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Pathos
Definition of Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the... read full definition
Act 1, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—An Angry Ocean:
In Act 1, Scene 3, the characters of Julius Caesar attempt to make sense of some strange omens appearing throughout Rome. Describing their fearsome appearance, Casca personifies the omens to Cicero:
O Cicero,
I have seen tempests when the scolding winds
Have rived the knotty oaks, and I have seen
Th’ ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam
To be exalted with the threat’ning clouds…
The language Casca uses to describe the ominous weather to Cicero gives it an almost supernatural dimension: the winds “scold,” the ocean is “ambitious” and “rages.” The world itself appears to warn the Romans of Julius Caesar’s impending demise and its potential to cause a catastrophic chain of events.
Casca's personification of the weather reflects the spirituality of this era in Roman history: Romans viewed their pantheon of gods as representatives or personifications of various aspects of the natural landscape, with their own agency and agendas. Even luck itself came alive as the goddess Fortuna—so it's no wonder that the world of Julius Caesar could warn the Romans of the carnage to come. Shakespeare blends features of Roman mythology into Julius Caesar in order to further dramatize his portrayal of historical Rome and heighten the stakes for his cast of characters.
Act 5, scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—The Nod from Nature:
In Act 5, Scene 5, as Julius Caesar draws to a close and Brutus lies dead on the stage, Antony offers his tribute to the tragic hero. Antony uses personification to communicate the depth of his admiration for Brutus:
This was the noblest Roman of them all.
All the conspirators save only he
Did that they did in envy of the great Caesar.
He only in a general honest thought
And common good to all made one of them.
His life was gentle and the elements
So mixed in him that nature might stand up
And say to all the world “This was a man.”
Antony’s praise of Brutus is effusive past the point of reality: nature itself could spring up and, in testament to Brutus's virtue, deliver a eulogy. While it may sound like a hyperbolic statement to make, Antony's personification of nature is one more reminder of the times in which Julius Caesar takes place—for a Roman population, practicing their polytheistic religion, nature could indeed be personified in one of the representative gods of the world.
The depth of Antony's admiration of Brutus centers around his observation that Brutus struck against Caesar out of a genuine hope for Rome's future, rather than out of envy. Throughout the crash-course in political ambition and moral relativism that is Julius Caesar, Brutus is the only one of the conspirators able to keep his honor intact: though the murder of a political rival seems a horrific thing to do, Brutus's motivations were pure. Ιn the final moments of the play, it is Brutus, and not Caesar, whom Antony exalts as a tragic hero.
Related Themes:
