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Corruption In Julius Caesar's 'Parallel Lives'

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Ella Burke Mrs. ODonnell 10th Honors English 9 May 2023 Julius Caesar’s Theme Corruption is one of the most pressing political concerns in America, mirroring a longstanding pattern observed in ancient societies such as Greece and Rome. Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, fueled by citizens' fear of his autocracy, was chronicled by Plutarch about a century later. It was this book, Parallel Lives, that Shakespeare used as a historical reference to write Julius Caesar, which revolves around the abuse of power and how it negatively affects civilizations. While honoring broad factual events but altering certain details to emphasize Caesar’s similarity to Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare contends absolute rule is hazardous and adequately cautions …show more content…

As previously mentioned, the main theme examines the danger of civilizations that operate under a system in which a singular person has absolute power. In order for Shakespeare to triumphantly warn England of the problematic path it was headed down, he needed to utilize his creative liberties to make this theme more impactful. In particular, Plutarch describes Caesar refusing the crown a couple of times; Shakespeare reports this exact same situation while adding his own twist. One of the characters in Julius Caesar recounts “ ‘...he put it by once; but for all that, to my thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offered it to him again; but to my thinking, he was very loath to lay his fingers off it” (Shakespeare 1.2.234-237). It is apparent Shakespeare included this, even though it was not mentioned in Parallel Lives, to magnify Caesar’s ambition and accentuate how this is not a desirable trait in a leader. Since Queen Elizabeth I exhibited such behavior when she refused to surrender her throne, Shakespeare effectively communicated the resemblance between her and Caesar. Even though these two controllers are different entities from vastly different time periods and origins, his exaggerations make it clear they both possess avarice and ambition. Shakespeare made these similarities between Julius Caesar and …show more content…

For these reasons, Julius Caesar’s theme contains a considerable amount of value. In order to attain this, Shakespeare wrote about events analogous to those in his lifetime; in pieces of literature, this is not an infrequent occurrence. Take for example The House of the Scorpion, which was published a few years after cloning was introduced in the United States. This novel follows the life of a lonely, confused clone, and its chief objective is to manifest the negative effects of cloning to ensure that America did not go overboard with this new technology. It is apparent Julius Caesar and The House of the Scorpion both warn people about pitfalls in society, thus motivating them to take action and make positive contributions. Overall, literature has the power to transform and inspire people, so reading is beneficial and should be habitual for

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