Power

The Theme in the Work

In Act I, Scene 1, the tribune Flavius orders the decorations removed from Caesar's statues and gives the reason: to clip the feathers that grow on Caesar's wing, so that he cannot fly too high and leave everyone in servitude. In Act I, Scene 2, Cassius tells Brutus that Rome bows to a weak man, and Caesar, seeing Cassius pass, calls him dangerous and speaks of his own name as a force that fears nothing. In Act I, Scene 3, Cassius learns that the Senate means to crown Caesar the next day and swears to kill himself before accepting servitude.

In Act II, Scene 1, in the orchard, Brutus reasons about power that has not yet happened: the abuse of greatness comes when it separates pity from command, and so Caesar must be checked before he reaches the top, as a serpent is killed in the egg. In Act IV, Scene 1, power already rests in other hands: Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus mark who must die, and Antony treats Lepidus like a beast of burden, whose honors are taken away once the work is done.

In Act V, Scene 1, at Philippi, Octavius imposes his position on Antony, and in Act V, Scene 5, after Brutus dies, it is Octavius who orders the dead man given funeral honors.

In Act III, Scene 1, in the Capitol, Caesar refuses Metellus Cimber's plea that his exiled brother be recalled and rejects it; Brutus and Cassius kneel for the same plea, and Caesar rebuffs them too, saying he is constant as the northern star, the only one in the firmament that keeps its place, and that among men he alone is like this. A few moments later, the conspirators surround him and kill him. In Act III, Scene 2, power passes to whoever commands the crowd: Antony shows the torn cloak, reads the will, which gives seventy-five drachmas to every citizen, and the people leave to burn the conspirators' houses. In Act IV, Scene 3, Brutus accuses Cassius of selling offices for gold, and the quarrel between the two leaders turns on money to pay the legions and on the offices sold.

Throughout the play, power appears less as what it does than as what is feared from it: Brutus kills Caesar over a crown he has not even received, and those who avenge him share out the deaths and the command with the coldness Brutus feared to see in a king. The play's last gesture belongs to Octavius, who gives orders.

Where It Appears

• Act I, Scene 1: The tribune Flavius removes the decorations from Caesar's statues and explains that it is to clip his wings so that he does not fly too high and keeps everyone in servitude.
• Act I, Scene 2: Cassius tells Brutus that Rome bows to a weak man, and Caesar, seeing Cassius pass, finds him dangerous but says he does not fear him, for he is always Caesar.
• Act I, Scene 3: On learning that the Senate means to crown Caesar the next day, Cassius swears to kill himself before accepting servitude, and Casca joins him.
• Act II, Scene 1: Sleepless in the orchard, Brutus concludes that Caesar must die for what he might become, although he says he knows no personal cause against him.
• Act IV, Scene 1: Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus sit down to mark who must die, and Antony calls Lepidus an insignificant man, good only for errands, and compares him to an ass that carries gold.
• Act V, Scene 1: On the plains of Philippi, Octavius and Antony argue over each one's position in the battle, and Octavius imposes his own.
• Act V, Scene 5: When Octavius and Antony arrive after Brutus's death, Antony praises the dead man, and Octavius orders him given funeral honors.

Passages

The tribune says what he means to do to Caesar:

Brutus reasons about what Caesar may become:

Antony describes the ally who is worth no honor: