Julius Caesar (Vol. 50) | Marjorie B. Garber (essay date 1974)
Marjorie B. Garber (essay date 1974)
SOURCE: "Dream and Interpretation: Julius Caesar," in Dream in Shakespeare: From Metaphor to Metamorphosis, Yale University Press, 1974, pp. 47-58.
[In the following excerpt, Garber observes that the source of the tragedy in Julius Caesar is the repeated and sometimes willful misinterpretation of omens and dreams.]
Dream and Interpretation: Julius Caesar
In the final act of Julius Caesar, Cassius, fearful of defeat at Philippi, dispatches Titinius to discover whether the surrounding troops are friends or enemies. He posts another soldier to observe, and when the soldier sees Titinius encircled by horsemen and reports that he is taken, Cassius runs on his sword and dies. Shortly afterward, Titinius reenters the scene bearing a "wreath of victory" from Brutus. When he sees the dead body, he at once understands Cassius's tragic mistake. "Alas, thou has misconstrued...
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