ATAR Notes: Forum

HSC Stuff => HSC Subjects + Help => HSC English Stuff => Topic started by: purplegummy_bear on February 13, 2018, 06:38:35 pm

Title: Module A Advanced JULIUS CAESAR + THE PRINCE (HELP!!)
Post by: purplegummy_bear on February 13, 2018, 06:38:35 pm
Hi! I'm studying Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and The Prince  by Machiavelli for my Advanced Mod A essay. The practice essay question is "While the acquisition and abuse of authority in Julius Caesar and The Prince may be similar, the contexts of composers may evoke different responses for an audience", and I have no idea how to approach it!  Any analysis or tips would be AMAZING! Thanks
Title: Re: Module A Advanced JULIUS CAESAR + THE PRINCE (HELP!!)
Post by: nataliekunze on February 13, 2018, 06:50:50 pm
have you studied into the context of each composer - England, Italy and the Renaissance?
Title: Re: Module A Advanced JULIUS CAESAR + THE PRINCE (HELP!!)
Post by: purplegummy_bear on February 13, 2018, 07:00:54 pm
yeah a little bit but not very much
Title: Re: Module A Advanced JULIUS CAESAR + THE PRINCE (HELP!!)
Post by: dancing phalanges on February 13, 2018, 09:18:09 pm
Hi! I'm studying Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and The Prince  by Machiavelli for my Advanced Mod A essay. The practice essay question is "While the acquisition and abuse of authority in Julius Caesar and The Prince may be similar, the contexts of composers may evoke different responses for an audience", and I have no idea how to approach it!  Any analysis or tips would be AMAZING! Thanks

Hey! OK so - this question is saying that both Ceasar and The Prince deal with gaining power and the manipulation of power. However, you differentiate them by discussing how the audience's reaction to this is different depending on Shakespeare's context and Machiavelli's context. For instance, Machiavelli wrote that in order to attain authority and control, one must be ruthless and ignore the ethical side of ruling. In his context this was acceptable as Lorenzo di Medici was his primary audience and di Medici believed that a good ruler is efficient and merciless. Therefore, to his primary audience (di Medici) this treatment of power and abuse was accepted due to di Medici's own support of it at the time. In addition, at the time, Italy was yet to be unified and was instead a collection of city-states in competition for power. In 1494, Italy was invaded by Charles VII of France, and the French invasions continued throughout Machiavelli’s lifetime. Therefore, when considering this context, audiences also were less opposed to Machiavelli's idea of a ruler as strict and harsh as it was believed that Italy needed a strong, powerful ruler to become united again and impose its authority once more.

As for Caesar, he also demonstrated how power can be abused through the deceit of Mark Antony. He also displayed how the acquisition of power can lead to disloyalty as displayed in Brutus' actions in killing his best friend Caesar. At the time, Elizabeth I was near the end of her reign and there was no clear successor to the throne. There was concern that revolution and rebellion would occur as a result. Assassination plots were also so common that Elizabeth’s government created a document known as the Bond of Association that they believed would alleviate the number of actual attempts on the queen’s life. Thus, Shakespeare's exploration into the abuse of power by the conspirators can be viewed in his audience's context as a warning against any possible rebellion/assassination by displaying the downfall of the conspirators and the collapse of the Government.

I hope that helped you understand that while both texts deal with similar ideas, their audiences interpreted them differently dependant on their context :)
Title: Re: Module A Advanced JULIUS CAESAR + THE PRINCE (HELP!!)
Post by: purplegummy_bear on February 14, 2018, 07:29:34 am
thankyou so much this really helps