Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary
devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Omens and Portents
Throughout the play, omens and portents manifest themselves,
each serving to crystallize the larger themes of fate and misinterpretation of
signs. Until Caesar’s death, each time an omen or nightmare is reported,
the audience is reminded of Caesar’s impending demise. The audience
wonders whether these portents simply announce what is fated to
occur or whether they serve as warnings for what might occur if
the characters do not take active steps to change their behavior.
Whether or not individuals can affect their destinies, characters
repeatedly fail to interpret the omens correctly. In a larger sense,
the omens in Julius Caesar thus imply the dangers
of failing to perceive and analyze the details of one’s world.
Letters
The motif of letters represents an interesting counterpart
to the force of oral rhetoric in the play. Oral rhetoric depends
upon a direct, dialogic interaction between speaker and audience:
depending on how the listeners respond to a certain statement, the
orator can alter his or her speech and intonations accordingly.
In contrast, the power of a written letter depends more fully on
the addressee; whereas an orator must read the emotions of the crowd,
the act of reading is undertaken solely by the recipient of the
letter. Thus, when Brutus receives the forged letter from Cassius
in Act II, scene i, the letter has an effect because Brutus allows
it to do so; it is he who grants it its full power. In contrast,
Caesar refuses to read the letter that Artemidorus tries to hand
him in Act III, scene i, as he is heading to the Senate. Predisposed
to ignore personal affairs, Caesar denies the letter any reading
at all and thus negates the potential power of the words written
inside.
