Friday, October 2, 2015

What is Calpurnia's dream? |

Prior to his departure for the Senate on the fateful day of his death, Calpurnia, Caesar's wife, asks Caesar to stay home.  Along with recounting strange events taking place in the streets of Rome, Calpurnia tells Caesar of a dream she had, which he later recounts to Decius:


She dreamt tonight she saw my statue,                                         Which,...

Prior to his departure for the Senate on the fateful day of his death, Calpurnia, Caesar's wife, asks Caesar to stay home.  Along with recounting strange events taking place in the streets of Rome, Calpurnia tells Caesar of a dream she had, which he later recounts to Decius:



She dreamt tonight she saw my statue,                                         Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,                               Did run pure blood (Act 2, Scene 2, lines 76-78).



The dream shows further instances of foreshadowing, as Caesar next describes how the Roman people, rather than acting repulsed by the site of the bloody statue, actually smile and bathe in the blood.  Calpurnia feels this to be a bad omen, foreshadowing the events to come.


Decius manages to turn this around.  He tells Caesar that both he and Calpurnia have misinterpreted the dream, and that the blood spouting forth from the statue is the sustaining or life-giving blood that Caesar has given (through his actions) to all the Roman people.  Caesar is ultimately convinced to disregard the dream and to move forward with his original plans.

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