Dirty Politics Element in Shakespeare's 'julius Caesar'

Marcus Brutus is perhaps the only honest and noble man throughout Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’. The rest of the characters, including the ‘conspirators’ and even Mark Antony who claims to be wholly in support of Caesar, are double-sided and have hidden agendas that Shakespeare skillfully weaves into the play. ‘Julius Caesar’ fully shows that politics is a dirty game, with the series of events that take place throughout the play, and the sly thinking of each character, starting from even the smallest action.

Act I Scene (i) depicts Murellus and Flavius pulling down decorations that have been adorned on Caesar’s statue, in their hatred of him. They are almost instantly killed showing the heights which politically minded characters such as Caesar take, or command others to take, to crush any rebellion against them. This is a small incident, but significant, in my opinion, in illustrating the corruption that ensues even in the smallest of cases.

Although each of the character displays impeccable courtesy and respect to one another while faced with confrontation with the other, they seldom truly have such opinions of each other. In Act I Scene (ii) both Caesar and Cassius confess their wariness and dislike to one another’s actions and motives to Antony and Brutus, respectively. Cassius although bows to Caesar and praises him while in confrontation with him, he scoffs at his weaknesses behind his back, while Caesar at the same time doubts Cassius’ motives and thinks that he has a hidden agenda- because he knows how the dirty game called politics works.

Then, in Act III Scene (iii) Julius Caesar is killed by the conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius. How is this assassination any different from, say, Kennedy being shot in Dallas or Lincoln attacked in a theater? Caesar was stabbed on the steps of the Capitol by nearly thirteen people who he had thought to be his friends. For political reasons, desiring power and status, these