Julius Caesar
...de is evident at Caesar’s funeral when even before its commencement, the citizens of Rome all together exclaimed, “We will be satisfied! Let us be satisfied!” (3.2.1). Subsequent to the crowd’s acceptance of Brutus’s explanation, they proceeded to hear Mark Antony speak. Yet again, the people were satisfied and they were also moved with what they heard despite Antony’s harsh contradiction to Brutus’s views. This acceptance was evident when the crowd turned towards mutiny and shouted, “Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! Let not a traitor live!” (3.2.201-202). In summary, the Roman people were willing to accept what they heard in order to give themselves a false sense of security. This noticeable uncertainty and desperation within the Roman population proved that Caesar’s death, and hence Brutus’s actions, did not bring a greater good to Rome; rather it plagued the Roman population with an undeniable sense of uncertainty. Not only did Caesar’s death lead to confusion and uncertainty, it was also responsible for a massive loss of Roman blood. This connection between the confusion and how it can lead to death can be displayed in the murder of Cinna, the poet. Inspired by Antony’s oration, the crowd searched for conspirators and mistook Cinna the poet’s identity with that of Cinna, the conspirator and proceeded to kill Cinna, the poet. Cinna attempted to explain himself but he was unsuccessful in doing so when he cried, “I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet… I am not Cinna the conspirator.” (3.3.28-30). It is amongst this confusion in which we see a senseless loss of innocent life which not only occurred in the previous scenario but also on a larger scale as well. This devastation is prominent in the battle on the Plains of Philippi. The Roman population, split among two different armies, engaged in combat and like in any other historic battle, suffered numerous fatalities. Clearly then, the aftermath of Caesar’s death, completely unlike Brutus’s intentions, proved to be lethal for many Romans. Not only did Caesar’s death severely impact Roman life both in general attitude and in casualties, it also changed the fate of the main characters in the play. The deaths of Cassius and Brutus demonstrated that Cassius also failed to achieve his objective in Caesar’s...