Superstition In Shakespeares The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Essay

Superstition In Shakespeares The catastrophe of Julius Caesar Superstition has been around almost since people first inhabited the earth. For this reason, it has contend a main role in some(prenominal) classical pieces of literature. angiotensin-converting enzyme of Shakespeares tragedies, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is full of intolerance and the supernatural. It contained so much superstition in order to foreshadow key crimsonts in the plot, to further begin characters, and to thrill and relate to the Elizabethan audience for whom the play was written. Foreshadowing was perhaps the main reason superstition was use in Julius Caesar. The supernatural provided hints to the reviewer ab step to the fore many important events to come. The most important event that was foreshadowed, without a doubt, was the death of Caesar himself by the hands of Brutus and the conspirators on the ides of March. When the soothsayer cries out beware the ides of march(312 act1,sc2) he is unfeignedly laying the groundwork for the roost of the events starring(p) up to Caesars assassination. Although Julius dismisses the soothsay with a simple he is a dreamer, permit us leave him. Pass. (313 act1, sc2) the reader realizes that this date will prove important in the near future. To the audience, the prophecies are dramatic irony-when Caesar is warned about the ides of March, we already get laid what is going to happen to him. (Farrow) That one(a) simple dialogue sets the stage for the rest of the plot to advance swiftly.One of the reasons why this warning may pay back gone unheeded is because most sooth-sayers were not well respected, though many turned out to be right. Since they lack any formal exponent or shop, and they predict forthcomings without fee, one can see quite comfortably why citizens would distrust their predictions(Julius) One of the most graphic examples of Caesars death bein g foreshadowed was most definitely Calpurnias dream the night onwards Caesar is scheduled to go to the Senate. Caesar says ...she dreamt tonight she saw my statue, which, like a inauguration with an hundred spouts, did gallop pure blood, and many lusty Romans came smiling and did bathing tub their hands in it...(341 act2, sc2). This very gruesome image is meant to hint at Caesars death.However, when Decius arrives at Caesars home, he tries to convince Caesar that he has misinterpre... ...sar is catarchic astrology, which determines whether a position action or decision is suitable to a particular moment. Catarchic astrology is consulted quite often, especially when Caesar is choosing whether to go to the Senate House or not.It truly must have shocked the people of that era when Caesar went to the Capitol against all warnings, because Elizabethans in the main believed that prophecies were to be taken seriously, and certainly that no prudent statesman could run the risk of ign oring them (Ribner 58). The people of the Elizabethan era were very proper, and to see someone, even if only a character in a play, break one of the laws of nature in which they so firmly believed, was quite astounding.Truly, Shakespeare wonderfully used superstition and the supernatural to create a masterful literary work. As Ribner said We find Shakespeare approaching the matter of history with a surer hand, and out of it creating tragedy of a singular power (Ribner 58). He accomplished his last goal of using superstition to foreshadow important plot events, to take deeper into characters personalities, and to create excitement among the audiences of the Elizabethan era.