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The Abuse Of Power In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

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Ella Burke Mrs. ODonnell 10th Honors English 27 April 2023 Rough Draft In America, political corruption is among the top universal concerns (). This has been a recurring theme in human societies, including those in ancient Greece and Rome. Going back to 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated due to citizens’ fear of his dictatorship; approximately 100 years later, Plutarch chronicled these events. It was this book, Parallel Lives, that Shakespeare used as historical reference to write Julius Caesar. This play revolves around the abuse of power and how it negatively affects civilizations. Shakespeare’s theme of power in Julius Caesar effectively fulfills his purpose of cautioning against the danger of absolute rule, while honoring historical …show more content…

Shakespeare’s play begins with two Romans, Flavius and Marullus, removing party favors from Caesar’s statue in an attempt to prevent him from becoming a king. In the subsequent scene, it is revealed they were punished for this act. In Parallel Lives, the source in which Shakespeare got his information, Plutarch asserts “Flavius and Marullus…went presently and pulled them off, and having apprehended those who first saluted Caesar as king, committed them to prison” (Plutarch). Manifestly, these two sources of information closely mirror one another; therefore, Julius Caesar primarily consists of factual events. Furthermore, with that being said, there are some instances where Shakespeare strayed away from Plutarch’s descriptions in order to successfully fulfill his purpose. For instance, the two men’s overall characterization of Caesar is dissimilar. Shakespeare portrays him as overly power hungry and tyrannical while Plutarch takes a different approach. He describes “Caesar was born to do great things, and had a passion after honor, and the many noble exploits he had done did not now serve as an inducement to him to sit still and reap the fruit of his past labors” (Plutarch). The evidence suggests Shakespeare took it upon himself to exaggerate Caesar’s portrayal. Some may argue this was not Shakespeare’s place; however he had every right to manipulate Plutarch’s story a little, as the sole reason he did this was to impart his significant message. Had he religiously adhered to Parallel Lives would have greatly diminished its value, and at that point, there would have been no incentive to even write the groundbreaking play. To conclude, in order to satisfy his intentions and relay an influential argument, Shakespeare had to marginally deviate from Plutarch’s

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