Moby Dick and Julius Caesar

Paper Summary:

This paper compares the similarities of two literary characters. More specifically, the paper compares and contrasts the character of Ahab from Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" with the character of Julius Caesar from Shakespeare's famous story of the same name. The paper concludes that like "Moby Dick", "Julius Caesar" is a historical incident which Shakespeare puts meaning into in retrospect, imbuing the characters with traits which we admire or hate and placing around them others who seemingly act only in accordance with fate.

Outline:
Ways in which Ahab and Julius are similar
Ways in which Ahab and Julius Caesar are different

From the Paper:

"Caesar is hard to like. Ahab is also hard to like, but he appears more sympathetic as he is so dogged in his quest of the white whale. Ahab is shown to be a brooding and dark character that we sometimes see in literature, ambiguously evil, yet we sympathize with his madness. He sacrifices everything, including his life and his crew to capture Moby Dick, whom he has sought for so long: "Now it was that there lurked a something in the old man's eyes, which it was hardly sufferable for feeble souls to see. As the unsetting polar star, which through the livelong, arctic, six months' night sustains its piercing, steady, central gaze; so Ahab's purpose now fixedly gleamed down upon the constant midnight of the gloomy crew." (Melville, Chapter 130).
"The book Moby Dick is about a quest and a challenge to the universe in which Ahab lives. He will fight it to the death because he believes he can conquer it. He does not know that no matter how big he may be, it is bigger than he, but he will die in the attempt. "He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it." (Melville, Chapter 135). Like Moby Dick, Julius Caesar is a historical incident which Shakespeare puts meaning into in retrospect, imbuing the characters with traits which we admire or hate and placing around them others who seemingly act only in accordance with fate."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. 1851. Website: <http://www.online-literature.com/melville/mobydick/>.
• Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. 1623. Website: <http://books.google.com/books?id=aAklAAAAMAAJ&dq=julius+caesar&pg=PP1&ots=wPZV0vNP7Y&sig=ed0QGvDkeUaunk9tEjZwjDYNPKk&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGIG_enUS239US239&q=Julius+caesar&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail

More papers on Moby Dick and Julius Caesar:

• Comparison Essay # 6390 : "Moby Dick" and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
• Book Review # 109425 : "Moby Dick" and the Concept of Fate"
• Research Paper # 94242 : "Evolution's Influence on "Moby-Dick" and "Clarel"

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