REJANO, JULIUS PAULO J REJANO

11 EQUINOX

ORAL COMMUNICATION
ANALYZE TRIBUTE
Understand the opening scenes of Shakespeare's plays and
you understand what follows: The scene has been painted
with brilliant strokes. As Julius Caesar  opens, Flavius and
Marullus, tribunes of Rome, are attempting to reestablish
civil order. But it's too little, too late: There is disorder in the
streets. The tribunes call upon the commoners to identify
themselves in terms of their occupations. In the past, Flavius
could recognize a man's status by his dress, but now all the
signposts of stability are gone and the world is out of
control and dangerous. At first glance, this disorder is
attributed to the lower classes who won't wear the signs of
their trade and who taunt the tribunes with saucy language
full of puns, but while the fickle and dangerous nature of the
common Romans is an important theme in later scenes,
here the reader is given indications that the real fault lies
with the ruling class, which is, after all, responsible for the
proper governing of the people.
When Flavius demands, "Is this a holiday?" he is asking
whether Caesar's triumph ought to be celebrated. It's a
rhetorical question. Flavius thinks poor Romans ought not to
celebrate but should "weep [their] tears / Into the channel,
till the lowest stream / Do kiss the most exalted shores of
all." Caesar, a member of the ruling class, has violently
overthrown the government and brought civil strife with
him. These issues would have resonated with an audience of
the time, able to recall civil disturbances themselves and
with a ruler who, by virtue of being a woman, was perceived
as less able to rule than a man. (Paradoxically, Elizabeth
brought a great deal of peace and stability to England.) In
addition, his contemporaries would have recognized that
Caesar has overstepped his bounds. Statues of him wearing
a crown have been set up before he has been offered the
position of ruler, and Flavius and Marullus plan to deface
them. Just as Caesar has brought disorder with him, the
tribunes contribute to the upheaval by becoming part of the
unruly mob themselves.
Why are these statues, erected by supporters of Caesar, set
up in the first place? In effect, they are, like modern
advertising and political spin doctoring, meant to establish
an image of Caesar in the popular imagination. Romans
would associate statues with gods and important political
figures. Thus Caesar would take on the same associations. In
addition, by putting a crown on Caesar before he is actually
given the job, the people of Rome are better prepared when
it happens. The image already established, Caesar's
supporters hope that the event will be more palatable and
the transition to power smoother. The act of erecting these
statues is part of the process of persuasion and persuasion
is a central theme of this play.
But if persuasion is necessary, it is because political factions
are vying for power. This splintering of the ruling class
means that there is no longer one common vision of what
Rome is and what it is to be a Roman. Marullus draws
attention to this problem when he returns to Flavius'
original question, "Is this a holiday?" As Marullus points out,
it is indeed a holiday, the festival of Lupercal. He is
concerned that by disrobing the images "deck'd with
ceremonies" he will destroy ceremonies meant not only to
celebrate Caesar but also a festival that is part of Rome's
history, tradition, and religion. Ceremonies and rituals, in
both Roman and Elizabethan terms, were means of
maintaining social order, of knowing who you were as a
group. By destroying that identity, Marullus seems to sense
that he will contribute to the destruction of the state. His
intuition is correct and foreshadows the battles to come.