Student Question
What is personified in the quote from Julius Caesar: "That Tiber trembled underneath her banks, / To hear the replication of your sounds / Made in her concave shores"?
Quick answer:
The quote from Julius Caesar personifies the Tiber River. Marullus describes the river as trembling from the sound of the Romans' triumphant shouts for Pompey, attributing human characteristics, specifically the emotion of fear, to the river. This personification emphasizes Pompey's strength and the magnitude of the Romans' past celebrations.
Personification is when an object or place is given human attributes. This technique is normally used to project an abstract idea onto an object or otherwise nonhuman entity.
This quote is from act 1, scene 1, spoken by the character Marullus. He is criticizing the Roman citizens for paying tribute to Julius Caesar since Caesar has displaced their previous ruler, the assassinated Pompey. Marullus is faithful to Pompey and is disgusted by the switch in allegiance among the people.
In his dialogue, he is personifying the Tiber River. By describing the river as trembling from the sound of the triumphant shouts the Roman citizens once made for Pompey, he is attributing human characteristics to it—in this case, the emotion of fear. He is making Pompey out to be so strong a Roman leader that even nature quakes to hear the Romans' celebratory cheers.
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