In Julius Caesar the turning point of the story is found in Act II, Scene II. The events that take place within this scene set-up the rest of the story, and if such event did not take place then the story would not resolve correctly. My point is that the events that take place in Act II. Scene II and how women are viewed in Roman society will ultimately alter the plot of the story.
This scene will determine the outcome of Julius Caesar and shows what the conspiracys true intentions are. At the very beginning of this scene we see that Calpurnia had a bad dream where she yelled out Caesars name three times. Caesar tells his servant to run to the fortune teller and asks to make a sacrifice. Calpurnia enters the scene and it is just Caesar and her in to the room. Now it is critical that these two characters talk first because Caesar has to play the role as a husband and not as the Great Caesar.
Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, yet now they fright me. (Act II, Scene 2: 13-14). Calpurnia say that she is scared of ceremonies now and that she fears the Caesar will die if he leaves the house today. This is interesting because later in the scene when Decius comes in and says, To give the day a crown to mighty Caesar (Act II, Scene 2: 94), you assume the fact that there will be a big celebration when Caesar would be crowned king of Rome. So Calpurnia is foreshadowing events that might occur but she ultimately foreshadows the event of Caesars death.
As for the part of Caesar playing the husband role, he does but yet he does not. An excellent example would be: Yet Caesar shall go forth, for these predictions are to the world in general as to Caesar (Act II, Scene 2: 28-29). At this point we see that Caesar is referring to himself in the third person, the Great Caesar, even when talking to his own wife. He is far away from the Senate and public crowds and yet puts on his powerful public image as opposed to being the sensitive husband. With this image in his mind he does not see himself as a vulnerable human but as an immortal figure that will last forever. So when he talks about he is not fearful of all the omens that will lead to his demise, he is talking from his public image and not his true human one.
Caesar does act like a husband in the event that he eventually tries to stay home because of Calpurnias begging. Decius enters the scene and everything falls apart again. My reason for saying that is that up until the point of when Decius enters Caesar was going to stay home and the whole conspiracy would have failed. Decius is the catalyst that starts the entire event. Caesar has this insatiable desire to attain the crown now that it has been offered to him. Decius uses this to his advantage to try and lure Caesar to the Senate. to give this day a crown to mighty Caesar. If you shall send them word you will not come, their minds might change (Act II, Scene 2: 94-96), and with that Caesar makes up his mind and decides to go to Senate. His Public image once again takes hold of him and he makes a bad decision.
The roles of women in the Roman society play a fairly important role in this part of the play. When Caesar and Calpurnia are alone she eventually gets Caesar to concede and stay home for the day. When Decius enters and talks about how Caesar will attain the crown today, he is compelled to go against Calpurnias warning. From my understanding women in this age were still viewed upon as inferior to men. So when Decius gives his interpretation of Calpurnias Dream, It was a vision of fair and fortune Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, In which so many smiling Romans bathed, Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck Receiving blood(Act II, Scene 2:84-88), Caesar listens to his male friend and goes off with him to Senate. Caesar must love his wife because he does show more concern for her then Brutus did for his wife Portia in the previous scene. It all boils down to Caesars ego and that women are viewed to be inferior to men.
In line 65 Caesar states Shall I send a lie? when talking to Decius. He is opposed to lying to the Senate so he tells Decius to simply tell Senate that he will not be showing up today. The irony in this is that in line 55 Caesar says, Mark Antony shall say I am not well. Both kind of argue against each other because Caesar first lies and then he is telling Decius that he cannot lie to the Senate. I do believe he lies to begin with because of the fact that it is just Calpurnia and himself talking whether he should go to Senate. So he decides to lie at that point but when his fellow Senators arrive then his ego gets a hold of him and he decides to go against his original decision. Calpurnia will push at anything to try and get Caesar to stay home and not attend Senate, but Caesar feels that women can be misleading and are inferior to men so he ultimately makes the wrong decision.
In conclusion, the plot could have been altered if Caesars ego would have not got in the way. As many new characters entered the scene the plot shifted to where Caesar would die all because of Caesars public image and Caesars lack of respect for Calpurnias decision. It boils down to the fact that the events that take place in Act II. Scene II and how women are viewed in Roman society will ultimately alter the plot of the story.
Bibliography:
Shakespeare, William. Edt. Montgomery, William. Julius Caesar New York: Penguin Books, 2000.
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