E si prepara alla difesa contra Dicendo a Marcantonio, ch'egli è pronto Arder, e rovinar da fondamenti.”—P. 148. Not only is Antony's desire for vengeance intimated, but the ultimate fate of the conspirators, and the failure of their cause is distinctly foreshadowed. But most significant is the fact that Pescetti, here almost literally following Appian, makes Antony take refuge in his own house. In Shakespeare Antony is also made to take refuge in his own house. Cassius inquires: "Where is Antony? Trebonius-Fled to his house amazed.”—(Act III., Sc. 1, 96.) This touch is certainly not derived from Plutarch. The biographer says (Julius Caesar, p. 101): "But Antonius and Lepidus, which were two of Caesar's chiefest friends, secretly conveying themselves away, fled into other men's houses and forsook their own." Appian says: "Antony went to his owne house, entending to take advice for this case of Cesars." (Appian, 1578, p. 141.)* But one more supposed loan from Appian remains for investigation. This is to be found in the behavior of the conspirators immediately after the murder. Plutarch's account is as follows: "Brutus and his confederates on the other side, being yet hot with this murder they had committed, having their swords drawn in their hands, came all in a troup together out of the Senate and went into the market-place, not as men that made countenance to fly, but otherwise boldly * Αντώνιός τε τὴν οἰκίαν ὠχύρου, τεκμαιρόμενος συνεπιβουλεύεσθαι τῷ Καίσαρι. Appian, Ed. Didot. P. 394. holding up their heads like men of courage, and called to the people to defend their liberty, and stayed to speak with every great personage whom they met on their way." (Julius Caesar, p. 101, Skeat's Ed.) In Shakespeare we read: (Dies) "Caes. Et tu Brute? Then fall, Caesar. Cinna.-Liberty! freedom! Tyranny's dead! Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. Cas. Some to the common pulpits and cry out 'Liberty, freedom and enfranchisement!'" A little farther on Brutus exclaims: "Stoop, Romans, stoop, And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood Let's all cry 'Peace, freedom and liberty!""-III., 1, 106. Plutarch mentions no sayings of the conspirators; there is no mention of the dripping swords. Shakespeare is here supposed to follow Appian, who says: "The murderers woulde haue sayde somewhat in ye Senate house, but no man would tarry to heare. They wrapt their gowns about their left armes as targets, and hauying their daggers bloudy, cryed they had kylled a King and a Tyranne, and one bare an hatte upon a speare, in token of Libertie. Then they exhorted them to the common wealth of their country and remembered olde Brutus, and the oth mode againste the old kings." (Appian, 1578, p. 142.)* Here we find the matter of the dripping swords, and an intimation of the cry of the Conspirators. But Pescetti, who followed Appian, supplies a still closer parallel. Here Brutus, after announcing the death of the * Οἱ δὲ σφαγεῖς ἐβούλοντο μέν τι εἰπεῖν ἐν τῷ βουλευτηρίῳ. Ουδενὸς δὲ παραμείναντος, τὰ ἱμάτια ταῖς λαιαῖς, ὥσπερ ἀσπίδας, περιπλεξάμενοι, καὶ τὰ ξίφη μετὰ τοῦ αἵματος ἔχοντες, ἐβοηδρόμουν βασιλέα καὶ τύραννον ἀνελεῖν· καὶ πιλόν τις ἐπὶ δόρατος ἔφερε, σύμβολον ἐλευθερώσεως· ἐπί τε τὴν πάτριον πολιτείαν παρεκάλουν, και Βρούτου τοῦ πάλαι καὶ τῶν τότε σφίσιν όμωμοσμένων ἐπί τοῖς πάλαι βασιλεῦσιν ἀνεὶ μlμvησкov. Appian, Edition Didot, Paris, 1877. P. 395. tyrant, and after exhorting the poeple to rejoice in their reestablished liberties, turns to the conspirators and exclaims: "Ma scorriam per la terra, O voi, che fidelissimi compagni, Mi siete stati all' onorata impresa, Del Tirannico sangue ancor stillanti E'l popolo di Marte Chiamiamo a libertade. Con.-Libertà, libertà, morto è il Tiranno Libera è Roma, e rotto è il giogo indegno."-Ces., pp. 116-17. Here Here we have the substance of Appian's account. Brutus, as in Shakespeare, addresses his fellow conspirators. In the one case he refers to them as "most faithful companions,' in the other, as "Romans." In both he exhorts them to the same purpose. In one they are to rove the streets with their dripping swords still in their hands, and to call the people of Rome to their reestablished liberty; in the other, they are exhorted to walk forth waving their red weapons over their heads, and to cry "Peace, freedom and liberty." The cry of the chorus in Pescetti seems an answer to this appeal: "Libertà, libertà, morto è il Tiranno Libera è Roma e rotto è il giogo indegno." And this again is closely parallel to Cinna's outburst, "Liberty! freedom! Tyranny is dead! Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets!" The latter part of this seems an echo of "E'l popolo di Marte Chiamiamo a libertade."—P. 116. "Cesare" contains no close parallel to Brutus' exclamation: "Stoop, Romans, stoop, And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords:" But Pescetti indicates a similar savage desire: "E fù si grande del ferir la voglia Ricandosi ciascuno a somma gloria, Tinger la spada sua nel sacro sangue."*-P. 126. He does say that the conspirators besmeared their swords, and Shakespeare but intensified the scene by making the murderers literally bathe in the blood of their victim.t In this case, as in the others, the material from Appian is to be found in Pescetti, and reappears in Shakespeare accompanied by touches due to Pescetti alone. We find further, that in all the cases wherein the influence of Appian has been suspected, Shakespeare could have derived his matter from Pescetti, who, we can positively affirm, used Appian as his source. The resemblance in Shakespeare between the scenes under discussion and the corresponding scenes in Pescetti is far stronger than the similarity to their alleged source in the English translation of Appian, for not only does Shakespeare make use of the same historical matter which Pescetti derived from the historian, but he includes individual touches found only in the Italian drama. The conclusion that Shakespeare derived from Pescetti the hints previously attributed to his acquaintance with the English translation of Appian seems, therefore, tentatively justifiable. This conclusion will be greatly strengthened by the evidence adducible from the other similarities existing between the two plays. Among these the treatment of the supernatural element in both dramas offers points of contact which will now be discussed. * Indicated in Plutarch also-Marcus Brutus-p. 119. He speaks of the eagerness of the conspirators to plunge their swords into Caesar, and records that every one of them was stained with blood. † Also regarded as a supposedly ironical answer to Decimus' interpretation of the dream. THE HANDLING OF THE SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT Shakespeare's skill in the handling of the supernatural element in "Julius Caesar" has been much commended. The omens and prodigies are distributed in such a way as best to emphasize the tragic element and they serve to invest the entire play in an atmosphere of portent. For his material he drew largely upon Plutarch, but he also introduces matter apparently indicating a familiarity with Ovid, Vergil, Lucan, and Suetonius. Pescetti makes use of the supernatural element to a far greater extent than do his predecessors.* His recital of the omens and the prodigies embraces almost every item which the industry of a Renaissance scholar could cull from the pages of Plutarch, Ovid, Vergil, Lucan, Suetonius, and Appian. With a single exception, all the omens mentioned by Shakespeare and not directly traceable to Plutarch, can be found in Pescetti, whose treatment of the entire supernatural element affords some interesting parallels. Plutarch's account, which furnished Shakespeare the bulk of his material, is as follows: * In Pescetti the Priest's recital of the omens consists of some one hundred and three lines. Muretus has Calpurnia's recital to the nurse of the dream wherein she beheld Caesar's bleeding body, and the following: Calp: Audere desine tu prius Tuaeque si adeo spernis uxoris metum Caes: Quando timorem ponere aliter non potes, Ne nos tibi queraris omnino nihil Tribuere, mittatur Senatus in hunc diem. Lines 343-52. Hereupon D. Brutus protests to Caesar and the latter yields. Grévin has substantially the same account. For Muretus and Grévin I use Collischonn's reprint. See Bibliography. |