him to be mad, it is still incredibly draining on Ophelia.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Artifice is an essential skill ? In Chris Hedger’s excerpt Empire Of Illusion, he contemplates the ideas of artifice being an essential skill in political theater. Lying and deception is an intriguing talent, that once mastered can be used as a great advantage especially to gain political and economic power. It can be seen throughout a large number political leaders.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Manipulation is a popular trope used in various amounts of literature; titles from William Shakespeare are an example. Many of Shakespeare’s works involves scheming and thorough plans to take someone out or betray someone for personal gain. There are numerous cases of this in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth. In Macbeth, there are certain characters who either are manipulative in their own way to get what they want or bring everything back to its natural order. This manipulation in Macbeth is portrayed through the characters Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Malcolm.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In particular, Brutus is beginning his funeral oration to the plebeians when he says, “If/ there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of/ Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was/ no less than his” (J C. III. ii. 16-20). Brutus, as the closest friend of Caesar, knows Caesar more about him than any of them, which means that Brutus is more qualified to make decisions on behalf of Caesar. The Romans trusted Caesar, therefore they now have a foundation of trust within Brutus due to friendship that existed between them.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Powerful individuals represent themselves in manipulative ways, to create political situations that benefit them. King Henry IV Part 1, a history play by Shakespeare typifies this idea. Context has had an influential role in how shakespeare uses dramatic techniques to shape the characterisation of King Henry, Hal and Hotspur. The desired political situations manufactured by individuals in Henry IV Part 1 all stem from power, personal greed and pride. Those who seek power and obtain it through unjust means often develop paranoia, which leads them to manipulate political situations in order to maintain that power.…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Every person has weaknesses, and someone may use those weak points for his own benefits. Thus, manipulation and exploitation of weakness easily take place more than people think. For example, fraud happens frequently by acquaintance or anonymous people in modern society. William Shakespeare shows examples of how one can control others and exploit their weaknesses in the plays, Hamlet and Othello. Characters in each play, especially antagonists, instigate tricks, deceptions, and manipulative stratagems against other characters.…

    • 76 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    If a man represents himself as something that deviates the slightest from his true self, is that not in itself an act of manipulation? Today’s speech in regards to Module C will discuss how all representations of people and politics are undoubtedly acts of manipulation as true political agendas must be hidden behind a misleading facade. Language plays a particularly powerful role in portraying these political representations. However ambiguous the political motive may be, control is the ultimate goal in the world of politics.…

    • 1513 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Drama Analysis Essay In literature, the character’s tragic flaw, ultimately brings about their downfall. Regardless of the intention or character’s best efforts, the tragic flaw will bring about the destruction of the character. A tragedy is a play that shows the fall of a noble hero from high standing to a disaster because of a character flaw. In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar and Brutus go through this during the course of the play.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Noble Brutus Marcus Brutus is the tragic hero in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Julius Caesar. A tragic hero is defined as someone of noble birth with heroic characteristics. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus faces a very difficult decision. He must choose between the good of the people in Rome, and the life of his best friend.…

    • 1235 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Just as humans, dictators are not born evil but are influenced enough to gain power and abuse it. If one has the power to control all, then they could use it to their own advantage. Stories such as Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Animal Farm by George Orwell illustrate how such characters like Macbeth and Napoleon rise to power to use it for themselves as similarity to dictators like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini. By doing this, dictators blind the eyes of the people by stealing their freedoms through manipulation to gain innate superiority.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although people generally believe they are persuaded by ideas that they have discovered, William Shakespeare’s historic tragedy, Julius Caesar illustrates that an individual’s thoughts are inevitably shaped by external factors. Persuasion and suggestion are rhetorical skills that play central roles in Julius Caesar, but they also demonstrates how individuals bend towards words they want to hear when faced with a difficult situation. The play cautions the dangers and powers of rhetoric as a tool for manipulation and reminds us how easily and completely an audience can be both won and lost in terms of persuasion. In the few early scenes we are able to see Cassius promoting his own views upon Brutus.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Julius Caesar manipulated and bribed his way to gaining political power, specifically the consul of Rome by 59 BC, by becoming popular among the people. He was named governor of Gaul and became a threat to the Senate and Pompey who had already held power in Rome. Caesar became an enemy of the state and made an act of war by deciding to cross the Rubicon river confronting Pompey, a turning point that was the start of a civil war. The sources Suetonius’ “The Deified Julius Caesar” in Lives of the Caesars, Plutarch’s “Caesar” in Roman Lives, and Julius Caesar’s The Civil War each tell of Julius Caesar’s Civil War describing his political manipulation and rise to power involving the famous crossing of the Rubicon.…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Brutus’s loyalty to Rome makes him vulnerable to the manipulation of Cassius, who uses Brutus’s fatal flaw against him for his own agenda. Cassius knows that Brutus will do anything for Rome, no matter…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays