Corruption of Power in the Essay

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They attempt to enforce their conception of the true Roman law by murdering Caesar. They want to use the controlled power of violence to restore order. This fails miserably and ultimately Mark Anthony uses the power of persuasion in his funeral oration to turn the Roman mobs against the conspirators and to establish his own authority as a tyrant in Rome.

In Julius Caesar, using one's influence is not about holding a political office. Influence is about the power of being able to craftily use one's position, as a respected senator, as a trusted friend or as a rhetorical speaker with a captive audience. While the triumvirate later uses violence as a way of bolstering their power in the wake of the political instability after the death of Caesar, the failure of the assassination shows that displays of force alone are not enough to secure political influence. Violence must be used skillfully, in a manipulative way, to be effective. Brutus' attempt to make violence clean, rational, and honorable makes him look weak rather than strong.

The Tempest, although a fairy-tale play in tone, shows how power relations exist even between non-humans in Shakespeare.

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Prospero, because of his superior knowledge of sorcery, is able to tyrannize over the island's original inhabitants, the sulky Caliban and the more willing Ariel. He is even able to put his own daughter to sleep and to manipulate her into falling in love. Prospero's power is absolute because his knowledge is absolute, even though before he found his books of magic he was usurped by force in the mortal world. The Tempest seems to suggest that Shakespeare believed that knowledge was the most important source of power, just as Portia uses her knowledge of the law to free her fiancee's friend. However, even when power is deployed by an intelligent person, it still has the power to corrupt the person who is exercising a powerful influence over others. Portia uses her power not merely to save Antonio, but to deprive Shylock of his religion and his money. Mark Anthony becomes a dictator after his powerful persuasion of the masses brings him to a position of leadership. Prospero uses his magic to dominate the inhabitants of a foreign island after being cast out of his own country......

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