The Construction Of Romans And Rome In Julius Caesar

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a play about a political murder which is adapted from the Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans drawn up by Plutarch.The play describes how Julius Caesar,a Roman consul,is assassinated by Marcus Brutus,Caius Cassius and other people and how Mark Antony,trusted subordinate of Caesar,makes a revenge on Brutus,Caius and Casca.By far,the play has been approached from various angles including its characterization,plotting,and complicated themes.This thesis attempts to focus on the image of Romans,the construction of Rome and Roman philosophy in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.It is divided into five parts,an introduction,three main chapters and a conclusion.In the introduction,we will place Shakespeare and Julius Caesar into their historical and cultural backgrounds.This part also overviews the background of the thesis,the current research development,methodology,significance and the innovation point of the paper.Chapter Two analyzes the images of the Romans,presenting the images of plebeians,represented by tribunes Flavius and Murellus and others,as well as the three different types of Roman politicians,Brutus,Caesar,and Antony.Chapter Three analyzes the construction of the Roman Republic and we would argue that the Roman Republic is just one way for its approach to the rule of imperia which was based on culture of Rome city-state and ramshackle Roman republicanism.Chapter Four concentrates on the Greek and Roman philosophy in Julius Caesar and we hold the view that Roman philosophy,in particular,the Platonic ideal has greatly influenced the Romans,with Brutus by Stoicism,Cassius by Epicureanism.In the conclusion part,this thesis argues that Shakespeare uses Julius Caesar as a miniature of the Roman society before and after the assassination of Julius Caesar in order to represent the workings of different types of government including tyranny,oligarchy and democracy and how people react to them.In some sense,those moral and political issues touched upon in the play seem more relevant to today than ever and drive us keeping on thinking and rethinking.