Julius Caesar Help?

Question:I do not understand the theme Public Self vs. Private Self in the play Julius Caesar. If you could help explain it to me, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I do not understand the theme Public Self vs. Private Self in the play Julius Caesar. If you could help explain it to me, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

The main characters in the play are politicians and army generals--in other words, they have public roles where they must represent/serve the people, but they are also human beings with their own thoughts and feelings. Sometimes their public role is in conflict with their personal feelings. Here are two examples:

Brutus privately does not want to kill Casear. He is talked into it when Cassius says it would be for the good of Rome. Therefore, his public self agrees to the assasination, while his private self remains deeply troubled by it. (he later sees Caesar's ghost, and in Shakespeare, seeing a ghost is a sign of deep mental unrest.)

Marc Anthony makes a deal with the conspirators to speak at Casear's funeral. We see him being calm and rational. After they leave, he gives a very famous, impassioned speech "over thy wounds now do I prophesy..." So privately he is in incredible grief and rage over the murder of his friend, but then he goes out and adresses the whole crowd, and keeps his emotions under control while manipulating the crowd to see his point of view. Privately he's upset, but he has a public role to perform, and he does it brilliantly.
Good luck!