"That they see ghosts is, with both Hamlet and Macbeth, the strongest proof of the power of the imaginative faculty. We need hardly tell our readers...that [Shakespeare's] spirit-world signifies nothing but the physical embodiment of the images conjured up by a lively fancy, and that their apparition only takes place with those who have this excitable imagination. The cool Gertrude sees not Hamlet's ghost, the cold, sensible Lady Macbeth sees not that of Banquo." Again, in a note on the words spoken by Brutus when the ghost vanishes-"Now I have taken heart, thou vanishest " -Hudson says: "This strongly, though quietly, marks the ghost as subjective: as soon as Brutus recovers his firmness, the illusion is broken. The order of things is highly judicious here, in bringing the 'horrible vision' upon Brutus just after he has heard of Portia's shocking death. With that sorrow weighing upon him, he might well see ghosts." I suppose that many who adopt this view do so from a vague desire to clear Shakespeare of the suspicion that he himself 'believed in ghosts.' But the theory will not explain all the instances in Shakespeare of apparitions. The ghost in Hamlet is seen by Marcellus and Bernardo, soldiers whom it would be arbitrary to credit with "excitable imaginations," and by the sceptical Horatio who declares expressly beforehand "'twill not appear"; and it holds a long colloquy with Hamlet. No theory of "subjectivity" (to use a tiresome word) will account for so emphatic an apparition; nor, surely, do we require any such theory. Shakespeare uses the supernatural as one of the legitimate devices of dramatic art. It is part Why Shakeof the original story of the lives of Cæsar and duces Brutus, and he retains it for dramatic effect. To the latter part of Julius Cæsar it is highly important, if not indispensable, as emphasising the continued influence, after death, of the power of Cæsar's personality. speare intro the supernatural. Sometimes, as in the earlier scenes of Hamlet, and I should add in Julius Cæsar, an apparition is meant to be Different as'real'—that is, a thing external to and independent pects of it. of the imaginations of those who perceive it, a truly supernatural J. C. b His personal feelings on the manifestation; sometimes, as in Macbeth, it is best regarded as 'unreal'—the inner creation of a disordered fancy, and so not supernatural at all. Both interpretations are open to us, and the conditions of each particular case must alone determine which we ought, in that case, to adopt. But as on the one hand it is impossible to explain all the instances on the single theory of 'unreality' or 'subjectivity,' so on the other it is absurd to credit Shakespeare himself with a personal belief in apparitions: as reasonably might one suppose that he 'believed in' fairies because he introduces them in A Midsummer-Night's Dream, or in "airy spirits" like Ariel, or in monsters like Caliban, or in witches like "the weird sisters" of Macbeth. There are indeed few subjects on which we can hazard any conjecture as to Shakespeare's own feelings, and the supernatural is not one of them. matter unknown. Brutus. XIII. THE CHARACTERS OF "JULIUS CÆSAR." Shakespeare depicts1 in Brutus the failure, under the test of action, of a man essentially noble in character, but unpractical and somewhat pedantic. Brutus is Noble but un- a philosopher and idealist: a man of lofty theories practical. about life and human nature, not of true insight into their realities: a man, too, of singular sensitiveness and tenderness, under the covering of that Stoic self-restraint which ordinarily marks him. He is at home among his books; and when fate thrusts him forth and bids him act instead of theorising, his incapacity to deal with his fellow-mortals, to understand their point of view, and to grapple with the facts of life, becomes pitifully plain. Then he stands confessed, a pure 1 He idealises the character to some extent, following Plutarch. 2 Thus he cannot bear to speak of Portia's death (IV. 3. 158, 166). 3 Cf. the scene with Portia (II. 1), and his kindly treatment throughout of Lucius; see II. 1. 229 (note), and IV. 3. 252-272. Like Hamlet. souled but impotent idealist out of touch with the passions and interests of average humanity. And it is the tragedy of his fortune that he, like Hamlet, is born into evil times (as he thinks) and feels that he must essay to set them right. The nobility of his character is unquestioned. Some men unconsciously reveal their goodness, and Brutus is one of these. "Noble" seems to rise instinctively to the lips of all who know him. "Well, Brutus, thou art noble," reflects Cassius (1. 2. 312), a true judge of character. "But win the noble Testimony to Brutus to our party," echoes Cinna (1. 3. 141). his character: "Now is that noble vessel full of grief," says Clitus (v. 5. 13), pointing to their defeated and dejected leader. "The noblest Roman of them all" is Antony's verdict (v. 5. 68). The conspirators feel from the outset that they can do nothing without Brutus. Cassius and Casca and Cinna all realise their "great need of him.” If they act it must be under the shelter of the name of Brutus (I. 3. 157-160): "O, he sits high in all the people's hearts: Will change to virtue and to worthiness." His influence among the conspirators. Cassius1, against his better judgment, twice gives way to Brutus. Ligarius follows him blindly (II. 1. 311—334). When the plot is achieved, the conspirators would shift the prime responsibility on to him: "Go to the pulpit, Brutus" (III. I. 84); "Brutus shall lead" (120). His influence in short is paramount, and it is the influence which springs from undisputed nobility of character and compels the loyal devotion of others, so that Brutus can say (v. 5. 34, 35): "My heart doth joy that yet in all my life 1 See II. I. 155—191 and III. I. 231—243. His motives. Personal considerations have no weight-indeed, no placein the motives of a man of this type. Principle is his sole guide. Cassius and the others are prompted mainly by "envy of great Cæsar" (v. 5. 70). Brutus has "no personal cause to spurn at him" (II. I. II): rather he is Cæsar's friend, and is therefore moved by conflicting emotions, by "passions of some difference" (1. 2. Conflict between his love of Cæsar and his duty to Rome. 40). But if he loves Cæsar much he loves Rome more (III. 2. 23); and pity for the "general wrong" drives out his pity for Cæsar, even as fire expels fire (III. 1. 170, 171). As a Roman-" Rome" and "Roman" are ever on his lips-as a Brutus1, descendant of him who drove out "the Tarquin," he must obey the voice of patriotism at the cost of personal feelings and spare neither his friend nor himself. The present absolute power of the Dictator violates that "freedom" which Brutus believes to be essential to the welfare of Rome, and worse evils might follow were Cæsar "crowned” (II. I. 12-34); for "that might change his nature," and lead him to "extremities" of tyranny. So friendship must be sacrificed. An idealist knows no compromises, and Brutus, as unflinching as disinterested in all he undertakes, will tolerate no half-measures. Yet practical measures of redress lie beyond his power of execution. He is incapable of successful action, Ignorance of and the root of his incapacity is his ignorance of the main cause human nature. He knows not how other men will of his failure. act nor what effect his own actions and words will have on them. He misreads the characters of of this igno- almost all with whom he is brought in contact. Thus he misjudges Antony (II. 1. 181-183, 185189), not perceiving that the pleasure-loving habits of the "masker and reveller" are compatible with astute energy in affairs: a mistake sufficing in itself to bring about the utter human nature Illustrations rance. 1 Cassius appeals to him by this motive; cf. 1. 2. 159–161; see also II. 1. 53, 54. 2 Cæsar said of Brutus "quicquid volt, valde volt"; cf. Cicero, Ad Att. XIV. I. 2. downfall of the conspirators. He misjudges Casca (1. 2. 299, 300). He misjudges the crowd and addresses them in a laboured, argumentative style as though each individual had the trained and dispassionate intellect of a philosopher (III. 2. 12-52). He misjudges his own wife, vainly supposing that he can conceal his disquiet from her (II. I. 257). And he does not see that Cassius is "humouring" him (1. 2. 319) and using his influence as an instrument for wreaking personal spite upon Cæsar. A man so devoid of insight into human nature is doomed to failure when he leaves his study and goes forth to act. Gradually he must find that the world of fact is far other than the world of his speculative fancies and that his theories about man in the abstract are misleading delusions. His mistakes conduct of the conspiracy. Hence it comes about that the public action of Brutus in relation to the conspiracy and its outcome may fairly be described as "a series of practical mis- in the practical takes." He refuses to let Antony be slain together with Cæsar (II. 1. 162–189). He suffers Antony to address the crowd (III. 1. 231): more, he suffers Antony to have the last word, and when his own ineffective speech is finished goes away (III. 2. 66), trusting to Antony's promise not to "blame” (III. 1. 245) the conspirators. He nearly comes to open rupture with his colleague (IV. 3); he insists on marching to Philippi (IV. 3); in the battle he "gives the word too early," lets his soldiers fall to plunder, and fails to aid his fellow-general (v. 3. 5-8). His action in short is a Tragedy of Errors. Yet many of them, be it noted, are the errors of a good, though over-sensitive, man, who has undertaken a certain work without calculating fully its consequences. Brutus should have realised at the outset that if the murder of Cæsar was right, then the other deeds of violence and injustice which that murder necessarily entailed would be justifiable. Instead of this, he ventures upon the tremendous deed of assassination, yet tries to act with a strict and scrupulous observance of equity and fairness; and so, partly from needless scruples, partly from the lack of practical wit, he stumbles blindly into blunder after blunder, |