In honor of the 400th anniversary of the opening of Shakepeare's Globe Theatre -- which burned down 14 years later, was rebuilt, and then closed from 1642-1997 -- Julius Caesar was performed in London from May 13 to September 21, 1999. Why Julius Caesar? Because after the Privy Council* forbade the production of English history plays in 1599, the historical Roman play was one of the first performed on the new stage, so the Julius Caesar play was chosen because of its significance to the Globe's history.
Plus the play has a certain grandeur:
CALPURNIA
When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
CAESAR
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Julius Caesar Act II scene ii
Shakepeare's plays were intended for performance. A festive opening scene entices even young audiences with its puns on mending soles/souls. But it's the third scene of Act II that, according to Michael LoMonico, is most accessible to students. First there's the banter about the advisability of staying single, then the irreverence towards poets, and finally, the wanton violence as citizens tear to pieces the poet Cinna.
The more sophisticated may be drawn in by the play's allusions to historical events and eternal issues. As Joanne Wang, George VanVliet, and Bernardo Gomez write:
Julius Caesar deals with corrupt governments, one's conscience, doing what will be good for everyone rather than thinking about one's self, and the ability to change the populace's minds. It also reaches into the area of grandness and becoming too ambitious.Since Caesar's murder occurs about halfway through the play, there is obviously more to the play than the conspiracy Brutus was persuaded to join:
CAESAR Et tu, Brute! Then fall, Caesar.
Act III scene i
An excellent five-minute summary+ fleshes out the following skeletal plot information:
Following the murder, Brutus ill-advisedly lets Mark Anthony give a funeral oration. With his friends, Roman, countrymen speech, Anthony stirs up the people. An innocent namesake of the conspirator Cinna is torn to bits by the mob. Brutus' wife kills herself, then Brutus commits suicide -- after the battle between conspirators and Anthony/Octavius. Still eloquent, Anthony delivers Brutus' funeral oration, calling him the noblest Roman of them all.
But it's the emotions and values, like jealousy, betrayal, suicide, duty, and revenge that really inform the play.
CASSIUS
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Act I scene ii
Carolyn P. Henly, in "All are punished": Studying Varying Loyalties in Julius Caesar, looks at loyalty and the punishment for putting self-interest first.
BRUTUS
Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved
Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and
die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live
all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him;
as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I
slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his
fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition.
Act III scene ii
If you aren't already familiar with it, do read and learn about the play -- it won't spoil the performance for you. Like Shakespeare's audience or those of the Greco-Roman dramatists, it is assumed you already know the major events. Dramatic interest hinges on anticipation:
"the spectator knows what is to happen, but not when or how; he follows the progress of the action and awaits with ever-increasing hope or fear the coming of the expected event...." George E. Duckworth, The Nature of Roman Comedy
Resources accessed February 16, 1999:
*http://www.entrenet.com/~groedmed/jc.html
+http://www.goodnet.com/ ~jeriii/refs/caesar/summary.txt
• http://www.entrenet.com/~groedmed/jc.html
• http://www.shakespearemag.com/fall98/cinna.asp Killing Cinna the Poet in Your Own Classroom
• http://www.neffzone.com/jcscenes/ Julius Caesar Translations
• http://www.shakespearemag.com/fall98/punished.asp "All are punished": Studying Varying Loyalties in Julius Caesar
