Julius Caesar Flaws

William Shakespeare, in his play Julius Caesar, cleverly criticizes the British people and politics using his characters to resemble and represent real Brits. No one is spared from these representations. In Julius Caesar, he point out the flaws throughout the class ranks from the commoners to Queen Elizabeth. Shakespeare uses the Plebeians in Julius Caesar to point out what he identifies as flaws in the common British people. He depicts the Plebeians as being easily influenced and controlled by those in power, preventing them from gaining power themselves or raising their social class. The situation of the Plebeians is directly comparable to the control the monarchy had on the common British people. Similarly, Shakespeare uses the conspirators

Shakespeare includes this passage to show the audience that, while it might seem like a great thing, too much power can corrupt the mind and inevitably lead to our downfall. Shakespeare’s Caesar is a perfect embodiment of this philosophy, for Caesar has gained so much power and wealth that he now believes that he is the superior to everyone. In this scene, Caesar basically says that there are other stars in the sky (meaning other people), but that he is the “Northern Star” and therefore, he is the brightest and most powerful; and ultimately, that he is the only one who has the right to rule Rome. The audience in Shakespeare's time would have noticed this arrogance and how it lead to Caesar’s death. However, they may also have realized that Shakespeare also added this scene to show similarities to Queen Elizabeth and make a prediction of her assassination. The idea that Caesar is used to represent Queen Elizabeth is also supported by E.A.J Hongimann who in his essay “Politics, Rhetoric, and Will-Power in Julius Caesar” states, “Queen Elizabeth suppressed the old faith tudor system with herself as the head of church and state and Caesar threatened the old republicanism, replacing it with a new form of government, which he headed as perpetual dictator” (Hongimann). In this quote Hongimann shows that Caesar and Queen Elizabeth are also similar in their style of rule. Both of them believed in reforming the civilizations that they ruled to get rid of the old and replace with the new. For example, in Julius Caesar, Caesar is trying to become a ruler for life as a King which would have drastically changed the way the Roman Republic was operating. In these ways, it is evident that Shakespeare uses his interpretation of Caesar to point fingers at and represent Queen