Chapter Shakespeare's Sources of Julius Caesar - Study Guide by William Shakespeare

will do so') is between Antony and Octavius rather than Brutus disputing Cassius - is dramatic. Such a public outburst would make a strong contrast with the emphasis on the

- Caesar's ghost is not as powerful a force in Plutarch as in Shakespeare. Over the bodies of Cassius and Titinius, Brutus remarks, 'O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet' (V.3.94). Brutus observes later, 'Caesar, now be still' (V.5.50). In the Greek version Plutarch writes of 'certainly his great demon'; yet in North's translation this mysterious force becomes diluted to the hardly dramatic, 'his great prosperitie and good fortune'.

Shakespeare also made use of the Bible, as for example in V.1 Brutus' statement 'arming myself with patience / To stay the providence of some higher powers / That govern us below' may echo Ephesians 6: being 'strong in the Lord' in fighting evil, where 'armour' enables to 'stand steadfast' against 'power'.