Chapter 68 Reading Notes The Realm of Rome

The Realm of Rome--Reading Julius Caesar "He was the noblest Roman of them all: but he alone were all traitors murdered out of envy of Caesar; he alone was inspired by just thoughts, for the common good, And to join their ranks. He was good all his life, and all the virtues woven in him would make creation stand up and proclaim to the world. Here is a man!" The Complete Works of Shakespeare • Fifth Book, 273 Pages, Yilin Publishing House, 1999. It's a somewhat cryptic script.With the cloudy atmosphere as the background, the author does not intend to narrate the well-recognized stale historical stories, but to narrate another kind of spiritual history.Perhaps it is the artist's instinct that pushes him to go beyond the classical mode of the text, and at the same time draw the reader's attention to another strange and magical realm.At the heart of this five-act play is the Roman realm.What is the Roman state? The Roman state is bravery and complete sacrifice.This state is close to the state of religion, and the purpose of the author is to describe this state.But this realm is a kind of sublimation of the artist, and it is difficult to express it directly. It is no wonder that there are some "gaps" in this article, and there are some abrupt and incomprehensible turns, and the characters in the play seem simple sometimes. Surprisingly, sometimes complex and profoundly unpredictable.

In the play, there are two people who have reached the spiritual realm of Rome, one is Caesar who does not appear much, and the other is the real hero of this tragedy, Brutus.Only these two were noble, self-conscious Romans of introspection, clearly above the laity around them, and dedicated their lives to a just cause. At the beginning of the plot, history pushed the brave Caesar to the pinnacle of honor.The heart should be full of happiness and pride, and have fun with everyone, but what appears in the play is a person who is full of worries, melancholy and depressed.There was a seer in the crowd reminding him of the fifteenth of March, who was like a premonition in Caesar's own mind, a premonition he hadn't yet figured out - it was his turn to make sacrifices, sacrifices for the cause of Rome .Before such a major change came, how could Caesar, who had a complicated spiritual life, not be worried? So he fainted to the ground due to excessive mental stress.This is incomprehensible to others.When the shadow of death hovered over his head, Caesar was angry and frustrated, because it was not easy for him to give up life, and he was a person who loved Rome more than life, so he walked to the... There is still a way to go before the end of the sacrifice.He is angry because he knows that people are unpredictable and people cannot communicate with each other; he is frustrated because he has nowhere to express his loyalty and can only hide it in his heart.Depressed to the extreme and unable to find a way out, he finally collapsed and fainted.But there is a way to show his loyalty to everyone. This method has not been clearly understood by him, but it has been thought of by his close friend Brutus.This method is to use his blood as a sacrifice, and at the same time set an example for everyone.To achieve this goal will be a spiritual war.In this invisible war, Brutus is awake, but Caesar has been in a haze, just like Brutus has become the director of Caesar's life drama.Until the end, when death came, Caesar saw his friend's sword stabbing him, and then he understood his fate.

"Are you in, Brutus? Down then, Caesar!" --Caesar, "The Complete Works of Shakespeare• Volume Five", p. 229. He understood everything. This wonderful coincidence of history and imagination is the work of art.Shakespeare's business was to create an artistic Caesar, not to imitate the historical figure.The Roman spirit is the highest spirit in his realm. All the characters in his plays pursue this spirit in different ways. Although most people don't realize it, they can put their own lives aside. As Caesar said, "people's Greed for life and fear of death is the strangest thing."

There were many dire omens before Caesar's death, but nothing could stop him from going about his day-to-day work, having transcended death while alive.Of course, occasionally he sighs weakly: "Alas, Caesar, the heart is so deep that it makes me sad to think of it." The Complete Works of Shakespeare • Fifth Book, p. 223. Life is a sad drama. If people are immersed in sadness blindly, they will not be able to do anything.The cause of Rome requires countless sacrifices and rivers of blood as nutrients for growth, and the great Caesar was chosen by Rome as a sacrifice.Although he doesn't know it yet.This chosen one is so perfect in people's hearts, even in the hearts of enemies.It's a pity that as a human being, it is inevitable to be jealous, to slander and murder others.The group of Cassius and Casca led by Brutus is the secular image of human beings, their existence is the soil for heroes to grow, and their communication with Caesar is realized through Caesar's death .Look at Cassius' confession before committing suicide:

"Take this fine sword that once pierced Caesar's guts, and thrust it into my chest without delay and argument. Come, take the hilt in your hand, and wait till I cover my face, you Do it now. (Pindarus stabs Cassius) Caesar, I have avenged you with the dagger that killed you." "The Complete Works of Shakespeare• Fifth Book", p. 267. The history of Rome has developed in this kind of sadness, that is, to achieve communication in an extraordinary way in the incommunicable, killing again and again, pushing the cause to a peak.When Caesar was dying, he saw Brutus, his most beloved and absolutely trustworthy friend. The appearance of this person illuminated the chaos in his brain in an instant, and made him realize the meaning of his sacrifice. I can rest in peace.However, the matter is not over yet, Caesar's death is only a prelude, followed by Brutus's spiritual journey, which is more complicated and conscious.He went forward with Caesar and finally realized a great cause.

"How many ages later, this heroic drama of ours will be performed in a country that has not yet been born, in a language we do not know!" "How many times will Caesar bleed in the plays..." The Complete Works of Shakespeare • Fifth Book, p. 231. Brutus and his party washed their hands with Caesar's blood; the sublime throbbed in Brutus' breast; is it not a strange thing to our readers today? We who are good at forgetting Ah, I have long forgotten the glory of our ancestors, so of course I will not understand his kind of emotion. The atmosphere before the sacrifice was full of hints, just like the scene when a mortal is about to meet a god. The word that cannot be uttered is filled in the air precisely because it cannot be uttered.An informer delivered a letter to Caesar at the death threshold, but Caesar did not read it.Although he is in a vague situation, he has been trying his best to guess the mystery of life in his heart.It was impossible for him to guess when he was alive, he could only keep guessing until the end.

"No, Caesar never hides at home. Caesar is more dangerous than dangerous. We are two lions born on the same day, but I am bigger and fiercer than him. Caesar must go out." "The Complete Works of Shakespeare• Volume Five ", p. 221. That is to say, he acts according to the call of his heart, and what the heart requires of him, he will never be hindered by danger.What the atmosphere on March 15 suggested to Caesar was God's revelation, and it was also a revelation from the depths of the soul. This kind of revelation can never be fully understood by people and can only be listened to.Caesar, of course, had been listening.

The cause of Rome came to an end with Caesar's sacrifice, but it was far from over, and it led to a larger and more complicated mystery of life independent of human will.Caesar's role was quickly taken over by his close friend, murder mastermind Brutus. Brutus was a great seer; his powers of reasoning and foresight were unrivaled, and from the very beginning his penetrating gaze saw what those around him did not He is more familiar with human nature, and no one understands the profound meaning of the word "sacrifice" better than him. "I have not slept since the day that Cassius urged me against Caesar. In the interval between planning a dangerous deed and commencing it, one is in the midst of a dreadful nightmare, Through visions; his mind and body conferring with each other; his whole body and mind like a little country, on the eve of mutiny." The Complete Works of Shakespeare • Fifth Book, 212 Page.

He wanted to kill Caesar for the same reason he wanted to kill himself.Not because Caesar committed a specific sin, but because Caesar was associated with sin while alive.For the sake of the cause, the sacrifice of Caesar must be used to advance men's knowledge; for that noble purpose, one must let the blood stain his hands.How could he sleep with such a burden on his shoulders as a prophet among the blind? He had killed himself countless times before he killed Caesar.In this cruel war of reasoning, he has a clear pattern of time in his mind, and he wants to put this shape of time into practice, and when he does, a new pattern of time has blurred behind him Well, Brutus didn't see the pattern at the time, he wasn't a god after all.

The purity of Brutus is similar to that of a religious person, and sacrifice is the purpose of his life.The change after killing Caesar made him vaguely see another way out, and he and everyone were in the same atmosphere that Caesar experienced at the time.God has something to say to them, but He doesn’t open his mouth and wants them to understand it by themselves.What did Brutus see? What did he understand? After killing Caesar, people did not gain freedom and liberation—how can freedom and liberation be "obtained" once and for all? Caesar's heroic spirit began to stir up trouble, and the counterattack began.Perhaps Brutus had foreseen the inevitable defeat from the beginning of the war, which coincided with his gloomy reasoning.This shows the hero's fearless spirit even more.

"Remember the 15th of March? Didn't the great Caesar shed blood for the sake of justice? If not for justice, which villain could harm his body?"--Brutus "The Complete Works of Shakespeare • No. Five volumes", 250 pages. Now it was his and his companion's turn to sacrifice justice.Rome does not demand passive sacrifice, that is not the way of the Romans.They must struggle and resist with all their strength until they give their lives in the end. This is the realm of Rome.So Brutus led his army into the battle that must be lost.In this transformation, Brutus' mood is the same as that of Caesar, gloomy and desperate.His beloved wife died for him, his own power was declining day by day, and finally even his good friend Cassius died before him... No one understood the cause in his heart.So what is supporting his spirit? Of course, it is the Roman realm. In this realm, there are no benefits, only suffering and sacrifice, and Caesar died for this.Brutus finally understands near the end: he must give himself. "Farewell, everyone, Brutus' tongue has almost finished the history of his life; twilight is on my eyes, and my bones long for its long-toiled rest." --Brutus "The Complete Works of Shakespeare" #8226; Volume Five", p. 272. It was not his body that was most exhausted, but the spirit of reasoning and counter-reasoning that had assisted Caesar in the sacrifice and now pushed himself to the altar. "Caesar, you may rest in peace now; when I killed you, I was not half as determined as I am now." - Brutus, "The Complete Works of Shakespeare• Volume Five", p. 272. Brutus is undoubtedly the most self-aware person in the play, and even he cannot be aware of his own soul journey in advance, because this journey depends on his own half-blind half-consciousness.His conversation with his friend Cassius before the incident described this situation. "Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your own face?" --Cassius "No, Cassius, for the eye cannot see itself, but must by reflex, by external force." The Complete Works of Shakespeare • Fifth Book, p. 197. Caesar may be his mirror, and so are his friends, associates, wives, and enemies.In this sense, Brutus is somewhat analogous to capitalized "man," or the artist-in-the-making.He comprehends all in human nature, and is therefore able to mobilize all; nothing can surprise him, distract him from his calling; he lives in eternity.Such a man is of course immortal.Brutus' spiritual journey, starting from sending his friend to the altar, has been tossing and turning in great suffering.All his followers were worldly zeal, he alone was a sober victim.This kind of suffering has a form similar to religion, but it is not equivalent to religion.Because it encourages and relies on the base or noble passions of the world as the driving force for participation.Brutus is above all men, and at the same time he is not above any man in the crowd; he is a prophet among mortals, and he himself is a real mortal.Therefore, compared with religious pursuits, Brutus' pursuits are less lofty and more earthly. For ordinary people, Brutus' attitude towards Antony is especially unreasonable.After Caesar was stabbed to death, he allowed Antony to stand on the podium to sing praises for Caesar and complain for Caesar.Didn't he know that doing so would anger the people? Of course he should know, how could he not know? Maybe what Antony did was exactly what he Brutus wanted to do, and as for the consequences, that is a major event within the scope of fate , there is nothing anyone can do. "In your mourning speech, you cannot blame us, but you can praise Caesar as much as you can think of, and at the same time you must declare that you have obtained our permission to say such things." --Brutus The Complete Works of Shakespeare• Volume Five, p. 234. These strange words of Brutus seemed to come from the mouth of a god. He seemed to be deliberately provoking the anger of Antony and the people, and then hit the bayonet himself.More likely he didn't think that much, but said those words out of intuition and truth to his inner emotions--the emotions of a fearless, aboveboard Roman, who sees sacrifice as his vocation.As expected, both the populace and Anthony were enraged, revenge began, and the wheel of fate turned full circle and moved forward again. "This day must end the work begun on March 15."--Brutus, "The Complete Works of Shakespeare• Volume Five", p. 265. These words were prophesied by Brutus before the fierce battle.Although his reasons for launching the charge were sufficient, they were somewhat ambiguous, as if what he longed for was not victory but defeat.Of course, he is not sure, so he can only talk about it after doing it. "Ah! If only a man could know in advance the result of a day's work--but the day will pass, and the matter will be decided." The Complete Works of Shakespeare • Fifth Volume, p. 265. This kind of situation is very similar to the mentality of an artist before breaking out. He knows that he will never reach that state, but he goes all out with luck every time; he knows that the only thing that is certain is sacrifice.Under his leadership, followers died one after another. As he said, Caesar "has not lost his spirit, and with the help of our own sword, pierced our own heart." "The Complete Works of Shakespeare • Volume Five", 269 Page.This is the meaning of March 15th. After reading the whole play, the image of Brutus will be complete.All those gaps and abruptnesses are originally due to our sight being conditioned by the world; Brutus followed not the laws of the world, but the call of the mystic; The battle inside continued, and the smoke filled the air.He is also the magician who is best at unifying the opposite sides, and he is the embodiment of the author's highest ideal.Only those readers who have the same realm as him can possibly decipher his enigmatic actions, and in the process of deciphering, together with him and the author, they can rush towards the mystery of life.The interpretation of this legendary figure from the poet Shakespeare has been going on for hundreds of years and will continue to go on.We re-experience what the old concept of a "hero" is all about by being close to him, and at the same time we clean up our accumulated memories and see how ideals have been lost.