Question: How does Shakespeare employ dramatic devices to illustrate a sense of
foreboding within the play?
Within Julius Caesar (1623), composed by William Shakespeare, the element of foreboding
is reflected through the conspirator’s thoughts and behavioural patterns with respect to
Caesar’s tyranny. The main foreshadowing involved is found in the conspirator’s plan to
overthrow Caesar. As found in, “…if Caesar had stabbed their mothers they would have
done no less.”, Casca’s hyperbole highlights the extremities that Caesar could go to and yet
people would still follow him. It morally challenges the audience and confronts the viewers
that the power Caesar holds is supreme and as a result of fear from the citizens, will cause
upheavals against him. Casca then follows this up with personifying the sea, "Th' ambitious
ocean swell, rage and foam...", describing the destructive and chaotic rule of Caesar,
reinforcing the antagonization of Caesar’s rule. Through establishing Caesar’s immense
power and the nature of his ruling, Shakespeare intends to forebode Caesar as someone
who must be stopped within the near future.
Similarly, Cicero discusses a critical view of the story, involving Caesar's path to rule.
Through the iambic pentameter, "This disturbed sky is not to walk in", Cicero highlights the
treacherous path of rule, a path where one isn’t meant to be and one he cannot withdraw
from. Cicero implies that once Caesar has willingly committed to his rule, the only way they
will stop him, is to kill him. Furthermore, Caesar's vocal mannerisms illuminate the audience
as to the type of person he is. Caesar is not fit to become a good ruler. As observed within
the synecdoche, "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much." Caesar,
without fear, arrogantly proclaims that one of his conspirators, Cassius, looks power starved
in front of him. Caesar's qualities as a leader foreshadow a harsh life for the people living
under his name. Caesar's lacking qualities are reinforced through the euphemism, "The
falling sickness". As a ruler, Caesar should be fine and healthy, but he possesses epilepsy,
which hinders his abilities to lead. Thus, William Shakespeare employs dramatic devices
through the dialogue of the characters to highlight the qualities of a leader that Caesar
possesses, and the nature of his rule.
