About this title: Though the Plebeians support Julius Caesar and celebrate his return from Rome as the play opens, Caesar is famously warned to "Beware the ides of March," by the Soothsayer. Meanwhile, Caesar's popularity is such that the other Roman aristocrats, who rule as a body along with Caesar, fear that his popularity will cause the Plebeians to name him their King, breaking with Roman tradition. Reminding Brutus of a historic revolt led by his own ancestors, Cassius stirs Brutus's sense of purpose. When Brutus and Cassius are alone with one of Caesar's men, they learn that the Plebeians have indeed ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1963
ISBN-13:9780451517852ISBN:0451517857
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Shakespeare, Signet Classic. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1964
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Nice soft cover, lightly read, light shelf wear to cover, light creases on spine, light aging, stk #2406sl7. 200 p. read more
"I read this with a very good friend of mine. I read it in great detail and thought through much of it and relished the chance of sharing and discussing. Unfortunately we were overcome by events and did not get to discuss it much. Hopefully we will come back to it one day. It was an excellent and quick read. There is much in Caesar's life to discuss and ponder. Caesar, as portrayed by Shakespeare and by history, is a fascinating figure. In a period where Rome was pulling itself apart Caesar came to the top. It is interesting to discuss the decisions he made to advance himself which seemed in his mind to also be advancing the state. In a time of anarchy he brought order, but it is reasonable to see how others viewed that as tyranny. It was a great read and an especially good one for discussion."
"Maybe I'm just not sufficiently well-versed, but how can you give anything involving The Bard and Roman history less than 5 stars?
So, with my bias noted, I have to say I loved this read. I think Mark Antony's eulogy may be one of the greatest speeches ever. While the play is marked by some over dramatic moments and is a little heavy handed on the moralizing (everyone should listen to their wives), the drama is very compelling and Caesar himself becomes a fascinating Rorschach test on the role of a populist leader.
As good as this play is on its own merits, it is a fascinating Part 1 in conjunction with Antony & Cleopatra. While "Mark Antony, pt. 1" or "Brutus" may both be more accurate titles, the role Caesar plays is more of a force of nature that compels both of these fascinating characters.
I highly recommend this play to anyone who loves Shakespeare, great writing, and thought-provoking drama."
"I had to read this book in English. It was somewhat accurate and somewhat not. William Shakespeare writes a lot of plays about real and fictional characters. What I dislike the most is how it is written in Old English. Even his revised copies are difficult to read. I can't relate to any of the characters. I don't even find this play entertaining. I hate how you have to read so much William Shakespeare. I'm not a fan of him at all. All the rhythmic makes it too confusing. I know it was for them to memorize lines but it still is very annoying evaluating sentence by sentence. The other thing I don't like is how his characters all the same in all of his plays. It's same type of character for each. Another thing I dislike about Shakespeare is that all of his plays have violence in them. Someone always dies in Shakespeare. His plays were way too much the same. He kept writing the same thing over and over again. When he has romance it is just lust. Nobody is really in love in his plays.Shakespeare gives the history of how the senators plotted to kill Julius Caesar of Rome. Julius had some problems of him own. He had way too many lovers and became greedy. He wanted Rome to be the biggest empire and even invaded people who did no harm to him. He tortured too many of those people. The senators killed him because he was becoming to powerful. The whole outcome was a disaster. Rulers tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. The senators would have done the same thing as Caesar if the people of Rome didn't kill them or hunt them down. Many of them ran because of fear of the Roman people. I would never read Shakespeare again if I didn't have too."
"Even people who haven't read the play can recite lines from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Et tu, Brute;" "I come not to praise Caesar but to bury him." But the well-worn quotations produce a simplified sense of the plot, evoking an atmosphere of tyranny and retribution instead of the quickly shifting political landscape that makes up the drama's core.
Shakespeare's presentation of the political backstory is a model of economy, as he skillfully sums up the players, their alliances and their differing motivations. The nobility of Brutus is well-captured, as is the jealousy of Cassius and the fluid adaptability of Mark Antony.
But even as these iconic characters drive the action, they are also driven by the fickleness and easily kindled rage of the Roman mob. Citizens throng the streets, burn buildings and commit murder. Their allegiances flit back and forth on the basis of the latest soliloquy. To Shakespeare's credit that these shifting loyalties never descend into deus ex machina. Instead, they seem to reflect the bloodsport of Roman politics, where leaders attempt to direct the mob even as they're surrounded by it.
Shakespeare also adds his trademark psychological torment to the mix. As Brutus plans to strike down Caesar, he reflects:
"Between the acting of a dreadful thing and the first motion, all the interim is like a phantasma, or a hideous dream: The genius and the mortal instruments are then in council; and the state of man, like to a little kingdom, suffers then the nature of an insurrection."
The language throughout is choice and fluid, and it's funny that Shakespeare's phrasings have come to define our view of Roman culture. (See how many period films have characters speaking in English accents; the HBO miniseries Rome, which we just began watching, is one of them.) Even as Shakespeare evokes the era, he remains faithful to the larger movements of history, making Julius Caesar a fine summation of its time as well as an excellent work of drama."
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