Jennifer+D.

Duncan and Caesar: Brothas from Anotha Motha

Throughout history, one can find many similarities between famous figures. One of these occurrences includes King Duncan from Macbeth **(underline the title of a play)** and Julius Caesar, ruler of the Roman Empire from 49 BC to 44 BC. Although these men lived in very different time periods, they had multiple things in common, such as the person or people they were assassinated by, the cause of their deaths, and their naivety. **(excellent intro.)**

“All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (Shakespeare I.iii.50). In Act I of Macbeth**(underline)**, the three witches prophesized that Macbeth would one day become the King of Scotland. In order for this to occur more quickly, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plotted the assassination of King Duncan. They invited him to stay at their castle, and intoxicated his guards to frame them for the murder. Likewise, the conspirators to kill Caesar also had a selfish motive. They did not agree with how he was running the Empire and they believed that their ideas were better than his. They would all gather at each others’ houses to brainstorm ideas for the assassination. They finally decided on the scheme to invite him to the Senate to read a fake petition, where only Senators would be allowed to attend, leaving Caesar without any allies.

To make the framing of Macbeth’s guards believable, Lady Macbeth decided that they should use the guards’ daggers to assassinate Duncan. “Will it not be received, when we have marked with blood those sleepy two of his own chamber, and used their very daggers, that they have done ‘t?” **(Use the slash to indicate the end of a line.)** (Shakespeare I.vii.74-77). Macbeth went into Duncan’s room while he was sleeping and stabbed the King. On the Ides of March in 44 B.C., those who plotted Caesar’s murder carried out their plans. Casca was actually the first to pull his dagger out from underneath his toga and stab Caesar; however, over sixty men participated in the act. He was stabbed a total of twenty-three times, but only one wound was lethal according to physician Suetonius.

“There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face: He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust” **(Use slash marks for short quotes)** (Shakespeare I.v.11-14). This quote, voiced by Duncan, refers to the old Thane of Cawdor who betrayed Scotland by joining the forces of Norway. It also depicts how trusting he was of people who did not deserve it, including Macbeth. However, everyone agreed that Duncan was a very good leader, even his assassin. When Macbeth is debating whether or not to commit the crime against Duncan**** he says, “Besides, this Duncan hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against the deep damnation of his taking-off” **(set off as a long quote)**(Shakespeare I.vii.16-20). This quote also proves that Duncan was very well-liked by the people of Scotland and, therefore, they will want to hunt down his murderer. Similarly, one of Caesar’s closest confidantes, Brutus, was involved in his assassination plot. In fact, his final words before he died were “even you, Brutus?” Caesar was extremely popular with the middle and lower classes in Rome. They were enraged when they found out that higher-class citizens had murdered their brave ruler.

When evaluating King Duncan from Macbeth **(underline)** and Julius Caesar**** it is obvious that they had a lot of similarities. Although they were two very different individuals, multiple factors in their deaths and the way they ruled are comparable. The conspirators who killed Duncan and Caesar used similar tactics, the cause of their death was similar, and both showed much naivety with their trust in others. Although these men lived in different time periods, many can argue that their lives reflect each other in many ways.

Work Cited

Ghare, Madhavi. "Julius Caesar Biography and Life History." Buzzle.Com. 26 July 2007. 20 Mar. 2008 .

"Julius Caesar." Wikipedia. 22 Mar. 2008. Wikipedia Foundation Inc. 20 Mar. 2008 .

Sahlman, Rachel. "Julius Caesar." SPECTRUM Home & School Magazine. 20 Mar. 2008 K. B. Shaw.