Conceptions of honor in Shakespeare
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Conceptions of honor are addressed in the Shakespeare plays Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. Julius Caesar was written in 1599 and Antony and Cleopatra in 1606-1607. Both are among the Roman plays of Shakespeare, plays set in the Roman Empire, though Antony and Cleopatra actually is more governed by the culture and society of Egypt where the play is set. Honor is an important Roman value, but the meaning of honor and the way it is belied by the actions of certain men are tested by the events in these plays. Honor in some ways is bound with Roman power, and there is a connection between the decline of power and the decline of honor, as Shakespeare is able to bring out centuries later as he looks back at the long lost empire and considers the meaning of honor from an Elizabethan point of view. A major issue in Julius Caesar is the meaning of honor and how Brutus can be an honorable man yet commit a dishonorable act. Brutus himself holds out honor as a primary value; If it be aught toward the general good, Set honor in one eye and death i' the other And I will look on both indifferently. For let the gods so speed me as I love The name of honor more than I fear death (I.ii.85-89). As noted, the issue of what this means becomes much-discussed and analyzed in the play, from efforts by Cassius to make all actions taken by himself, Brutus, and the other conspirators into something honorable, to the m
. . .
, morality comes from a life of self-control. He counters Epicurus by stating that the pursuit of pleasure is not part of the natural state of man.
The central concept of Stoicism was that only virtue mattered and that it was possible to detect a divine purpose in the world that would guide all to perfection. The philosophy is central in this play:
Shakespeare knows that because Stoicism is an artificially framed philosophy, deliberately and consciously adopted by its adherents, any actual Stoic Roman will have within him un-Stoic elements (Nuttall 111).
Nuttall notes how Cassius manipulates Brutus and in effect teaches him what to think. Brutus sees his own honor in protecting the people from a Caesar whom he believes wants to crown himself king:
Brutus sets out the case with scrupulous care. He knows nothing, personally, here and now, against Caesar. The alpha and omega if the case against him is that he would like to be crowned King. That crowning might change a nature at present blameless (Nuttall 113).
Mark Antony makes explicit reference to this view when he uses sarcasm to question the honor of Brutus, preferring to see the reality of the murder of Caesar as a defining act rather than to rely on the idealis
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Julius Caesar, Antony Cleopatra, Vii95-100 Dollimore, Peterfreund White, Pompey Cleopatra, Mark Antony, Sextus Pompeius, Stoicism Stoicism, Rome Charney, Stoic Roman, antony cleopatra, julius caesar, chelsea house 1988, public private, harold bloom, york chelsea, bloom ed, brutus honorable, william shakespeare's, york chelsea house, house 1988, harold bloom ed, chelsea house, shakespeare's antony cleopatra, cleopatra harold bloom,
Approximate Word count = 2589
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
More Essays on Conceptions of honor in Shakespeare
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
