Fate with Brutus and Cassius
Act one is the scene where the soothsayer gives Ceaser a warning that is vague with the line “Beware the ides of March”. The word fate comes in here because Shakespeare is trying to let us know that something will happen at the ides of March because we as an audience know that Ceaser is going to die but we don’t know where or when. Shakespeare here is playing the suspense for the audience. Dramtic irony is also used here, “Beware the ides of March” the characters in the play (Ceaser) have no idea what is going on. However the audience knows that Ceaser is going to die so Shakespeare uses suspense of where and when it is exactly gonna happen to keep the audience intreagued.
Calpurnia, Ceasers wife, warns ceaser to not leave the house “you shall not stir out of your house today” Calpurnia had a bad dream about the omens implying that ceaser will die. In her dream she said that she could see graves yawning and yielding up their dead ,fiery warriors fighting upon the clouds and ghosts shrieking about the streets. Ceaser doesn’t believe that this prediction has anything to do with him as there is a whole world where people die all the time. However Calpurnia replies with” when beggars die there are no comets seen, the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of a prince.” She is saying that if someone that’s not important dies the heavens don’t seem to care but when a prince (Ceaser) was to die then it would be a very big deal.In the end, Ceaser agrees with Calpurnia and says that he will not go and send mark Antony to tell the others that he is not well.
Fate is also in this scene of Ceasers’ death because he was once warned by the soothsayer to “beware the ides of March” although this warning was vague, we knew that something was going to happen here and it was unavoidable. after Ceaser agreeing to stay at home with his wife, he was later persuaded to go there by Decius. At the ides of March with the conspirators where Ceaser then said “the ides of march have come” then the following reply from the soothsayer “ay,Ceaser,but not gone.” the soothsayer is saying that yes the ides of march has come but is not over yet. After a little argument about metalus’ brother (cimber) being banished and Ceaser refusing to let him back in the line “i am as constamt as the northen star” here is saying that what he does and says will stay and will not be undone like the northern star that is always there. The conspirators didnt seem to pleased about this so Casca screamed out “speak hands for me” and stabbed Ceaser in the back,Ceaser then stood up and said “et tu brute, Then fall Ceaser”. He was ashamed that Brutus was to be such a roman to want him dead too, especially when Ceaser liked Brutus, after these words is when conspirators followed with multiple stabs to the chest and stomach. This is fate because he could not avoid going to the ides of march what so ever. Even after he made a decision to not go he was then persuaded to go. This clearly shows that it was his fate to go the ides of march to be killed.
Fate also plays with cassius when he commits suicide.. This is shown by him believing that he is losing the war, he thinks that he is losing because he got told by Titinus that “Brutus gave the word too early” and pindarus “Fly further off ,my lord , fly further off! Mark Antony is in our tents” after he has heard these words Cassius now in belief that they are losing the war and Antony is on his way. Cassius feels like they are losing the war and doesn’t want Antony to have the joy in killing him so then requests for pindarus to strive through him with the same dagger that killed Ceaser. Pindarus does so and flees. The others then enter to tell Cassius that they were actually winning the war. Fate plays with Cassius here because he thought that he was losing because he could hear the screams ,cries and explosions. Also could see his tents on fire and got told that Antony was on his way so he wanted to cheat fate by killing himself instead of letting fate have him by Antony taking his life.
Ozymandias represents fate as well because the poem creates an image that he was a ruler who created big empires that eventually he lost. And fate comes in because it seems that no matter what he tried to make for the people of his city, fate eventually catches up and he loses everything just like ceaser. All that remains is a stone statue in the desert where ” a half sunk, shattered visage lies”
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