Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" is not merely a historical play but a timeless exploration of human nature, revealing how ambition, envy, and the desire for power constantly manipulate noble ideals and individuals, a dynamic that remains profoundly relevant in contemporary society.
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how easily manipulated are
you how gullible are you to propaganda
now if you're like most people myself
included you'll say well I'm not easily
manipulated at all I'm certainly not
gullible and I don't listen propaganda
but do you know we all like to think
that we think we're
sophisticated but all of us are
manipulated on a constant basis and very
few really realize it in fact through
all history people have been maneuvered
into feeling a certain way acting a
certain way taking a certain
sight now how would you like to get an
insight into the dark levers of
power how Envy lust for power Revenge
ambition Triumph through all history
over Noble ideas and even noble people
who wish to rule the benefit for the
benefit of others this video you're
going to get a remarkable Insight from a
place you likely do not expect it to
come from and when I say where it's from
don't skip this video do yourself a
favor because you may just learn
something really eye openening this
video is about the play Julia Caesar by
Shakespeare don't skip on if you think
that has no relevance at all Shakespeare
had a gift bordering on the miraculous
of being able to strip away all the
facades of characters and to understand
and put across the innermost motives of
people so that we could see them if we
really listen now I want to tell you how
this video is going to go um and a
couple of things about it first of all
it's specifically designed for people at
high school or college you know you may
have exams coming up on Shakespeare's
Julia Caesar and so I want to address a
few things there and how it's important
to understand the play as a whole but
secondly even if you're not at high
school or college to understand just how
brilliant the plays are of Shakespeare
and not because I personally like them
just how much Insight can be gained
through literature and that actually a
lot of us not Reading literature is the
reason and were so easily
manipulated so having said that let's
dig into the play Julius Caesar the play
Julia Caesar was written by Shakespeare
400 years ago and sometimes we think
well that means it's old news and it's
got no relevance to us today well it
still remained
popular and very very relevant in fact
forget about just studying juliia Caesar
to get a grade in an exam look at juliia
C Caesar understand it and your eyes
will be opened to the world you live in
now and I genuinely mean that you will
see how the levers of power work how
dark ugly and
backbiting a lot of people in the top
echelons of power actually are and how
the noble-minded those who truly want to
help are often swerved into the wrong
lane in order to cause damage and how
many things that are said that sound
lovely are only being used to manipulate
you and me and everybody else because
Julius Caesar the play is not just a
story that's set in Rome around Julius
Caesar and his Chumps it's far far more
than that Shakespeare gets at what is
inside a human and that has never
changed this play is about power
personality and persuasion
we're going to take a look at Julius
Caesar and the four main characters
around him in this play and see how they
interrelate but this is the key
especially if you're studying this for
for high school or college my college
instructor once said to me your grade
doesn't depend on memorizing the right
answers or memorizing the correct
quotes your grade depends on you
understanding what your
reading drawing a conclusion from it for
yourself and being able to support that
conclusion and the more insightful you
are the more impressed the person
marking your exam will
be so we just want to understand what
this play is truly about and the best
way you can get this and even if you're
not at high school or college is to ask
the question how is today like back then
and what was Shakespeare really exposing
which still fits today because that's
what Shakespeare was good at he got it
the kernel of Truth the nub the crooks
the central issue the driving motivation
behind human beings that has not changed
from ancient Egypt to ancient Rome to
the Medieval Age to the present day
right to
2024 what I want to do before we start
is we just have to separate out history
and the place
this is a vital thing to understand so
let's just quickly talk about some
actual history we're going back to the
BC days Julius Caesar as you know was a
real figure he was the first emperor of
the Roman Empire he grew up as part of
one of the noble families he became a
general succeeded so well that he
eventually got the power to become
dictator which would n later be called
Caesar in His
image was he a pure good man and Noble
and Brilliant Roman upright person no of
course he wasn't the truth is that Cesar
was very ambitious Caesar wasn't
particularly Pleasant at times he
perpetrated some awful acts and he was
very arrogant anyone that wants to
actually be the dictator over the entire
world must have a certain amount of
arrogance about
them let's look at casassus casus who
plays a big role in the play a real
Roman Senator but more than that um he
was a general himself for Rome he
performed in very high um positions of
influence within the Roman government
itself he was an enemy of Caesar and
actually fought against him uh along
with the general Pompei but was beaten
by Caesar uh pretty much had a feud and
had it in for him and he was one of the
conspirators that um Chief conspirators
that put Caesar to death and IDs of
March Brutus a real Senator actually
quite well reported on in history as a
as a rule of them but was he perfectly
pure and innocent no of course not no
one is that pure and innocent and with
the amount of conniving backstabbing
killing and infighting that took place
in ancient Rome you can't say any one of
them was going to be all good and then
you have Mark Anthony Mark Anthony a
great figure in Roman history actually
had a relationship with with the famous
Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and came within
a whisker himself of being the next
Emperor after Julius Caesar he too was a
great General an extraordinary
politician who could play people off
against each other and a conniving soand
so so in the whole scheme of things
they're all
multifaceted personalities they're not
purely good or
bad however let's come to the
play Julia Caesar as a
play uses those characters to represent
certain types of people Shakespeare has
to simplify the play because he wants to
get across a message about power he
wants to demonstrate what actually goes
on in you know the the back halls of of
governments and power and how people VI
for positions and he strips bear using
different characters
he strips bare qualities and how they
are used in politics and how people
strive to get power for themselves in
this play especially he wants to focus
on how the noble thing the thing that
should be esteemed the great
ideal is held up and either it's
undermined by those who those who truly
believe it are undermined for those who
want Power
or it's used as a way to convince the
masses to give someone else power and so
in this play we're going to take a look
at the central figure of Julia Caesar
who is not the main figure of the play
friendly enough we're going to take a
look at casassus Brutus Mark Anthony and the
the
plebs as we look at these if you want to
understand this play all the time think
how does this happen today because that
was what Shakespeare is after and when
we understand that we understand an
awful lot about life and you're also in
a great position to make your own
judgments on the play and be able to
back up your thoughts in an exam so the
first person to take a look at in the
play is Julius Caesar himself who as
I've said is not the main character
we'll come to the main character soon
Julius Caesar as we've said in history
was by no means a saint you know he was
ambitious and arrogant and everything
but he is he isn't in the play some of
his quotes you could say demonstrate a
certain arrogance but it's more a self
confidence that he has in the play we
still feel in some respects that Caesar
is hard done by and that we wish he had
actually be been given the crown because
he is very Noble in the play he has a
great stature
and Shakespeare practically turns julus
Caesar into Rome the perfect ideal he
will stand for Rome he makes Rome great
he represents the people he is the
people's favorite there's a quote that
Caesar makes he only has 150 lines in
the whole play and he dies halfway
through which is crazy for a character
who the play is named after um we're
looking at act 3 scene one and this is
something that Caesar says this is
before he's killed when the conspirators
come to stab him and they want him to
change his ways they want him to bring
back someone he exiled called uh
Simba Caesar says I could be well moved
if I were as you if I could pray to move
prayers would move me but I am constant
as the northern star of whose true fixed
and resting quality there is no fellow
in the firmament the skies are painted
with unnumbered Sparks they are all fire
and everyone doth shine but there's but
one in all do hold his place so in the
world is furnished well with men and men
are flesh and blood and apprehensive yet
in the number I do know but one that
unassailable holds on his rank unshaped
of motion and that I am he let me show
it even in this that I was constant
Simba should be banished and constant do
remain to keep him
so this statement sums up Julius
Caesar he is the ideal he stands and has
done everything for Rome and he is
constant he's not a politician he's not
purely trying to twist things for his
own Advantage he knows what is right for
Rome and he will not Bend as the others
around him do they they politic you you
know they chop and change their message
in order to get ahead in power and
because he's this
immovable character even faced with
death he won't change he says other
things about himself such as many uh men
die many deaths but he only dies one
because death has to come to us all so
why why be worried about it you know
here is the epitome of Roman bravery of
everything the Romans the Roman public
esteemed in a
person and
we Shakespeare wants us to see him that
way he is the
ideal the perfect ideal to live up to
the embodiment of the right ideal of
Rome and it's vital to remember that
now to help us not see him as some aloof arrogant
arrogant
god um and totally you know totally
arrogant which would put us off through
the play he's given
weaknesses for instance cassus early on
talks about how he saved Caesar from
drowning while swimming the Tyber River
we also learn that Caesar has epilepsy
because he drops to the floor and Foams
at the mouth when the people keep trying
to make him King we also hear that he's
deaf in one ear um excuse the pun
because he he says to Mark anomy come to
my left because I'm deaf in my right
ear um so Shakespeare places some
weaknesses on Julius Caesar in order to
make him human but he's got a valiant
Spirit a spirit that embodies all that
is good about Rome was that the real caesar
caesar
no um was he viewed as ambitious by the
others yes did people of Shakespeare's
day know that Caesar had ambition yes
they did you had plutar who had been
translated into English it's the history
of the Romans um and you know they knew
that so there's an ambition but we get a
sense of him being justified by
Shakespeare because he is the most
upright amongst them all why would
Shakespeare make this um character like
this probably for two reasons one it
carries a good Central Pole or or or
Motif around which the others will
operate but also because he had to be
careful in his own day of saying
anything against the ruling Powers the Queen
Queen
particularly and so by leaving Caesar as
rightfully someone who should have been
given the crown um and as someone who
was the ideal he's supporting the idea
that the person who is king or queen
they are automatically Noble and
virtuous and shouldn't be messed with
and no one should seek to undermine them
so he recognizes that he has to be
cautious because back then playwrights
could be put in prison or even executed
for what they if if it was deemed plays
were subversive to the Monarch so uh
that's one of the reasons and by the way
although he dies in chapter in in act
three there's something very important
about Julius Caesar the ideal and that
he does come off the Victor in the end
and we'll see that later in this video
so that's Julius Caesar think of him as
the embodiment of Rome of what people
think Rome is meant to be it is great it is
is
Grand you know it's brilliant Julius
Caesar is that he is the North Star
fixed in position while all others move
and sway with
motion although Julia Caesar is the
ideal of Rome itself that representation
of what Rome could be and how great it
is he is not really the story the story
is about the power struggle around him
to remove him for people's various ends
there are four characters in the play
that orbit this idea of Rome and they
are cassus Brutus Mark Anthony and the
plebs the plebs being the common people
who seem to play a bit part role but
very very important we're going to start
by looking at casassus and what
so let's talk about C casassus casassus
was the leader of the conspirators who
would murder Julius Caesar and he was
Julius Caesar's implacable foe you know
an absolute arch nemesis and in history
that's quite true but in the play the
motivations for casassus hating Caesar
are envy and a Greed for power he will
talk about how Julia Caesar is a threat
to Rome how he's going to be a tyrant if
he's King that we need to keep the
Senate now that sounds Noble but in the
play casassus is only using it as a lip
service he's he's saying it because it
sounds good and it justifies why he can
get rid of Julius Caesar as an enemy so
that he can be more powerful you see
Casas is pretty much the most dominant
force in the Senate if it wasn't for
Julia Caesar so his motive for killing
Caesar isn't for the benefit of Rome
it's because he wants to be the most
powerful man in
Rome if you're writing an essay
something you may want to remember and
even do some further reading on is in
this play Shakespeare seems to be first
developing the idea of Envy as a main
quality in a character that will come
out in the later tragedy athow with Yago
Yago is you know the epitome of envy and manipulation
manipulation
and we sort of get the seeds of that
character in casassus in the histories
but just take a look at some of the the
Snippets from the play about casassus
this is cassus talking now in act 1
scene 2 to Brutus um trying to get
Brutus to see that Julius Caesar is a
threat he's too powerful he's going to
be a tyrant why man he do bestride the
narrow world like a Colossus and we
Petty men walk under his huge leg EGS
and Peep about to find ourselves
dishonorable Graves men at some time are
masters of their Fates the fault dear
Brutus is not in our stars but in
ourselves that we are
underlings now cassus is very very
persuasive remember this play is about
persuasion as well casassus is not the
great speaker but he is an extremely
effective politician when he's got the
ear of someone he knows how how to sew
seeds of Doubt which is what Yago does
later in the play
a but this little section tells us how casus
casus
feels he is
envious of Julius Caesar because of his
position and reputation Julius Caesar he
says is like a Colossus Colossus was one
of the wonders of the ancient world it
was a giant statue on the Harbor of
Roads an island um and the ships were
supposedly sail between his legs this
statue was so big he's saying Julius
Caesar is a Colossus and we walk under
his legs and Peep about he hates the
fact that he is Noble thinks a lot of
himself but is dwarfed by Caesar's
personality casassus hates that and this
is Envy not
jealousy jealousy is when you want
something that somebody else has Envy is
worse envy that casassus has is when you
want what someone else has and you don't
want them to have it okay so it's not a
case of oh we can both have something
it's not only do I want you not only do
I want what you've got I also want you
to lose what you've got he is a very
nasty character in this play and all of
that Envy is driven towards the
assassination of Julius Caesar
now looking at something more about
Cassius as a character is that he is a great
great
manipulator and he's a shadowy figure who's
who's
conniving Julius Caesar knows this about
casassus in fact Julius Caesar speaks
about cassus to Mark Anthony and this is
what he says we're still we're in act 1
scene two
still yond casassus has a lean and
hungry look he thinks too much such men
are dangerous
but I fear Him not yet if my name were
liable to fear I do not know the man I
should avoid so soon as that spare casus
he reads much he is a great Observer and
he looks quite through the Deeds of
men such men as he be never at heart's
ease whilst they behold a greater than
themselves and therefore are they very
dangerous so that was Julius Caesar
talking to Mark Anthony
he says of casus that he will not be at
ease while there is a person who is
greater than them they are envious and
they will do anything to bring another
person down so that they can be the most
prominent it shows that casassus is full
of ambition which is the quality that
they charge Caesar with and say they
kill Caesar because of ambition what is Shakespeare
Shakespeare
saying he's actually saying wake up in
the halls of power it's not all Noble
people doing what's good for the benefit
of everyone but the movement of power is
based on ambition and greed and envy and
hating other people who have more power
than you that's a very self-centered
world and Shakespeare is saying that's
what goes on in the halls of power and
that this person cares not casassus
cares not about the ideal of Rome what
is best for Rome which ultimately is
Caesar in this book um but rather he
would bring down Rome in order that he
character Now we move on to the main
character of the whole play Brutus
himself like I say this book or play
should have been called The Tragedy of
noble Brutus
obviously in history no one is purely
innocent and purely Noble but in a play
Brutus stands for those people who do go
into office in order to serve and do
what is good for the
majority what Brutus demonstrates
through Shakespeare is that those people
are few and far between and that
Unfortunately they can get manipulated
by those with nefarious goals and
Ambitions like casassus
Brutus is Noble at the end of the play
Mark Anthony will say that he was the
most noble of all the Romans Brutus
believes in Rome as an ideal Brutus
believes in the way it's structured and
its greatness and its
people now this is interesting because
who is he the who's his best friend
Julius Caesar who loves Brutus the most
Julius Caesar and who loves Julius
Caesar the most Brutus Mark Anthony
loves him but Brutus more
so thinking of Julius Caesar as the
ideal of Rome itself and everything good
that stands about the Roman
ideal it's interesting that Brutus would
love Julius Caesar because that's what
Brutus loves the most it's Rome he is
noble and upright and all of his ideas
are geared to the benefit of Rome and
its people
people this is what's so interesting
about this play because we're going to
give you a word which is very useful to
understand when reading all of the
tragedies of Shakespeare and if you can
include it in a in an exam this would be
great nobility the quality is Brutus
hamashia hamashia means the quality the
good quality that ultimately leads leads
to your
downfall you wouldn't think nobility
could lead to someone's crash but we see
with Brutus his Noble mind is so
innocent that it's able to be persuaded
against the person who stands best for
Rome he turns and kills Caesar with
casassus and the rest of the
conspirators because he's so Noble now
how do we know that well act 2 scene one
right at the beginning um
this is when Brutus is talking about the
need for Caesar to die but look what he
says it must be by his death and for my
part I know no personal cause to spurn
at him but for the
general do you understand what Brutus is
saying here he has no animosity against
Caesar he's saying personally he's never
done any wrong to me in fact he's always
been good to me but still he must die
for the general good for the good of
Rome because he could be a tyrant if he becomes
becomes
king now how does Brutus come to that
conclusion because he is noble and he is
fair-minded it's because cassus has
carefully poured poison into his ear
talking about if you read the bit where
he talks about juliia Caesar as a
Colossus he goes further on and really
gets Brutus thinking about what would
happen if C is so loved and popular that
they actually make him King in Brutus
mind that's a bad thing because he
believes in the Roman Republic and the
idea that kings are bad in Rome's
history in fact Brutus own ancestor was
the one who killed the last king of Rome
tarquin why does Brutus get to this
position even though he's never been
offended by Caesar or crossed by Caesar
himself why does he believe there's a
problem well he goes on to talk about
what can happen when someone is good but
they climb too high to the point they
become so arrogant they despise all that
they've got power over he says this and
it's very
interesting fashion it thus that what he
is augmented would run to these and
these extremities and therefore think
him as a Serpent's egg which hatched
would as his kind grow mischievous and
kill him in his
shell right let's just explain that I
want you to really understand it and
read that
through fashion it thus
imagine so there's no evidence to say
that Julia sees that is going to be a
tyrant except that he's becoming popular
and it looks like the crowd will make
him a king and Brutus says well
potentially someone that gets that power
they may be really really good but
potentially they might turn into someone
who actually gets really arrogant and
full of themselves and now they do
damage to the people below
them then he says fashion it thus
imagine if that
happens and he says then it's better
that we think of him as a Serpent's egg
if you let the Serpent's egg grow and
hatch it then grows into a full serpent
which can bite poison and kill you and
he says so if you imagine what
potentially Caesar could do if he
becomes king it's better that we smash
him while he's in the egg rather than
let him turn into a poisonous
snake so actually
Brutus bases his judgment on fear on
what could be and where did he get that
idea from he got it from Casas and the
conspirators but at the same time you
can understand why Brutus does what he
does because it is true
Julius Caesar given all power as a dictator
dictator
could be negative to Rome could look
down on them could start abusing them
and being a tyrant and So based upon
that Brutus acts do you see his motive
is Noble he wants to protect
Rome and in purely human terms you could
think he was
right but in the play he's made a grave
mistake because in the play Julius
Caesar stands for the ideal of Rome
Julius Caesar has done no wrong Julius
Caesar seems that he will always be for
the people in fact later on we learn
that in his will he's left money to the
plebs to build them parks and Gardens
and everything like that so the ideal of
Julius Caesar is is noble and Brutus out
of fear and worry put into his mind by
the envious casus
has taken a step to try and protect Rome
but it's actually in
error um and remember julus Caesar you
couldn't really go against him in the
play because the Monarch would look at
Julius Caesar in this play and think of
themselves so you can't have the Julius
Caesar actually being found out to be a
terrible person because the king or
queen of the day would think what are
you saying about me um but we understand
Brutus has been manipulated his nobility
his goodness has been manipulated in
order to achieve casassus ends which are
envious what's Shakespeare saying and
what do we see today people go into
Power areas of influence because they
might agree with the ideal of something
the ideal of democracy for argument sake
and they may want to do what's good for
the people but Brutus his naivity and
determination to do what is best for the
people is turned to actually do
something that is bad for the people
even though it's in good intent the
connivers and the politicas they are the
ones who will bend even the good to
their will to get what they want just
see what Shakespeare is saying now if
you look through history and even today
the same thing exists back room deals
all sorts of shady going on backbiting
stabbing groups forming against each
other and there's some people in the
middle who want to do what's good but
are forced to take sides um and lose their
their
nobility to demonstrate Brutus nobility
and that he is not just trying to kill
for the purpose of raising his own
profile there is an interesting um
conversation between cassus and Brutus
towards the end of act two scene one
where cassus wants to kill Mark Anthony
as well as Caesar because Mark Anthony
is not on the side of casassus and The
Conspirator now Mark anony is powerful
he's a good speaker and he has potential
to become powerful in the Senate not yet
though he's growing in power because of
his relation to Caesar listen to what
cassia says to highlight his envy and
his real motive and then listen to
Brutus response to show Brutus
nobility I think it is not meat Mark
Anthony so well beloved of Caesar should
outlive Caesar we shall find of him a
shrewd contriver and you know his means
if he improveed them may well stretch so
far as to Annoy Us all which to prevent
let antthony and Caesar fall together do
you see what Cassis is saying uh we need
to kill Mark Anthony along with Caesar
because if Caesar dies Mark Anthony if
he manages to grow his power even more
he will use this to come after us
casassus wants to remove all obstacles
to his strength he's envious and he will
kill to get there but what does Brutus
say our course will seem too bloody
kassius to cut the head off and then
hack the limbs like wrath in death and
envy afterwards for Anthony is but a
limb of Caesar let us be sacrifices but
not butchers kaai do you see Brutus
response he's shocked that casus wants
to kill Mark Anthony because Brutus
motive for joining the conspirators to
kill Caesar is to protect
Rome casassus wants to get power for
himself and Brutus says no we don't just
kill Caesar and then go killing all of
our opponents we're not butchers we're
sacrifices in other words priests to the
gods of Rome we're killing Caesar as a
sacrifice to the Roman Republic but to
kill Mark Anthony is a
purge that's just you know brutal and
bloody and self-serving and so so this
little little conversation demonstrates
that Brutus motive is pure even though
he's going to kill Caesar whom he loves
a final comment about Brutus is his
great speech at Caesar's funeral now
it's not as powerful as Mark anon's and
that's because Brutus uses facts and
logic to explain why he joined the
conspirators on why Caesar had to die
facts and logic and the noble motive and
in that he says this 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 if then
that friend demand why Brutus Rose
against Caesar this is my answer not
that I loved Caesar less but that I
loved Rome
more and there we get the noble Brutus
he's killed Caesar because he wants to
to do the right thing by Rome it's his
hamasha this will lead to Brutus
downfall but he did it for the right
reason so that's Brutus the central
character in this play this is a tragedy
because we have a man who loves Rome he
loves Caesar he does good to people he
wants to serve the public of Rome he
believes in the ideal of the Roman
senate and envious conniving
dark-hearted people use that
nobility because he's the best friend of
Caesar as the means to bring Caesar down
and that's the tragedy with Brutus but a
tragedy will always end in death and
we'll come to that soon but first let's
Anthony Mark Anthony is most famous in
Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar because
of the incredible speech he gives which
is a lesson in manipulation friends
Romans countrymen lend me your ears I
come to bury Caesar not Praise Him Now J
Mark Anthony is not actually the
greatest character in the play
Shakespeare couldn't develop him fully
and would later develop him better in
Mark Anthony and CLE Patra the
romance but Mark Anthony also plays role
in things overall we like Mark Anthony
because he defends
Caesar um however he's not without a
certain Dark Side himself he is quite
ambitious for power he is with Caesar
yes because he loves him but also
because Caesar will get him through the
Senate and will raise raise his power
Mark Anthony can't do it without Caesar
and in Caesar's death he sees the
opportunity to become powerful
um and he uses that brilliant speech in
order to do it but the speech is framed
specifically around using Caesar as the
ideal in order to bring Mark Anthony to
the top and this is exploitative want
you to think about
today how many politicians will make
promises particularly in campaigns you
know before voting they'll promise many
great things and they'll talk about hope
they'll talk about change they'll talk
about Unity they'll say yes we can all
high sounding ideals which people take
up but end up turning to thin
air what actually changes you know have
people ever got to a government where
they're like hey they've finally given
us a real hope they finally brought real
change no but to get people to buy into
it it's as old as time that people
trying to get power will promise
wonderful things they will appeal to the noble
noble
ideals um in order to get voted for or
placed in power Mark anony does the same
thing it's basically you see it in his
friends Romans Countryman speech and the
first part of it and for that I
recommend you go and see my line by line
explanation because I'm not going to do
that here line by line explanation of
just how Mark antthony
manipulates the crowd
the crowd have heard why Brutus put
Caesar to death Brutus speech is not as
good as Mark anon's because he focuses
on logic he focuses on the facts that
Caesar had to die lest he be a threat to
the republ to the Republic Mark
emotions and by doing so he gains the
he says all sorts of things one of the
things he says is he uses a truth and
Spins it into a lie Brutus was a noble
man or Brutus is a noble man and Brutus
is Noble we've just seen that
but Mark Anthony then starts describing
good things that Caesar did didn't
Caesar reject the crown three times you
saw me offer it him and he rejected it
three times you know that doesn't seem
like ambition but Brutus says he was
ambitious and Brutus is a noble man and
in his will he left you all this money
but he was am does that sound like
ambition but Brutus said he was
ambitious and Brutus is a noble man do
you see it's the power of
insinuation he also performs affects um
emotion in his
speech he says you all did love him
Julius Caesar once not without cause
what cause withhold you then to mourn
for him because instead of being upset
at Caesar's death the plebs are
rejoicing because they realize Brutus
has saved them from a tyrant now Mark
Anthony says you loved him when he was
alive why are you not weeping over him
now then he says oh judgment Thou Art
fled to brutish beasts and men have lost
their reason and then he says bear with
me my heart is in the coughing there
with Caesar and I must pause till it
come back to me let's just explain what
that means because it's really powerful
he's saying you loved
him um he's rejected the crown he's
given money to everybody you you loved
him when he was alive and now you're
suddenly rejoicing that he's dead
because Brutus is a noble man and then
he says oh judgment oh
reason you're fled to brutish Beast oh
where is the thinking in this you're
you're as unthinking as animals very
clever youth you are fled to brute brute
brutish beasts what does that sound like
Brutus he's insinuating that Brutus and
the conspirators canive to get Caesar
killed for their own ambition and he's
right casar and Casas and the lot they
did but not Brutus but he has to remove
Brutus out of the picture because people
know Brutus is Noble so he has to
insinuate that Brutus isn't and then do
you notice how he plays on their
emotions he says bear with
me my heart is in the coffin there with
Caesar I'm dead with Caesar my heart is
with him and he bursts into tears and
the crowd go oh dear look how much you
love Caesar Caesar was actually Noble
the conspirators have done a terrible
thing what and they
turn now what's so interesting is right
at the end of the speech the plebs run
off to get the conspirators and kill
them and this is what Anthony says when
all all the citizens leave with Caesar's
body and he's left on the stage alone he
says to the
audience now let it work Mischief thou
art a foot take thou what course thou
Wilt in other
words now let it work ah I've swayed
them Mischief or bad events because he
knows they're going to go and kill a
load of senators just go and work what
you will and that tells us the callous
conniving of Mark Anthony he's getting
power by appealing to the ideal of Rome
which was represented in Caesar so high sounding
sounding
words High looking emotions but for a
self-serving reason now here's the thing
about the other character which is the
plebs not a great deal said about the
plebs but they are so important to you
and me and understanding the play in the
play we might put us self in the
position of Brutus or we may feel the
Grandeur and speech and Aura of Mark
Anthony or we may identify with Julius
Caesar being this fixed representative
this upright person we won't put
ourselves in cassia's place because we
don't think of ourselves as baddies we
are the
plebs the plebs in this book move back
and forward brutal when Caesar dies the
plebs are up in arms they love Caesar
and they're going to kill the
conspirators Brutus speaks to them and
suddenly wow the conspirators are the
best thing ever and they're so right and
when Mark Anthony turns up some of them
want to kill Mark Anthony because he's
friends with Caesar and they think oh
he's going to defend Caesar and that
Caesar was good well we know he's not
because we listen to Brutus and that was
very persuasive and then Mark Anthony
says lend me your ears I come to bury
Caesar not praise him well that was a
lie he knew what he would come for he'd
come to turn their minds around and then
he slowly changes them and what happens
at the end of Mark Antony's speech the
plebs are suddenly on Julius Caesar's
side again and off killing the
conspirators how easily moved we
are think of
today again when campaigning or when
trying to get people to buy into
something whether it's political or even
through advertising or whatever for for money
money
reasons people phrase things in in a
certain way that moves us and we move by
just the sound of their message and the
the empty words we don't notice we just
hear what sounds lovely and go with it
do you know believe me majority of
people watching this video are like that
I'm like that things sway US unless we
step back and break something
down we'll be moved by just clever
speech and emotional speech and the like
we're the plebs Shakespeare is saying
wake up people those in charge are
pretty much manipulating things for
their own ends and those who are genuinely
genuinely
Noble they end up getting crushed under
the ugliness darkness and filth that is
in the corridors of
power and that's what this plays
about Shakespeare strips away the facade
and shows us what is in the hearts of men
men
Envy lust for power a need for Revenge
that's something about Mark Anthony he
wants Vengeance he did love Julius
Caesar he wants to kill those who killed
him but he also wants power comes within
a whisker of it as
well that's really what's going on and
the noble and the noble
ideal are only courted by these ones in
order to bring themselves power they're
not interested but for the majority of
people on the outside they look and
think well people are doing things for
the right reason Shakespeare is saying
that's not in the hearts of men now if
you look through all of history you'll
find exactly that across the world name
a government that has ever got rid of
homelessness poverty food
shortage that's ever been truly fair to
every body would you say it's arguably
within all of their power and yet most
of it according to Shakespeare most of
the activities of people are geared to
getting their own power Brutus wanted to
serve the ideal but Brutus was crushed
by the machinations of others now Julia
caesar wraps this play up by vindicating
the ideal by vindicating Julius Caesar and
and
thereby protecting the of England in
their day that they are a fixed position
and that we should be obedient to them
because at his after his death we know
that the conspirators cassus and Brutus
they join an army together they fight
against um Octavius and Mark Anthony and
they lose both of them commit suicide
but just listen to what they say when
they commit suicide casassus
says Caesar Thou Art revenged even with
the sword that killed thee so casus has
someone kill him with his own sword the
same sword that killed Julius Caesar
Shakespeare is giving us a Poetic
Justice the very swords casassus the
envious cassus murdered Caesar with has
turned back on him it's as if Caesar's
ghost is alive and has sought Revenge
showing that actually Julius Caesar in
the play was Noble was upright was no
not guilty of anything bad and lived for the
the
people of
Brutus it
said Caesar now be still I killed not
thee with half so good a
well Caesar be still he's saying the
ghost of Caesar is alive and is avenging
himself because of Brutus um treason
against him as a best friend and then he
acknowledges that my reason for killing
you was not anywhere near as Justified
as the nobility of killing myself taking
my own life um so he realizes he made a
big mistake and that he was wrong to go
against Caesar but he' been manipulated
into that position and right at the end
to show that Brutus is the tragic hero
that his
nobility which seems good is what
ultimately caused his downfall
hararia Mark Anthony walks in and finds
the body of Brutus just killed himself
and Mark Anthony says this was the
noblest Roman of them all all the
conspirators save only he did that they
did in Envy of great Caesar he only in a
general honest thought and common good
to all made one of them his life was
gentle and the elements so mixed in him
that nature might stand up and say to
all the world this was a man
Brutus did things out of good motive but
he'd been played Mark Anthony or or
Julius Caesar out of Mark Anthony's own
words who is a Survivor calls Brutus the
most noble not Mark Anthony who stood by
Caesar because Mark Anthony had his own
reasons for doing
things so that is julus Caesar the play
in a nutshell it's a play of
personalities power and
persuasion the personality of cus envious
envious
dark greedy for power and he will break
down a good character Brutus and the
ideal of Julius Caesar in order to put
himself in the dominant position Brutus
a noble personality in the halls of
power nobility is too innocent to exist
there and can be bent to the will of the
schemers Mark Anthony he wants revenge
and he is ambitious he would come within
a whisker of becoming Emperor himself
and how did he do it he used an appeal
to the emotions and to the perfect ideal
he portrayed himself as standing for
what is good and that he would avenge
Caesar he did it in order to win the
support of the plebs which makes him
powerful and the plebs go along with it
through the whole book they are moving
back and forth in their opinions because
they are un thinking in fact Casa
speaking to Casas says that they raised
their stenching voice it shows how those
in power viewed the plebs they were
merely a porn to get power but their
personal view of them was that they were
stinking idiots thick um and that's in
the play do you know we today are
manipulated as much as the plebs are
when you state your opinion let me ask
you a question how much of it is because
the news said so or because a teacher
said so or because a scientist said so
without actually doing any digging
ourselves when we do that with the plebs
and Shakespeare
saying you really shouldn't trust people
as much as that because they probably
have their own agendas Julia Caesar is
as relevant today as it was 400 years
ago and that's why why Shakespeare's
Works last so long he has a miraculous
gift of seeing the real human behind the facade
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