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 Looking at today's favorite mafia family, we can see definite similarities between the plot and characters in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and the HBO series, The Sopranos. As discussed in Corey's movie section, there are connections between the mob hierarchy and the hierarchy within Julius Caesar. However, looking beyond the systematic setup, there are character similarities between the play and the series.
Think of Tony Soprano as Shakespeare's "Brutus."(Trust me, this can work). Brutus, like Tony, is faced with the dilemma of person versus country (or in Tony's case, person versus family). Just as Brutus must decide to assassinate Caesar for the good of Rome against his personal friendship to Caesar, Tony Soprano often has to make decisions based on what's good for the family, against his personal relationships: Uncle Junior.
Junior is a pain in everyone's side when he first takes over the family as "Godfather." Although Tony doesn't knock him off, he does put him in a place of less harm: a symbolic godfather, without any real influence or control. Unlike Caesar, Junior isn't killed. However his position is very much dead, and those that might try to use his figurative power to control the family are killed (i.e. Micky).
But this is only one example of links between The Sopranos and Julius Caesar. |
