The Role of Minor Conspirators in Shakespeares Julius Caesar :: Julius Caesar Essays

The Role of Minor Conspirators in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar      Ã‚   In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar the supporting role of the minor conspirators has a great impact on the major conspirators. Just as women often embolden powerful men of society, the minor conspirators embolden the major conspirators, greatly affecting the outcome of the play.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most important minor conspirators of the play is Decius, who was responsible for bringing Caesar to the capitol on the day of the assassination.   The entire conspiracy almost failed because on the night before the assassination was to be carried out, during the storm, Caesar's wife Calpurnia had a dream about Caesar being killed, and she had convinced him to remain home the next day.   When Decius arrived at Caesar's home in the morning to take him to the capitol he realized that he must convince Caesar that he had misinterpreted his wife's dream so Caesar would go as planned.   Decius needed to make Caesar realize that his wife, the soothsayer, and all of the omens were purely coincidental which he did by interpreting Calpurnia's dream with a double meaning, "Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, in which so many smiling Romans bathed, signifies that from you great Rome shall suck reviving blood, and that great men shall press for tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance." (JC. II. ii. 85-90). Decius successfully executed his role in the conspiracy which led to the assassination of Caesar.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another very influential minor conspirator was Cinna, who aided in persuading Brutus to join the conspiracy.   Getting Brutus involved in the conspiracy was crucial because of his close relationship with Caesar and his prominence with both the senators and the common people.   Cinna was assigned, by Cassius, the task of delivering a flattering letter to Brutus to which he   responded, "Well, I will hie, and so bestow theses papers as you bade me" (JC. I. iii. 150-151).   Cassius and the rest of the conspirators realized how beneficial Brutus would be to their conspiracy, so when Cinna played a large role in getting him involved, the plot was greatly influenced.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The third minor conspirator who significantly influenced the course of the play was Casca.   Casca was the first person that told the rest of