Abstract
The character of Cinna-the-poet in Julius Caesar is often considered to represent a form of poetic counter-authority. Far from taking the murdered poet as a figure of self-identification for Shakespeare, this chapter argues that Cinna deserves to die. The two poets in Julius Caesar fare so ill when it comes to convincing others (the plebeians not to kill him for Cinna in Act 3, Brutus and Octavius to patch up their quarrel for the anonymous camp poet in Act 4) because they fail at composing and delivering effective rhetorical speeches. By showing the failures of uninventive poets on stage, Shakespeare is actually staging the triumph of a more rounded figure of authority, that of the poet-playwright-actor.
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Sansonetti, L. (2018). Poetic Authority in Julius Caesar: The Triumph of the Poet-Playwright-Actor. In: Halsey, K., Vine, A. (eds) Shakespeare and Authority. Palgrave Shakespeare Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57853-2_11
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