Symbolism of Caesar in "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare.

Essay by coliseum92High School, 11th grade October 2005

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"Et tu, Brute?" The final words spoken by Julius Caesar before his closest friend, and confidant, drove the final sword through his chest and watched him fall to the ground. When Caesar fell, democracy fell, and left Rome in a very unsettled state.

There are many thoughts and ideas that could be drawn from the very simplistic white and black halves of my mask. Light and dark, good and evil, night and day, happiness and sadness, and the list goes on. The light half of my mask represents the democracy and overall mood of the people under Caesar. On the light side, things were improving, things were happening. Rome was a prosperous, happy place and the people adored him and respected him as a general and emperor. It is said that when he was a general, he slept on the ground with his men, ate the same repugnant food as his men, and fought on the ground with his men.

He was the peoples ruler.

The dark side exemplifies tyranny and deceit and the anger of the Roman people. It represents the certain void left in Rome after Caesar. There was a strong fight for power after he died and this put Rome in a dark age, so to speak, as generals and politicians wanted themselves to be proclaimed leader of Rome.

Wreaths were a symbol of power that the emperors wore. The green wreath on the light side signifies the power and order of Rome when its unified. A wreath is a mix of intertwined stems and leaves that when all pieces of it are present, there is order and strength in the wreath just as there was in Rome. But remove the right stick, and the whole thing falls apart.

Red. Blood, love, lust,