Calpurnia in Julius Caesar Essay

William Shakespeare's significantly historical play "Julius Caesar" creates a clear image in our minds: with power and greatness come arrogance and ignorance. This image is delivered to us via Julius Caesar whose great power is mistaken for ruthlessness and a change into a tyrant 'beast'; as a result he is murdered. Along with symbolism, Shakespeare uses other characters to create suspense and tension, as the audience eagerly await the final outcome of the oral encounter between Caesar and Calpurnia.

"Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence" informs us of Calpurnia's good will and intentions towards Caesar. After she had tried warning him, and begging him not to go to the Capitol; she tries the last possible way: mocking him. By doing this, she hits his weak spot. As we have come to observe, Caesar is a man who values his pride, so by mocking him, Calpurnia is trying to knock/bring him back to reality and let him know that his wise judgment and wisdom are not being put to use (being put to waste) because he's letting pride blind and control him. At this point in the play, Calpurnia's obvious love and care for Caesar have won her the audience's sympathy as she's appearing as Caesar's last chance which excites them, and gives the audience and play hope. Yet, they can also see her as a delay through the scene as they're eager to find out what's going to happen; and whether Caesar will go, or not; building up tension slowly.

I utterly agree with Calpurnia's point of view on Caesar's arrogance and lack of attention to the close-circle around him. This is reinforced by 2 other events in acts 1 and 2 of the play. In act 1, scene 2, a soothsayer interrupts Caesar's path and warns him of "the Ides of March." Caesar hesitates for a moment, and then mocks the man by saying "he is a dreamer." Here, we observe Caesar's obvious interest, belief and fear of superstition but as he is in public, he hides it and promotes himself as a fearless "beast" incase Rome doubts that he's a proud, mighty man. Without knowing, he's giving the conspirators the impression that he's a tyrant-to-be, igniting the fear in their eyes, and jealousy for some (Cassius). Here the audience feels no sympathy for Caesar as they only see his egotistical, conceited side and it's something no one likes. In the same time, Caesar could be just trying to be a really good leader for the Roman people and set a good example for them and he's being misjudged, which is sympathetic. Another incident that draws attention to Caesar's pride appears when Caesar asks his servant to obtain the augerers' (omens) opinions on whether he should set forth for the Capitol or rest at home, as Calpurnia has gotten down on her knees and begged him to do; further demonstrating her love and good intentions towards Caesar. (If Caesar wasn't concerned with superstition, he wouldn't have asked the servant for the augerers' opinions). The servant comes back with ill-news for Caesar: "they (the augerers') would not have you to stir forth today... They could not find a heart within the beast." This lowers the tension level within the audience as they assume that Caesar will stay safe at home, but his pride kicks back in shocking/surprising the audience with this speech: "danger knows full well that Caesar is more dangerous than he" and "Caesar shall go forth." During his rampage, Caesar doesn't even realize what he is saying, such as this irony: "Caesar should be a beast without a heart" which means that Caesar shall be a mighty beast, even if it's at the cost of dieing (as to having no heart), so here we see him putting pride ahead of good judgment and wisdom which only but proves Calpurnia's point of view in "your wisdom is consum'd in confidence." The audience feels no sympathy for Caesar now, again because of his arrogant behavior and attitude but they're forced to share pity for him due to his unawareness of the ill-fate that awaits him. This was a significant dramatic technique by Shakespeare as it manipulated the audience's thoughts and feelings with the same character illustrating his spectacular writing skills.

Another way we know of Calpurnia's care for Caesar is by the argument they get into where she tries to persuade him to remain at home. If she wasn't afraid for him and his life, then she wouldn't have tried to persuade him to stay. "You shall not stir out of your house today." Here, Calpurnia orders Caesar and he replies with "Caesar shall go forth." This sharp reply from Caesar enhances the attempt that Caesar is trying to hide his fear from his wife to look like a perfect husband. We know that he's superstitious as recently he listened to a soothsayer for a moment and asked augerers' for their opinion, so he must be curious now but he doesn't show it. This is just like when he mocked the soothsayer to maybe set a good example for the Roman people and now he's doing it for his wife, which conveys Caesar as a misunderstood peaceful person who's willing to sacrifice himself for his people and family. The argument builds up tension in the audience as they wonder: shall Caesar set on to the Capitol or not? And are the soothsayer and augerers' accurate in what they warned Caesar of?

William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" portrayed Caesar as a strong, powerful man whose pride is his number 1 concern. Shakespeare brings in other characters to build up tension, such as Calpurnia who tries to save Caesar but he resists building up tension. I agree with Calpurnia's idea of Caesar's ignorance of his wisdom, proved by his arrogance towards the soothsayer and the augerers'.