Skip to main content

How does blank verse poetry connect to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar?

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, there are two forms of speech used throughout the play: verse and prose.  Further, the verse employed is blank verse, which is poetry composed of unrhymed lines all written in the same meter, usually iambic pentameter.  In iambic pentameter, a regular line of the meter contains ten syllables with the heavier stresses placed on every other syllable.  An iamb is a metrical foot made up of one unstressed syllable and one stressed syllable, and pentameter refers to the number of iambs within a line.  Therefore, iambic pentameter contains five pairs of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.  An example taken from Julius Caesar is below:

Cassius: Brutus, / I do / observe / you now / of late


I have / not from / your eyes /that gen/ tleness


And show / of love / as I / was wont / to have. (I. ii. 34-36).


In the above example, the five iambs are separated by slashes and the stressed syllables are in bold.  Shakespeare often uses iambic pentameter in his plays and sonnets because the rhythm closely mimics the natural inflection of the English language.  Yet, Shakespeare typically uses blank verse for his refined or important figures, such as nobility or aristocrats, and uses prose for commoners, plebeians, or unbridled emotional outbursts.  Thus, as seen in the above example, Cassius, a Roman noble, speaks in blank verse. 


Therefore, blank verse poetry connects to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar because it distinguishes and provides commentary on the social statuses of the characters.  Perhaps one of the most pivotal scenes where blank verse has a significant role is in Act 3, Scene 2, when Brutus addresses the commoners after Caesar’s death.   Brutus, a Roman nobleman, traditionally talks in blank verse, but when he stands before the masses, he changes his speech to prose.  He begins, “Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear. Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor that you may believe” (III. ii).  Brutus’ decision not to use iambic pentameter when speaking suggests he is trying to identify with the commoners and use their language to express his genuine love for Rome.  He states, “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III. ii). 


Conversely, Antony’s speech opposes Brutus’, and he uses the noble language of blank verse to address the masses.  The following is an excerpt from his speech:


I come / to bury / Caesar, / not to / praise him.


The e/vil that / men do / lives af/ter them;


The good / is oft / interr/ ed with / their bones. (III. ii. 73-75)


The significance of Antony’s blank verse is found in the contrast with Brutus’ prose.  Not only does Antony use a nobler language, he makes the audience question Brutus’ speech and intentions, which leads the crowd to seemingly endorse Antony more than Brutus.  Thus, another important element of blank verse in Julius Caesar comes in the miscalculation of Brutus to tailor his language to his audience because iambic pentameter denotes education, status and power. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more