“Et tu, Brute? Então, que morra César”: Uma leitura alternativa da expressão mais incompreendida de Shakespeare

Jorge Miguel Arcanju Pereira; Viviane Moraes de Caldas

doi:10.14393/LL63-v40-2024-59

Authors

Jorge Miguel Arcanju Pereira Universidade Federal de Campina Grande Author https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0034-1970
Viviane Moraes de Caldas Universidade Federal de Campina Grande Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8898-2568

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14393/LL63-v40-2024-59

Keywords:

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, “Et tu, Brute?”, Classical Studies, Elizabethan Drama

Abstract

Unlike the tradition of Julius Caesar's last words uttered in Greek, “kai su teknon”, preserved both by Suetonius (Iul. 82. 3) and Cassius Dio (44.19.3), Shakespeare gave his dramatic hero a remodeled utterance in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar: “Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar” (Act 3. Scene 1, v. 77). The play's literary critics, such as Spevack (2004), Heliodora (2014), Taylor et al. (2016) and Dimitrova (2018), have invariably interpreted this dictum as Caesar's astonished and disappointed response as if feeling betrayed by Brutus. Our aim in this article is to problematize this perspective by drawing attention to literary and historic aspects both in Shakespeare's dramatic text and in his sources which disallow this interpretation. Taking these literary and historical factors into consideration, we propose an alternative psychological reading for the Shakespearean Caesar's last utterance: a feeling of resignation and acceptance of his tragedy before Brutus.

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Author Biographies

Jorge Miguel Arcanju Pereira, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande

Graduado em Letras Inglês pela Universidade Estadual da Paraíba em 2009. Atualmente, é mestrando no Programa de Linguagem e Ensino PPGLE/UFCG e professor efetivo de Língua Inglesa do Estado da Paraíba. Pesquisa Literaturas de Língua Inglesa e diferentes textos clássicos relacionados à figura histórica e literária de Júlio César.
Viviane Moraes de Caldas, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande

Doutora em Letras pela Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), na linha de pesquisa de Estudos Clássicos, com estágio doutoral como Pesquisadora Visitante, no Instituto de Filologia Clássica da Universidade de Viena (Áustria). Mestre em Letras (Linguagem e Ensino) pela Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG). Graduada em Letras/Português e Literaturas de Língua Portuguesa (2011) e Letras/Francês e Literatura Francesa (2014) pela Universidade Federal de Campina Grande. Tem formação na área de Letras Clássicas (Latinum e Graecum) pela Friedrich-Schiller-Universität (Jena, Alemanha). Leitora Especialista (2009-2011) da Coleção Leituras Introdutórias em Linguagem, publicada pela Editora Cortez (São Paulo). Atualmente é professora adjunta de Língua Latina, na Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, tendo como áreas de interesse e pesquisa o ensino de Literatura Clássica greco-romana, o estoicismo senequiano, a tragédia latina, o feminino, e a violência contra a mulher. Líder do Grupo de Pesquisa CNPq 'Mitos, Mulheres e Deusas' (MiMuDe).

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