Monday, March 24, 2014

Did Cassius's bad feeling during the battle make him interpret his army's victory as defeat and then cause his suicide?

This is actually a really interesting question (and perhaps more complicated than it at first appears). First, be aware: Shakespeare tends to be open to multiple lines of interpretation, and I'd suggest this is certainly the case here. It's an entirely valid interpretation to suggest that Cassius's own psychological mindset going into the battle (shaped by his dreams beforehand) influenced events as they played out on the battlefield. In fact, this seems like a very realistic point of view.
However, I would suggest that where things get interesting, and more complicated, is when we consider the nature of Cassius's misgivings within the larger context of the play. Do note that, within the world of Julius Caesar itself, omens and prophesy play a major role within the setting. In that respect, Cassius's dream is not an isolated occurrence. Consider the prophesies surrounding Caesar's death, for example, in act 1, scene 2, when the Soothsayer warns Caesar to "beware the ides of March" or later when Caesar's wife Calpurnia dreams of Caesar's own death.
This is where your question becomes more complicated, because now one can ask (given that Cassius's defeat was itself possibly subject to prophesy) whether or not the events on the battlefield might well have been fated. Did his dreams influence his mindset, which in turn influenced the events on the battlefield, or was it rather the reverse? Did the outcome on the battlefield influence the dream? Furthermore, one might suggest that both these options are true simultaneously: if fate had doomed Cassius, by being aware of it, he may have had a role in shaping it.
This is where Shakespeare gets really interesting from an analytic perspective, because it can get really complicated when you dive into these thematic questions, and you can argue for a multiplicity of different answers. I don't think there's one clear right answer here. Various perspectives can be defended.


In act 5, scene 3, Cassius receives word that Antony's troops have surrounded them and commands Titinius to find out whether the approaching soldiers are their allies or enemies. Cassius then asks Pindarus to mount the hill and watch Titinius. Pindarus then reports that Titinius has been captured by the enemy soldiers and Cassius immediately expresses despair by saying,

Oh, coward that I am, to live so long To see my best friend ta'en before my face! (Shakespeare, 5.3.37-38).

He then asks Pindarus to take his sword and stab him while his eyes are shut. Pindarus follows Cassius's instructions by killing him, and Cassius's last words are "Caesar, thou art revenged, Even with the sword that killed thee" (Shakespeare, 5.3.48-50). Unfortunately, Pindarus misinterpreted what he saw, and Titinius arrives to announce that Brutus's troops have overtaken Octavius's soldiers.
According to the conversation between Titinius and Messala following Cassius's death, they believe Cassius killed himself because he thought that Titinius would never return and he would lose the battle. Before the battle, Cassius lacked faith in Brutus's ability to lead troops and also disagreed with his decision to meet Octavius and Antony at Philippi. Cassius's final decision to commit suicide was a result of his belief that he would lose the battle. Rather than be captured by Antony and Octavius, Cassius chooses to commit suicide.

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