Julius Caesar

1. Julius Caesar By William Shakespeare Produced by Sabrina Schroeder

2. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) • The works of Shakespeare have probably been seen or read by more people worldwide than the works of any other writer. The man who wrote these works, however, is something of a mystery. • The mystery begins with Shakespeare’s birth, since no record exists of the actual date. A baby named William Shakespeare was baptized in a church at Stratford-on-Avon on April 26, 1564. Babies at the time were baptized three days after birth, so scholars today believe that Shakespeare was born on April 23. • A 1582 marriage record shows that Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. Birth records indicate that Shakespeare and Hathaway had a daughter in 1583 and twins in 1585. • Shakespeare had four grandchildren, but all died without having children of their own. As a result, his lineage ended when his last living grandchild died in 1670.

3. Shakespeare’s Contemporaries on Shakespeare • Shakespeare never wrote anything about himself, and almost nothing is known about his early life. Moreover, there is an extended period between 1585 and 1592 known as the “lost years”. • Shakespeare is first mentioned in 1592 in a pamphlet written by the poet Robert Greene. In a scathing though veiled attack on the upstart playwright, Greene makes a pun with Shakespeare’s name and he also parodies a line in Henry VI. This outburst of professional jealousy would seem to indicate that Shakespeare was already recognizedas a force to be reckoned with. • In 1598, Francis Meres published an anthology in which he compares Elizabethan writers to classical authors. Among other things, he writes, “As EpiusStolo said, that the Muses would speak with Plautus tongue if they would speak Latin; so I say that the Muses would speak with Shakespeare’s fine filed phrase, if they would speak English.” • Following generations of writers also recognized Shakespeare’s unique genius. For example, the poet John Dryden wrote the following in his “Essay on Dramatic Poetry”: “He (Shakespeare) was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul.”

4. Julius Caesar • Marchette Chute wrote: Julius Caesar is a story of politics. It tells of treachery and good intentions and the manipulations of mass emotions, and it rises to the final tragedy of civil war. Shakespeare has taken a page of Roman history and used it to show some disastrous truths about the nature of men and politics, and the result is a masterpiece. . . For Julius Caesar is a mirror in which the present age can see itself.

5. Julius Caesar/Background • Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar focuses on the issue of Caesar’s ambitions and anti-democratic practices. However, Caesar is best known for his military campaign in Gaul (France) where he drove the Germanic tribes across the Rhine into what is now Germany. Caesar also invaded Britain twice. • While fighting in Spain in 49 B.C., Caesar was ordered to surrender his troops by Romans who were fearful of his power. He refused and disobeyed orders by crossing the Rubicon river with his forces, thereby provoking civil war. Here, he is said to have uttered the words aleaiactaest (the die is cast), meaning that now there was no turning back. Caesar defeated his Roman enemy Pompey and within a short time controlled the entire Roman empire. He named himself dictator, consul, and tribune for life. • One of his later victories occurred in territory that is now Turkey. After his military triumph, he sent back a three-word message to the Roman Senate: Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered. • Although it is true that Caesar was openly contemptuous of the republic and the Senate, he did weed out corruption, replacing dishonest governors with honest ones. Furthermore, he attempted to win over his enemies by putting them in office. He also established colonies in conquered countries such as Carthage, Corinth, and Spain and encouraged poor Romans to settle there. In this sense, he was a classical imperialist.

6. Act One • Mark Antony offers the crown to Caesar three times during the festival of Lupercal. The word Lupercal comes from lupus, or “wolf.” According to legend, Rome was founded by the twins Romulus and Remus, who were nursed by a wolf. The purpose of this festival, which was held in February, was to restore and renew civic order at the start of each new year. • The ritual would begin with the sacrifice of goats and dogs. The priests would smear the blood on the foreheads of several youths. Next, they would wear the skins of the sacrificed animals and run around the Palatine Hill and the entire city to purify it. Women who were infertile would stand in their way and be lashed with strips of skin from the sacrificed animals in the belief that they could then bear children. This custom is alluded to in Act One.

7. Epilepsy -- The Falling Sickness • Several characters mention that Caesar has the “falling sickness,” or epilepsy. In Shakespeare’s time, the neurological cause of this disease was not known. The most common theories held that it was a form of demonic possession, Others believed that witchcraft was involved, stating that they had never encountered a witch who was not epileptic. Still others felt that epilepsy was associated with the ability to prophesy and that the trance they appeared to go into put them in touch with the spirit world and the future. Shakespeare’s audience would have been aware of at least some of these theories.

8. Vocabulary (Elizabethan words that meant something different) • Conception: idea • Difference: conflict • Flourish: trumpeting • Passion: emotion • Tributaries: captured prisoners • Vulgar: common people

9. Literary Concept/ Figurative Language • FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Figurative language is any word or groups of words that a writer uses to help a reader picture ordinary things in a new way. • SIMILE: A simile is a comparison that uses the word like or as. • METAPHOR: A metaphor is a comparison that does not use like or as. • PERSONIFICATION: Personification is when a writer describes an animal or object as if it had human qualities. • HYPERBOLE: Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or for humor. • SHAKESPEARE: As you read the play, be aware of how Shakespeare uses figurative language to create mental pictures and to describe something in a more vivid, memorable way.

10. Literary Concept/Pun • A pun is a joke that makes use of two different meanings of a word or two words that sound alike. • Shakespeare’s audience loved a good pun. He probably used this technique to “warm up” his audience, or perhaps the pun momentarily lightened the mood in an otherwise tragic drama.

11. The Real Brutus • In many respects, Shakespeare presents a flattering and idealized picture of the real Marcus Brutus. He was much respected as an intellectual and idealist, and he wrote works on philosophy and history. • However, Brutus was also known to be self-important, aloof, and self-righteous. He was not above extorting money from provincial governors. Because of his prestige, Brutus’s support for the conspiracy against Caesar was absolutely crucial to its success.

12. Brutus’s Fatal Flaw • Brutus believed that eliminating Caesar would bring back the Republic and he insisted that only Caesar be killed. This decision would prove fatal to the conspirators, since Mark Antony, whose life he spares, engineers Brutus’s and the other conspirators’ destruction.

13. Lean and Hungry Cassius • It appears that Caesar was right in his appraisal of Cassius when he said he had a “lean and hungry look”. • Cassius was known to be sarcastic and impatient with friends and ruthless with his enemies. • In 49 B.C., when civil war erupted between Caesar and Pompey, Cassius sided with Pompey,. He surrendered to Caesar in 48 B.C. and was pardoned and even given the political rank of praetor by Caesar in 44 B.C. • Cassius had developed a hatred over the years for any form of tyranny, and Caesar’s pardon made him even more bitter.

14. Act Two • THE SENATE: The Roman Senate, which predated the Republic, was at first only an advisory body. The senators (as many as 300) debated issues and made recommendations. • Gradually, the senate gained more and more power until it became the administrative body of Rome. Because the Senate was a permanent body, it consisted of men who had long experience in running government. Because there was open debate in the Senate, this system was relatively democratic, even though it represented only wealthy people. • CAESAR wanted to take away the power that the Senate had gained and once again make it an advisory body.

15. To Sleep, Perchance to Dream • In Shakespeare’s plays, sleep is almost invariably the reward of those with a clean conscience, while sleeplessness signals inner turmoil. • As Brutus says, “Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, I have not slept.” It is all like a “hideous dream” for him.

16. Anachronism • Act Two, Scene one contains one of literature’s most famous examples of an anachronism. • An anachronism occurs in a play or other literary work when a person, object, or word from one time period is put into a different era. • There were no clocks in Caesar’s time, yet there it is, striking three times. • There are many theories about why Shakespeare included a clock in the scene. Some critics believe that he was just inexperienced and made a mistake. Others look at the scene as a whole and note that time is very important; perhaps he was underscoring its importance. Then again, the word anachronism itself means “wrong time”. Maybe it was later than the conspirators thought.

17. Vocabulary (words to rebel by) • Conspiracy: an agreement to perform an illegal or subversive act • Contriver: one who plots • Faction: a group of people, usually contentious, within a larger group • Insurrection: a revolt, rebellion • Redress: satisfaction for a wrong that has been suffered

18. Act Three - Scene of the Crime • Why did the conspirators choose to murder Caesar in a public place? • Historians believe that one reason may be that the Senate was the only place where so many conspirators, all of them senators, could assemble without suspicion.

19. Literary Concept / Foreshadowing • Shakespeare and other playwrights often give tantalizing glimpses of what is to come by using a technique called FORESHADOWING. • Examples: Calpurnia dreamed that she saw blood pouring from Caesar’s statue. After the assassination, Brutus leads the crowd in smearing Caesar’s blood up to their elbows and on their swords in a public display • At the end of his speech to the Roman citizens, Brutus says, “I have the same dagger for myself when it shall please my country to need my death.”

20. Vocabulary - (more Elizabethan words that have changed with time) • Basis: foot, bottom • Compact: an agreement • Dignity: a high position, rank, or title • Prick: to mark by punching a hole in a tablet • Pulpit: a public platform • Suit: a matter needing attention, petition

21. Act Four • The so-called Second Triumvirate, consisting of Mark Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, was set up in 43 B. C. to maintain the Republic. In fact, it was a three man dictatorship that had the power to make laws and appoint people to political office. The three divided the Roman Empire into provinces. Antony got most of Gaul, Lepidus got part of Gaul and Spain, and Octavius got Africa, Sicily, and Sardinia. • In order for them to fight Brutus and Cassius, they needed money and the assurance that no political rivals would take over Rome while they were gone. They accomplished both these ends by political murder. Shakespeare sets the scene in Act Four, when the three discuss who shall live and who shall die.

22. Literary Concept • DIALOGUE: Shakespeare uses dialogue to construct his characters and give them depth. • In one scene, Shakespeare forces us to completely revise our opinions of Brutus and Cassius. Cassius was so focused in previous acts; Brutus was so philosophical and gentle. Now their accusations fly, and they come close to spitting at each other. At times they sound as if they were boys squabbling at the playground. Through their dialogue, Shakespeare manages to convey the anger, the hurt, as well as the love these two men have for each other.

23. Stoicism • Stoicism originated in the third century B.C., and its influence continued to be strong for the next 500 years. Stoics sought to maintain rationality and self-control, and to obey the laws of nature. Stoicism counseled people to maintain their inner peace and tranquility whether the situation was pleasurable or painful.

24. Vocabulary / (money words) • To have an itching palm: to be always looking for bribe • Counter: a coin (it can be counted) • Mart: to market or sell • Drachma: a monetary unit in ancient Rome