Similarities Between Julius Caesar And Plutarch

While reading Shakespeare’s The Life and Death of Julius Caesar and Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, one would be surprised to learn of the interesting differences that separates the two stories that at first seem so similar. Plutarch was a historian who believed in the achievement of history that related to great men and rulers. Shakespeare followed Plutarch and emphasized how the Roman leaders carved the path for history, but took a more dramatic approach to Caesar’s life. These minor additions resulted in a completely different view of Julius Caesar’s character and leadership abilities.
An air of controversy as to whether he deserved his fate that ended his life and reign constantly follows Julius Caesar, a man who was …show more content…
The final struggle and his assassination made it clear that there was a higher power responsible for his death, and this takes the blame off of Caesar and onto a greater source. The statue of Pompey stood near Caesar when he took his final fall, and this represented the thought that Pompey’s ghost took revenge on Caesar and was responsible for killing him. In Shakespeare’s version; however, there was no mention of Pompey’s statue being near Caesar’s dead body. Shakespeare focuses on coincidence as well, but he chooses to depict Caesar’s ignoring of all the warnings as his stupidity that led to his death. Caesar was constantly telling people that he didn’t fear death, and once said, “It seems to me most strange that men should fear, / Seeing that death, a necessary end, / Will come when it will come” (II.ii.35–37). This over confidence is what led many of the members on his counsel to think that it was for the benefit of Rome, that his life be brought to an …show more content…
Caesar says to Brutus, “Men at sometime were masters of their fates. / The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings” (I.ii.140–142) In Plutarch’s version we are constantly reminded that Caesar has no real power or control over his inevitable fate. This makes the argument that Caesar didn’t deserve to die, but it was fate that his time had come to an end. This takes the justified blame off of Caesar, and his unjust ways ruling Rome. Overall, the play by Shakespeare seems to portray a co-existence between fate and free will. Caesar believes that fearing death is the worst thing that can be feared by man because you lose your human control and power, that one might actually posses. Perhaps Caesar chose to face death head on instead of fearing the inevitable, which ultimately results in his uncontrollable amount of power that raised red flags for his close friends and