Superstition In Shakespeares The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Essay

Superstition In Shakespeares The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Superstition has been around almost since people first inhabited the earth. For this reason, it has played a main role in many classical pieces of literature. One of Shakespeare’s tragedies, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is full of superstition and the supernatural. It contained so much superstition in order to foreshadow key events in the plot, to further develop characters, and to thrill and relate to the Elizabethan audience for whom the play was written. Foreshadowing was perhaps the main reason superstition was used in Julius Caesar. The supernatural provided hints to the reader about 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 â€Å"Beware the ides of march†(312; act1,sc2) he is truly laying the groundwork for the rest of the events leading up to Caesar’s assassination. Although Julius dismisses the soothsay with a simple â€Å"he is a dreamer, let 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 know what is going to happen to him. (Farrow) That one simple dialogue sets the stage for the rest of the plot to advance swiftly. One of the reasons why this warning may have gone unheeded is because most sooth-sayers were not well respected, though many turned out to be right. â€Å"Since they lack any formal office or shop, and they predict forthcomings without fee, one can see quite easily why citizens would distrust their predictions†(Julius) One of the most graphic examples of Caesar’s death being foreshadowed was most definitely Calpurnia’s dream the night before Caesar is scheduled to go to the Senate. Caesar says â€Å"...she dreamt tonight she saw my statue, which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts, did run pure blood, and many lusty Romans came smiling and did bath their hands in it...†(341; act2, sc2). This very gruesome image is meant to hint at Caesar’s death. However, when Decius arrives at Caesar’s home, he tries to convince Caesar that he has misinterpre... ...sar is catarchic astrology, which determines whether a particular 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 â€Å"Elizabethans generally believed that prophecies were to be taken seriously, and certainly that no prudent statesman could run the risk of ignoring 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 â€Å" 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 ultimate goal of using superstition to foreshadow important plot events, to delve deeper into character’s personalities, and to create excitement among the audiences of the Elizabethan era.