If you are arrogant and ambitious, your success will not stay with you for long! Julius Caesar, who was the epitome of courage, nobility and power, did not heed the premonitions of his wife Calpurnia and a soothsayer from the crowd; and as a result, his most trusted friend, Brutus, assassinated him.
Caesar was returning from a battle when he encountered in the crowd that was jostling against him in the jubilant crowd, a mad man who shouted to him, ‘Beware of the ides of March.’ One of the most famous lines from Shakespeare, it was a warning to him to be careful during the middle of the coming month of March. He dismisses the warning out of his arrogance and pride. In the meanwhile, his political enemy, Cassius was trying to convince Brutus to assassinate Caesar. They heard that Mark Antony had offered Caesar thrice the crown of Rome, but he refused it all three times hoping that the people watching them would plead with him to accept it. However, that did not happen to the utter disappointment of Caesar. The conspirators went ahead with their plan and killed Caesar after convincing Brutus to join them. They stabbed him one after another and when Brutus’ turn came, Caesar uttered in dismay the most famous line of the play, ‘Et tu, Brute?’ meaning ‘you too, Brutus?’ The Conspirators, convinced about their action, tried to persuade the people, explaining everything. Brutus gave a long speech, which satisfied the people. However, Mark Antony made an ironic speech starting with ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears’. The people, understanding what Antony meant, instantly turned against Brutus and the other conspirators. In the ensuing battle, one after another, all the conspirators were to die. Mark Antony, however, convinced of the noble heart of Brutus, called him ‘the noblest Roman of them all’ because he acted for the good of Rome.
Julius Caesar is based on true historical events. While the title suggests the protagonist as Caesar, Brutus’s role takes more stage time and many scholars contest that the protagonist of the play is, in fact, the latter and not the former.
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