Body Language in Julius Caesar

Abstract

The body functions as a flexible social sign in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Its connotations range from the Roman republic, to a more specific aristocratic bloc (which divides into pro- and anti-Caesar factions), to ideals of masculininity, to the personalities of key characters. In each case, the body's meaning is disputed by different groups and persons within the groups. Douglas notes that generally "The body... can stand for any bounded system," such as the national, class, factional, gender and personal figures noted above. But she continues that it is specially suitable to "represent any boundaries which are threatened or precarious" (115). In Julius Caesar, cultural boundaries of many types are particularly vulnerable, and the intense struggles over them are inscribed in bids for control over the way the body looks and is looked at, the way it acts and is acted upon, and the way it speaks and is spoken about.