Month: December 2015

“I could be well moved if I were as you. if I could pray to move, prayers would move me. but I am as constant as the northern star, of whose true fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament. the skies are painted with unnumbered sparks; they are all fire, and everyone doth shine; but there’s but one in all doth hold his place.”
these lines comes from Caesar’s speech in act 3, scene 1, just before his assassination. The conspirators have come to Caesar in the senate under the pretence of pleading for amnesty for Metullius’s banished brother, Publius Cimber. Caesar replies that he will adhere his word and not change his earlier decision. Comparing himself to the north star, Caesar boasts his constancy, his commitment to the law, and his refusal waver under any persuasion. This comparison implies more than steadfastness, however: the north star is the star by which sailors have navigated since ancient times, the star that guides them in their voyages, just as Caesar leads the Roman people. so, too, is the north star unique in its fixedness; as the only star that never changes it’s position in the sky, it has “no fellow in the firmament.” Thus, Caesar also implies that he is peerless among Romans. Caesar declares that he alone remains “unassaliable” among men, and his strictness in Publius Cimber’s case illustrates this virtue.

In my opinion Caesar’s “North star” speech is a significance to the play. I believe this because it show many shows of hubris, which is very powerful and is used for other characters like Brutus. Hubris is when a man shows confidence In themselves and believes that they are the most powerful person ever made. Am example of hubris is actually in Caesar’s “North star” speech, this is when Caesar says “I could be well moved, if I were as you: if I could pray to move, prayers would move me: but i am as constant as the North star”. This is showing hubris because he is saying that he could not be moved even if he was to pray, he also says ” but I’m  am as constant as the North Star”, this shows hubris because the North star never moves. So what Caesar is trying to say is that he is can never be moved. Not only does this have effect on Caesar it also has effect on the conspiracy. It has an effect on the conspiracy because Caesar says that he can never be killed but as soon as Caesar finishes his speech the conspirators attack Caesar and start stabbing him until Brutus finished him off white the last stab. This could have got people thinking, why was the play called Julius Caesar when he dies half way through?

The North star speech made me feel that Caesar was getting his confidence way to high by using his hubris, using the Romans to create that hubris and thinking that he is the leader of Rome. But the speech was also making me think that Caesar thinks that he can never be defeated. Many Romans thought that Rome did not need a leader because they would not have the freedom that they had without a leader, such as the conspirators. Brutus said something along the lines of ” it’s not that I love Caesar less, it’s that I love Rome more”. That is very powerful especially to me because he is saying to the Romans that if they was to follow Caesar around like sheep then they would lose their freedom. The North star speech made me feel that Caesar is selfish and that he does not care about any body but himself. An example of this is ‘Caesar calls his servant/slave, servant where as Brutus calls his servant/slave by his original name. The speech made me have mixed emotions about Caesar because it shows his desire to be a good man, but also shows hubris and him being a horrible man.