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  • Essay / Shakespeare's Themes: How Shakespeare Uses Themes in His Plays

    William Shakespeare was an incredibly intelligent playwright; some of his greatest plays include Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare attributed approximately 1,700 to 3,000 words to the English language, estimates of his vocabulary range from 17,000 to 29,000 words (Facts about William Shakespeare). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayShakespeare survived the outbreak of bubonic plague while he was in London, the plague also arrived in Stratford, so that Shakespeare was only 3 months old (Facts about William Shakespeare). Many of the themes of his plays are represented through his characters. In the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, the themes used by the author are contrasting worlds, the rise of one character at the expense of another, deception and disguise, disorder giving way to order, forgiveness, redemption and conversion. The first theme in Julius Caesar is "Contrasting Worlds", this theme is represented through the two main characters, Brutus and Caesar. Some examples of how this theme is depicted are the differences in how Brutus and Caesar act and communicate with their respective wives. Brutus is logical in the sense that he does things like a computer, he does things in stages. When a very logical person like Brutus is in a relationship with a not very logical person like Portia, some things aren't communicated as well as they would be in a "normal" relationship. Brutus very rarely says, I love you, that's just who he is. While Caesar has a relationship with his wife, Calphurnia, in which she plays a somewhat important role in the decisions Caesar makes. Just like how she told him to stay home because she was having nightmares of people murdering Caesar and because of the bad omens that were happening, like the lioness giving birth in the streets (Shakespeare 79). Another example of this theme is the way they think. Caesar thinks highly of himself and effectively has an unlimited reserve of ego to keep his ball full at all times. While Brutus sees himself as a protector of the people and democracy. Another theme of Julius Caesar is "The rise of one character at the expense of another", represented by the horrible and controversial things the characters did. An example of this theme is how Caesar killed Pompey. Another example of this is how Brutus is supposed to kill Caesar. The third theme of Julius Caesar is “Deception and Disguise.” Some examples of this theme are how Cassius tricked Brutus into joining the conspiracy by using the stones written by "different" citizens. This led him to feel obligated to provide service to the people. Decius tricked Caesar into entering the Senate House by transforming the nightmare's intention into a positive thing rather than a negative one. Caesar is deceived into listening to a false call and is therefore unaware of the conspirators gathering around him. The last two themes of Julius Caesar are "Disorder yielding to order" and "Forgiveness, redemption and conversion", illustrated by the utter dramatic irony of the situation. Examples of these themes are when Caesar forgave Brutus for fighting with Pompey. An example of redemption is when Brutus redeemed himself by killing Caesar to maintain democracy and deter monarchy. Finally, an example of disorder leading to order is when the bad omens showed that there was disorder and then the foreshadowing of Caesar's death showed that order.