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Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Caesar's Death:
In Act 5, Caesar alludes to his future murder, a real historical event that audience members would likely have been aware of. This creates a sense of dramatic irony and foreshadowing in the following passage, as the audience is privy to information that Caesar is not:
RUFIO: Caesar: I am loth to let you go to Rome without your shield. There are too many daggers there.
CAESAR: It matters not: I shall finish my life's work on my way back; and then I shall have lived long enough. Besides: I have always disliked the idea of dying: I had rather be killed. Farewell.
This passage also serves as an instance of foreshadowing, alluding to the abrupt, predetermined end to Caesar's life. Though Caesar is ostensibly unaware of his own death, one cannot help but feel in this scene that he has some knowledge of the role his murder plays in progressing the narrative of history. He asserts that he will finish his life's work on the way back to Rome, implying that his life's work is to go to his death. On a a similarly metatextual level, Rufio seems aware of the historical significance of Caesar's murder, referencing perfectly the method by which Caesar will soon be killed.
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