Theme in Shakepeare's Julius Caesar
Power Theme
William Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar shows the reader the effects of power and how corrupted and feared it was through characterization, soliloquies and asides. We can first see the description of power and its corruption in Brutus’s soliloquy. In Brutus’s soliloquy, he quotes, “He would be crowned: How that might change his nature, there's the question. It is the bright day that brings forth the adder, [...] And therefore think him as a serpent's egg Which, hatched, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, And kill him in the shell. (Act II, sc. i, 14-32)
He compares Caesar to a serpent’s egg and how he needs to be stopped to prevent future disaster. They believe they must kill Caesar, not because he is a tyrant, but because he will become one.Caesar's Power Quote
He describes what you must do to seize power and keep it, even if it means breaking laws.
Brutus' Soliloquy
This picture represents Caesar and how he relates to the adder and serpent egg.