Fiction :  

“A Visit of Charity” by Eudora Welty

Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer and
novelist whose novel The Optimist’s Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Eudora Welty was
a prolific writer who wrote stories in multiple genres. Throughout her writing, we find the
recurring themes of the paradox of human relationships, the importance of place and the
importance of mythological influences that help shape the theme.

Welty said that her interest in the relationships between individuals and their communities stems
from her natural abilities as an observer. Her stories are often characterized by the struggle to
retain identity while keeping community relationships. Welty is noted for using mythology to
connect her specific characters and locations to universal truths and themes.

Summary of the story : “A Visit of Charity” : The action of “A Visit of Charity” is deceptively
simple. Marian, a young Campfire Girl of fourteen years reluctantly visits an “Old Ladies’Home”
to gain points for her charity work. Marian is in a youth-development organization in America
called Campire, and one of her duties is to visit a home for the elderly in order to earn her some
points. During her visit, she reluctantly meets two old women, one who chatters away in an
obsequious manner and another, old Addie, who, confined to bed, resents the little girl’s visit as
well as her own babbling roommate. She discovers that they live in cold, uncomfortable rooms
and suffer from extreme loneliness. She panics at the sight of their grief and instead of consoling
them, flees the place. When Marian leaves the ‘Home’, she retrieves an apple that she had hidden
before entering and takes a big bite out of it. Thus the story ends in a seemingly inconclusive way,
leaving the reader to wonder if it is really a story at all. When one looks beneath the slight surface
action of the story, however, one sees that “A Visit of Charity” has a complex structure based on a
series of metaphorical devices, all of which serve to evoke the dreamlike grotesque atmosphere
within the nursing home. The author Eudora Welty employs the use of symbolism, vivid imagery
and diction to convey her cynical opinions

Character Analysis of Marian in “A Visit of Charity”

In the short story, “A Visit of Charity,” Eudora Welty illustrates the story of a fourteen-year-old
girl named Marian, who is a Campfire Girl, paying a visit to the Old Ladies’ Home in order to
earn points as a Campfire Girl. Marian thought that it would be an easy task that would take just
a little of her time and an insignificant amount of effort on her part. She even brought a potted
plant for extra points. Marian thought that she was going to visit a sweet and kind little old lady,
but she encountered not one, but two old ladies who were far from gracious and charming. The
visit was not at all like what Marian had expected. Although Marian endeavored to exhibit love
and kindness by visiting a nursing home, her motives however for the visit were far from
endearing and compassionate. Her statements and actions reveal that she was deceptive, selfish,
self-centered, apprehensive, naïve, lacking confidence and apathetic.

After listening to the old ladies’ fuss and fret, Marian suddenly declares that she cannot stay there
even a minute longer. Marian wishes to report sick that the old ladies would let her go. This
points to the deception that Marian wanted to indulge in. Marian’s motive for the visit to the Old
Ladies’ Home exhibited her self-centeredness and selfish motives. She didn’t visit them out of
compassion and kindness of her heart, but her incentive was to earn points for her Campfire Girl
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status. The hiding of the apple near the bush instead of offering it to the old ladies and taking a
bite off it when outside the building is an indicator of her selfishness. Marian was naïve because
she thought that she was going to visit some sweet old lady at the ‘Home’ who couldn’t do much
except do some sweet talk. But to her surprise, she ends up being insulted with rude comments
and harassed for money. Marian’s lack of confidence was displayed when she falls silent after
starting a conversation with the ladies because she thinks the old ladies weren’t listening. It was
as if Marian wasn’t available. Marian’s apathetic nature was clearly exposed when, upon
leaving the ‘Home’, she hurriedly caught the bus. Marian’s concerns were apparently not for the
hapless old ladies, but to catch the bus and go home. She was relieved that she had performed her
duty and earned the points.

The basic theme of the story is suggested by the obvious irony of the title, for Marian’s visit is not
one of true charity, but rather a formal, institutionalized gesture. It certainly does not represent the
biblical notion of charity. From the beginning of the story, Marian does not think of the two old
women as people like herself. She is not only aware of the strangeness of the old ladies, but she
has also become a stranger to herself. Thrown out of her familiar world, where she belongs, she is
in a grotesque dream world, where she intensely feels her difference from the old ladies and thus
her own separation and isolation. This symbolic sense of alienation explains the strange,
dreamlike effect of the nursing home on Marian.

The writer interestingly tries to bring out the total “lack of true love” which has become the norm.
Why do the two old women do not love each other? It should in fact have been easy for them to
perceive their common identity and thus maintain a sense of unity instead of constantly trying to
outdo each other.

Symbolism:

A Visit of Charity” focuses on the problem of love and separateness as the most predominant
theme. Symbol, metaphor, and biblical allusion are the primary devices that Welty uses to give
depth and resonance to this seemingly simple story. The story is not merely a social criticism of
institutional charity; it is about the difficulty, in any context, of following the biblical injunction
to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Marian’s final act—retrieving the apple she hid before entering
the home and taking a big bite out of it—is the final symbolic gesture that unifies all the other
metaphors and allusions in the story. Her biting the apple, recalling the biblical story of Adam and
Eve, suggests both the sense of separation that follows the Fall and the difficulty of healing that
separation through love, as mandated by the New Testament. In the Gospel of John, Jesus three
times asks Peter if he loves Him. When Peter replies that he does, Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.”

When one recalls that Addie, the old woman who desperately needs love, is constantly referred to
as a sheep or a little lamb, the implication of Marian’s bite into the apple is clear. She has refused
to feed the sheep—literally by refusing to give the apple to Addie and symbolically by refusing to
give her love. Thus, by means of the biblical allusions, the story illustrates both the Old
Testament loss of union (Adam and Eve eviction from the Garden of Eden) as depicted in the
Genesis story and the difficulty of following the New Testament injunction (to regain that union
with God by loving the neighbor as thyself). Marian takes a bite of the apple and the story is over;
the reader is left with the echo of old Addie’s despairing cry, “Who are you? You’re a stranger—a
perfect stranger. Don’t you know you’re a stranger?”

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Themes:

Selfishness
Marian hiding the apple before entering the “Home” implies that she did not want to share her
apple with anyone, and if she were to bring it in with her she feared that she would not bring it
out. Overall, Marian seems like quite a selfish person as her motives are strictly based on what
she will gain from the experience rather than the effect that it will have on the old ladies that she
is visiting. 
Treatment of the Elderly
Not only does this story speak of selfishness blinding the society to the needs of others, but it
specifically focuses on that of selfishness associated with the treatment of the elderly in nursing
homes. Marian describes the room in which the two old ladies are staying as comparable to a
jail; small, wet, dark, and with a closed door. The nurse that leads Marian to the ladies room acts
as if though she is the prison guard rather than a nurse. Marian is not meant to represent one
person, but rather a whole society who have become insensitive to the needs of the elderly. 
Person versus Person
The conflict that exists within the short story "A Visit of Charity" is that of person versus person,
more specifically between the two old women. Within the story, Addie and the old woman argue
about a variety of different topics.

Poem : “The Sun is Warm” by P.B. Shelley Stanzas Written in Dejection near Naples

P. B. Shelley:
Percy Bysshe Shelley (04 August 1792 - 08 July 1822) is regarded as one of the finest lyric and
epic poets in the English language.

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the greatest contributors to the romantic poetry in the English
language and author of the Prometheus Unbound and many other poems. Best known for his
anthology works such as “Ode to the West wind” and “To a Skylark”. His major works mainly
consist of lengthy and imaginative poems. In his short but successful career, Shelley gained
appreciation from eminent persons such as Karl Marx and from other contemporary authors as
well including eminent poet and friend Lord Byron.

Analysis of the Poem “Stanzas Written in Dejection near Naples – The Sun is Warm”

Shelley was in Naples from November 29, 1818, to February 28, 1819 as it offers a pleasantly
warm climate in winter. Naples is at its best, so far as weather is concerned, and Shelley and his
wife, Mary, should have been happy there. However, Shelley was in poor health and the
delightful winter climate of Naples did not help him. The major cause of his dejection was not his
health but his wife's estrangement from him following the death of their daughter Clara on
September 24, 1818. Mary seems to have felt that her husband was indirectly responsible for the

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death of the child because he had insisted on making a hurried journey in hot weather to Venice at
a time when little Clara was sick. The child died shortly after the Shelley family reached Venice.

There are other causes too that undoubtedly contributed to Shelley's death-wish at Naples. His
first wife, Harriet Westbrook, and Mary Shelley's half-sister, Fanny Inlay, had committed suicide;
the courts had taken from him the custody of his two children born through Harriet; friends had
turned against him; his poetry was neglected by the public and condemned by the critics, and he
was plagued by financial and personal problems. Shelley experienced one of the lowest periods of
his life while he was in Naples. His desire to free himself by death from his troubles does not
necessarily reveal any moral or character weakness but an understandably profound
discouragement at a time when everything seemed to be going wrong. Nature, no matter how
beautiful, was of little help at that point of time.

The central meaning of "Stanzas Written in Dejection, near Naples" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
seems to be a contrast between his own "despair" and the relative “comfort” he finds in nature.
To find solace in nature is typical of Romantic poetry, as is also the expression of heightened
emotions. Both of these elements figure very strongly in Shelley's poem.

The poem begins with a detailed description of a pleasant natural scene. The speaker, who is the
poet himself is seated by the shore watching the lights on the water and contemplating about his
life. Shelley describes a beautiful day, probably on the Gulf of Naples, as the poet references
"sparkling waves", “blossoming buds” "the winds, the birds, the ocean floods and all blending in
a pleasant harmony. Shelley watches the seaweed on the ocean bottom and observes the waves
dissolve into light as they strike the shore. Sitting alone on the sand while observing the sparkling
ocean and listening to the sound of the waves, he wonders how his joy could have been doubled if
only he had a companion to share the emotion that were surging within him.While Shelley's
imagery indicates that the scene is aesthetically pleasant, he also imbues the natural setting with
his own emotions when he says "The City's voice itself is soft like Solitude's". This solitude that
he feels in the surrounding environment is referenced in the title ‘Dejection’ and later in the poem
"despair" in line 28. In the second stanza, Shelley continues to use sensory details to describe the
nature’s scene, but midway through the stanza, he explicitly places himself in the scene by saying,
"I sit upon the sands alone --". He does, however, hear in the sounds of the ocean, something that
"shares in his emotion".

From this point, Shelley transitions to a more detailed explanation of his emotional state. He feels
as though he has nothing, and judges that "Others have more than he”. He observes those other
people as "Smiling" and experiencing "pleasure", while "To me that cup has been dealt in another
measure". He sees the beauty around him and knows he should be able to appreciate it, but he is
unable to. He sees people going about their daily business and bemoans that life has dealt him
"another measure" disabling him from taking joy from his surroundings. Shelley contrasts his own
feelings of emptiness with what he sees as the fullness of others' lives.

The fourth stanza opens with Shelley returning to some of the ideas of stanzas one and two, as he
writes, "Yet now despair itself is mild,/ Even as the winds and waters are". He admits that his
despair is mild. He even thinks he might "lie down like a tired child" and passively wait for death
rather than do anything to hasten it. While he is dejected, his feelings are tempered by the nature
around him.

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Shelley closes the poem by saying that death would one day steal upon him quietly, turning his
warm cheeks cold, while the waves would continue their monotonous rhythm as consciousness
grows fainter. Just like he will regret the departure of this beautiful day, a few people might regret
that he is gone but many he feels will not miss him at much, "for I am one/ Whom men love not,”
His emotions range from despair in the first stanza to the relative comfort referenced in stanza
four. It seems at first as if he may be suffering over a lover, but in the last stanza he appears to be
lamenting the fact that he is not well-known and appreciated as a Poet and he hopes that someone
might lament and regret his passing away. Again, Shelley prioritizes the beauty of the natural
setting and its ability to yield positive emotions. He wishes that his poetry ( just like the natural
setting) would evoke joy and pleasure long after he is gone.

So the central meaning of the poem seems to highlight the speaker's dejected emotional state and
the ability of nature to confer pleasant, long-lasting memories. This sad state (dejection caused by
lack of hope, health, peace, calmness, contentment, fame, power, love is an outcome of his
association with the society) appears to be allayed (dispelled/relieved) by the beauty and comfort
of nature surrounding him.

Shelley's state of dejection in "Stanzas" is artistically placed in a sharply contrasting setting that
effectively emphasizes the dejection. Shelley concludes the poem by saying that the end of this
day will evoke joy whenever he could recall this day from his memory.

Themes:
A society’s treatment towards the poets/literary writers:: Impact of familial crisis on one’s
professional output :: Natures dominance / control over man’s mood :: Existential crisis ::
Inevitability of death : Transitory phase of life :: Crisis outweighing one’s joys :: Ethereal feelings
experienced in the lap of nature :: Nature - a reflection of life and life - reflection of nature ::
Renewal /revival/regeneration of life - cycle of life going a full circle

Prose : “Benares” by Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley:

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), an English novelist and critic is best known for his dystopian
novel Brave New World (1931). Besides novels, he had also published travel books, histories,
poems, plays and essays on philosophy, arts, sociology, religion and morals. Aldous Leonard
Huxley was born on July 26, 1894 in Surrey, England. Educated at Eton, Aldous Huxley was
forced to leave the school at the age of seventeen due to an affliction of the eyes. Though
problems with his eyes would remain with him for the rest of his life, Huxley was able to attend
Oxford where he received a degree in English literature. His first collection of poetry appeared in
1916 and two more volumes followed by 1920. Aldous Huxley is one of the most subtle and
intellectual of modern writers.
A controversial figure for most of his life, Huxley died from cancer on November 22, 1963, only
hours after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, Texas. By the time of his death,
he was embraced in some circles as an intellectual and writer of the highest class, especially for
his creation of the dystopian fantasy in his novel Brave New World and his engagement of the
theme of commercialization in modern society.

Summary of Benaras – By Aldous Huxley

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Aldous Huxley in this essay titled “Benares” begins on a cynical and satirical note. The story of
the essay is woven round the legend of solar eclipse and the superstition that the sun is swallowed
up by the monster serpent. The essay opens with the description of the gathering of millions of
Hindus on the bathing ghats along the river Ganges in Benares (now Varanasi). The context here
is the “eclipse of the sun” at Benares, where a million people had gathered to assist this “Light of
Heaven” in other words the sun against his enemy (that is the so called serpent). Now, the science
books over the years have fairly explained that a solar eclipse occurs only when the moon comes
in between the sun and the earth. But, the eye of faith of the multitude of people was far more
important than the smoked glass as they continue to throng theghats of the Ganges.
 
Although, the eclipse was so insignificant to the extent of being almost invisible, the author was
still keen on visiting the Ganges not to watch the eclipse that day but to observe the “Hindus”
watching the moon’s silhouette, which the author describes as an extraordinary spectacle. The
metaphorical image of a demoniacal serpent swallowing the sun is a part of the superstition
(belief-system) of the ‘Indian Hindu’ and this idea is so strikingly intriguing that the author is
awe-struck by their world of created fantasies.  The observations the author makes while rowing
through the Ganges on this spectacular day leaves him wanting for more of this spectacle. But he
also pronounces a note of caution to the people of this nation on their excitement for this age-old-
ritual.
 
The author makes a sharp comment on the class differences that seep into the religious realm,
when he describes the princess’s visit to the Ganges in a Palanquin carried by liveried attenders.
The very act of the rich in showing their superiority even at a religious place sometimes suggest
that even a sacred place like Benares cannot be a great-leveler. But, it can surely show that the
poor eventually have access to better things like the plebeian women bathing in the open Ganges
under the sky, while the princess and her coterie have to bathe in that dark, stagnating bilge-water.
The streaming swarms of people trudging on bare feet with weights balanced on their head and
with no proper shelter, old men leaning on their staves, children astride on their parents hips are
some of the images that capture the authors attention and bring out the stark contrast that exists
between the haves and have-nots across the world over the years.
 
The dead bodies and corpses smoldering on burning faggots with their feet protruding out of the
pyre evoke a sense of gruesomeness and grotesqueness, which is hard to fathom for it is the very
place where people have come to rebuke the serpent and appease their sun god, while they look
down with apathy (indifference) at the human body that needs immediate attention. Aldous
Huxley when writing about the unseemly sight of flesh burning at the cremation ghats,
bones sticking out and men tending to the fire with their wooden sticks, displays unease,
that is never about 'burial' versus 'cremation'. Rather it is that which is 'proper' versus the
unease of signifying the abject. The holy men are compared to cormorants and their remarkable
ability to concentrate and meditate in this chaotic surroundings amazes the author. 
 
The author’s wit is at full display when he describes the people washing, gargling, spitting,
blowingtheir nose in the very water which they later consume as sacred water and the
abbreviation of their devotion by the police to make room for the next installment of the waiting
crowds. The differences between the human and animal are brought out very finely by the writer.
The satirical description is of a bull (a sacred totem of the Hindus) eating away food lying in a
beggar’s bowl who was fast asleep. The author is quick to draw conclusions on the instinctive
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ability of the animal versus the imaginative thinking of the man.  He goes on to say that animals
although stupid having no imagination often behave far more sensibly than men and are obedient
to their instincts. Efficiently and by instinct, they do the appropriate things at the right time i.e eat
when hungry , drink when thirsty and rest in leisure, while a man with his intelligent and
imaginative thinking devises elaborate and roundabout measures for the achievement of remote
ends. He concludes that only a human mind could be stupid enough to dream of making ritual
gestures in the hope of influencing the outside world for his benefit. By the time, a man learns
that these things are idiotic through experience; he surely would have lost a good quantum of his
life time.
 
In conclusion, the author points to the millions of Hindus who have come to the banks of the river
Ganges to save the sun, but how many he wonders would come forward to save India. The
immense energy within the people should be galvanized and channeled into political and social
spheres, whereby the country can liberate and transform itself to a developed nation than believe
in irrational religious superstitions. Religion is a luxury, which India should not indulge in as it
will never be free unless it breaks away from the shackles of superstitions and religion. Despite
his derisive tone, Huxley’s fascination for the place and the rituals is very apparent.

Themes:
Man vs. Animal, Blind imitation of age-old beliefs, Reasoning vs. instinct, Indifference and
disregard for people around, superstitions reigning inspite of technological advancements,
treatment of the poor throughout human history vs. fantasies of the rich and affluent, Man’s
regressive behavior in progressive times, unnecessary rituals vs. the dire need of the hour,
Intelligent thinking vs. base thought

Play : “Julius Caesar” by Shakespeare

William Shakespeare:

William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, actor and a
playwright widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-
eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon". His works
consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 Sonnets, two long Narrative Poems, and a few other
verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays remain highly popular, and are constantly studied,
performed and have been translated into every major living languages and are performed more
often than those of any other playwright.

Summary of “Julius Caesar”

Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy which opens with great celebration in the
streets of Rome. Scores of Roman citizens are rebuked for wandering the streets, neglecting their
work in order to watch Julius Caesar’s triumphal parade at Rome. Rome is a republic governed by
elected noblemen. Caesar had defeated the sons of the deceased Roman general Pompey, his
archrival, in battle. Caesar enters with his entourage, including the military and political figures
Brutus, Cassius, and Antony. A Soothsayer calls out to Caesar to “beware the Ides of March,” but
Caesar ignores him and proceeds with his victory celebration

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Brutus fears that the people would want Caesar to become king, which would overturn the
republic. Cassius concurs that Caesar is treated like a god though he is merely a man, no better
than them and recalls incidents of Caesar’s physical weakness and marvels that this fallible man
has become so powerful. He blames himself and Brutus for allowing Caesar’s rise to power:
surely the rise of such a man cannot be the work of fate. Another politician, Casca, tells Brutus
and Cassius that, during the celebration, Antony (Brutu’s close aide) offered the crown to Caesar
three times and the people cheered, but Caesar refused it each time. He reports that Caesar then
fell to the ground and had some kind of seizure before the crowd; his demonstration of weakness,
however, did not alter the plebeians’ devotion to him. Brutus goes home to consider Casca and
Cassius’s words thoughtfully especially regarding Caesar’s poor qualifications to rule, while
Cassius and Casca hatch a plot to draw Brutus into a conspiracy against Caesar.

Brutus finds letters in his house apparently written by Roman citizens worried that Caesar has
become too powerful. But, it is later revealed that these letters have in fact been forged and
planted by Cassius, who knows that if Brutus believes it is the people’s will that Caesar be
thrown, he will support a plot to remove Caesar from power. A committed supporter of the
Republic, Brutus fears the possibility of a dictator-led empire, worrying that the populace would
lose its voice. While Cassius and Casca are outright jealous and want Caesar killed. They
persuade Brutus to kill Caesar in order to save Rome. Although, Brutus has the larger interests of
Rome’s people at heart, but he barely knows that he has joined the conspirators against Rome.

At the Senate, the conspirators speak to Caesar, bowing at his feet and encircling him. One by
one, they stab him to death. When Caesar sees his dear friend Brutus among his murderers, he
gives up his struggle and dies. In Act III, Scene 2, Brutus gives a short speech to a group
of plebeians (common people) of Rome. They desired to know why Caesar was killed by the
senators and somehow seemed to distrust Brutus.

Brutus and Cassius go to the Forum to speak to the public. Brutus characteristically, makes a very
solemn and logical speech to the masses where he reiterates that though he loves Caesar, he loves
Rome more, and Caesar’s ambition posed a danger to Roman liberty. The speech placates the
crowd. Brutus begins his speech with the line: 'Romans, countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my
cause.' He addresses his audience as Romans first and friends last. The arrangement of these
words shows us that his heart lies with Rome. Additionally, he states this line: 'If then that friend
demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I
loved Rome more.' Again, Brutus is appealing to the Romans by demonstrating his love for his
country and stating that Caesar's death was a necessity. Brutus goes on to describe Caesar as
an ambitious man but tells them that he will still honor his bravery and that his crimes of
ambition have not been exaggerated. He then asks the crowd if they are still upset. It appears that
he has won over the crowd with his honorable speech and reasons for killing Caesar. He leaves
them with this line: 'With this I depart: that I slew as my best lover for the good of Rome, I have
the same dagger for myself when it shall please my country to need my death.' Could this line be
foreshadowing?

When Antony asks Brutus to be allowed to speak over the body as well; Brutus grants his
permission, though Cassius remains suspicious of Antony. Brutus takes leave and tells the
plebeians that he has willingly given permission for Marc Antony to speak at Caesar's
funeral and share the achievements of Caesar, a man who was considered to be a great

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warrior. The conspirators depart, and Antony, alone now, swears that Caesar’s death shall be
avenged. The commoners eagerly ask Marc Antony to speak.

Marc Antony ingeniously builds a case against Brutus and instill feelings of pity and awe for
Caesar in the common people. Marc Antony's speech wins over the crowd, resulting in an
unfortunate situation for Brutus. Marc Antony smartly begins his speech with this famous line:
'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. He
gains the Plebeians’ trust. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their
bones.' Can you see the difference in the pattern? Brutus refers to them as Romans first, but
Antony refers to them as friends first; this gains the crowd's trust. He also reminds them that they
are only thinking of the negative things they have just heard and sneakily reminds them of the
great things that Caesar accomplished that they have forgotten. Antony uses irony and repetition
to suggest that Brutus was lying and makes the case against Brutus. For example, he states that
Caesar 'was my friend, faithful and just to me. But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an
honorable man.' The phrase is repeated four times and this repetition is used to show the Romans
the great things that Caesar has done for the country, like bringing captives home to Rome and
helping the poor. He states that these are rare traits for an ambitious man.
Finally, he nails it by stating that he offered Caesar a crown three times at Lupercal, a Roman
festival, and he refused it three times. He demonstrates that Caesar did not act in an ambitious
way. After each piece of evidence, he ends his speech by stating that Brutus said that Caesar was
ambitious and Brutus is an honorable man.
The next scene shifts to the time when Brutus learns of the deaths of Cassius and Titinius. With a
heavy heart, he prepares to take on the Romans again. When his army loses, doom appears
imminent. Brutus asks one of his men to hold his sword while he impales (pierces) himself on it.
Finally, as he dies, he says that Caesar can now rest satisfied. Just then, Octavius and Antony
arrive. Antony speaks over Brutus’s body, calling him the noblest Roman of all. While the other
conspirators acted out of envy and ambition, he observes, Brutus genuinely believed that he acted
for the benefit of Rome. Octavius orders that Brutus be buried in the most honorable way. The
men then depart to celebrate their victory.

Character Analysis:

Brutus: Brutus emerges as the most complex character in Julius Caesar and is also the play’s
tragic hero. In his soliloquies, the audience gains insight into the complexities of his motives. He
is a powerful public figure, but he appears also as a husband, a master to his servants, a dignified
military leader, and a loving friend. The conflicting value systems that battle with each other in
the play as a whole are enacted on a microcosmic level in Brutus’s mind. Even after Brutus has
committed the assassination with the other members of the conspiracy, questions remain as to
whether, in light of his friendship with Caesar, the murder was a noble, decidedly selfless act or
proof of a truly evil callousness, a gross indifference to the ties of friendship and a failure to be
moved by the power of a truly great man.

Brutus’s rigid idealism is both his greatest virtue and his most deadly flaw. In the world of the
play, where self-serving ambition seems to dominate all other motivations, Brutus lives up
to Antony’s elegiac description of him as “the noblest of Romans.” However, his commitment to
principle repeatedly leads him to make miscalculations: wanting to curtail violence, he ignores
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Cassius’s suggestion that the conspirators kill Antony as well as Caesar. In another moment of
naïve idealism, he again ignores Cassius’s advice and allows Antony to speak a funeral oration
over Caesar’s body. As a result, Brutus forfeits the authority of having the last word on the
murder and thus allows Antony to incite the plebeians to riot against him and the other
conspirators. Brutus later endangers his good relationship with Cassius by self-righteously
condemning what he sees as dishonorable fund-raising tactics on Cassius’s part. In all of these
episodes, Brutus acts out of a desire to limit the self-serving aspects of his actions; ironically,
however, in each incident he dooms the very cause that he seeks to promote, thus serving no one
at all.

Antony : Antony proves strong in all of the ways that Brutus proves weak. His impulsive,
improvisatory nature serves him perfectly, first to persuade the conspirators that he is on their
side, thus gaining their leniency, and then to persuade the plebeians of the conspirators’ injustice,
thus gaining the masses’ political support. Not too scrupulous to stoop to deceit and duplicity, as
Brutus claims to be, Antony proves himself a consummate politician, using gestures and skilled
rhetoric to his advantage. He responds to subtle cues among both his nemeses and his allies to
know exactly how he must conduct himself at each particular moment in order to gain the most
advantage. In both his eulogy for Caesar and the play as a whole, Antony is adept at tailoring his
words and actions to his audiences’ desires. Unlike Brutus, who prides himself on acting solely
with respect to virtue and blinding himself to his personal concerns, Antony never separates his
private affairs from his public actions.

Themes

FATE VERSUS FREE WILL :Cassius refuses to accept Caesar’s rising power and says
to Brutus: “Men at sometime were masters of their fates. / The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our
stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings” .Ultimately, the play seems to support a
philosophy in which fate and freedom maintain a delicate coexistence.
PUBLIC SELF VERSUS PRIVATE SELF :Much of the play’s tragedy stems from the
characters confusing their private selves with their public selves, hardening and dehumanizing
themselves or transforming themselves into ruthless political machines...
MISINTERPRETATIONS AND MISREADINGS :Much of the play deals with the characters’
failures to interpret correctly the omens that they encounter. Cassius manipulates Brutus into
joining the conspiracy by means of forged letters, knowing that Brutus’s trusting nature will cause
him to accept the letters as authentic pleas from the Roman people.
INFLEXIBILITY VERSUS COMPROMISE :Both Brutus and Caesar are stubborn, rather
inflexible people who ultimately suffer fatally for it. In the play’s aggressive political landscape,
individuals succeed through adaptability, bargaining, and compromise.
RHETORIC AND POWER :Antony wins the crowd’s favor by using persuasive rhetoric to
whip the masses into a frenzy

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