This Ides of March, learn the contemporary lessons of Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’

“Beware the ides of March!” So a soothsayer warned the title character in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar. But Caesar did not beware and was killed by a group of conspirators on March 15, 44 B.C.

This March 15, we can learn some things from Caesar’s story. For, in Shakespeare’s portrayal of ancient Rome, we can see much of our current politics playing out.

In 2017, a New York production of the play portrayed Caesar as looking unmistakably like then-President Donald Trump. Those who came up with the idea saw Trump as a tyrant and seemed to relish the on-stage killing.

They also see Trump as a regime-level, existential threat to America. Thus, his opponents regularly argue that, in undermining him, they seek to save democracy.

But they seemed to have learned the wrong lessons from the play. Shakespeare’s masterpiece revealed more about the weaknesses of Caesar’s opponents than the danger the rising ruler posed to Rome’s freedoms.

Some of Trump’s foes resemble Brutus, the moral leader of the conspirators who seems driven by pure intentions. But he is naïve at best, not knowing how to achieve the goods he desires, duped by others, and with no political instincts. These kinds of men Trump has twisted in moral circles in his demands for unflinching loyalty no matter the conundrum or inconsistency.

Others have resembled Cassius, who has the cunning Brutus lacks. He claims to act for the sake of equality, which certainly is a core Republican commitment. However, in reality, he is driven by jealousy of Caesar, not a virtuous love of equal liberty for all men. Plenty of Trump’s opponents fit into this category. Their cunning is not directed at the apparent destroyer of democracy. Instead, they engage in grifting and wish-casting their audience for the fame and the money.

Over the past year, both the Brutuses and the Cassiuses of today have sought to kill Trump’s political career through a series of lawsuits and bureaucratic targeting. While the litigation about illegally keeping classified documents has merit, the other cases against Trump depend on flimsy readings of law or at best murky facts. The actions of governmental agencies have been no better toward him. The result has been to further rally his base around the man.

This truth points to another parallel. Brutus at one point laments that they must kill Caesar to accomplish their goal. He says, “That we then could come by Caesar’s spirit / And not dismember Caesar!” In the end, Brutus’s efforts accomplish the opposite. They kill Caesar’s body, but his spirit only strengthens. In a similar fashion, even a conviction of Trump on the flimsy charges hurled against him in New York and Georgia would not destroy the populist movement he has helped to develop into a formidable, even if still minority, political movement.

Trump’s opponents would be wise to remember what happens in Shakespeare’s work after Caesar’s death. That resulted in the ascension of Mark Antony and Octavius Caesar to rule. Shakespeare clearly shows these men acting in truly despotic ways. Trump possesses a number of weaknesses of character that limit even his most questionable tendencies and purposes. But what might rise up to revenge him? A look around the political landscape gives sobering answers.

Trump’s supporters also can be taught certain lessons in this old play. They might rewrite the play to have Caesar destroy his enemies to the celebration of the Roman people, replacing the weak republic with the powerful rule of one man acting on the people’s behalf. We have heard a term for such a man among some on the political Right: a “Red Caesar.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The fact that a number of Americans desire a strong man to sweep in and right all wrongs, punishing all enemies, shows a rot in our republic. It reveals a disdain for the Constitution and the institutions that have bolstered us across the centuries, whose founding showed George Washington’s greatness and maintenance revealed Abraham Lincoln’s genius.

This March 15, let us beware of the problems Shakespeare showed in his Julius Caesar. Its cautionary tale for republics we should take to heart, renewing our commitment to the rule of law and to the Constitution. Otherwise, we risk unleashing the worse demons of our souls, not the better angels of our nature.

Adam Carrington is an associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College.