Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

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Famous tragedy deals with the conspiracy against Julius Caesar, his assassination, and the defeat of the conspirators by Marc Antony and Octavius Caesar.

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Marcus Brutus is Caesar's close friend and a Roman praetor. Brutus allows himself to be cajoled into joining a group of conspiring senators because of a growing suspicion—implanted by Caius Cassius—that Caesar intends to turn republican Rome into a monarchy under his own rule.
Traditional readings of the play maintain that Cassius and the other conspirators are motivated largely by envy and ambition, whereas Brutus is motivated by the demands of honour and patriotism; other commentators, such as Isaac Asimov, suggest that the text shows Brutus is no less moved by envy and flattery.<3> One of the central strengths of the play is that it resists categorizing its characters as either simple heroes or villains. The early scenes deal mainly with Brutus' arguments with Cassius and his struggle with his own conscience. The growing tide of public support soon turns Brutus against Caesar (this public support was actually faked; Cassius wrote letters to Brutus in different handwritings over the next month in order to get Brutus to join the conspiracy). A soothsayer warns Caesar to "beware the Ides of March", which he ignores, culminating in his assassination at the Capitol by the conspirators that day.
Caesar's assassination is one of the most famous scenes of the play, about halfway through (the other is Marc Antony's oration "Friends, Romans, countrymen".) After ignoring the soothsayer as well as his wife's own premonitions, Caesar comes to the Senate. The conspirators create a superficial motive for the assassination by means of a petition brought by Metellus Cimber, pleading on behalf of his banished brother. As Caesar, predictably, rejects the petition, Casca grazes Caesar in the back of his neck, and the others follow in stabbing him; Brutus is last. At this point, Caesar utters the famous line "Et tu, Brute?" ("And you, Brutus?", i.e. "You too, Brutus?"). Shakespeare has him add, "Then fall, Caesar," suggesting that Caesar did not want to survive such treachery. The conspirators make clear that they committed this act for Rome, not for their own purposes and do not attempt to flee the scene. After Caesar's death, Brutus delivers an oration defending his actions, and for the moment, the crowd is on his side. However, Mark Antony, with a subtle and eloquent speech over Caesar's corpse—the much-quoted Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears...—deftly turns public opinion against the assassins by manipulating the emotions of the common people, in contrast to the rational tone of Brutus's speech. Antony rouses the mob to drive the conspirators from Rome. Amid the violence, the innocent poet, Cinna, is confused with the conspirator Lucius Cinna and is murdered by the mob.
The beginning of Act Four is marked by the quarrel scene, where Brutus attacks Cassius for soiling the noble act of regicide by accepting bribes ("Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? / What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, / And not for justice?", IV.iii,19–21). The two are reconciled; they prepare for war with Mark Antony and Caesar's adopted son, Octavian (Shakespeare's spelling: Octavius). That night, Caesar's ghost appears to Brutus with a warning of defeat ("thou shalt see me at Philippi", IV.iii,283). At the battle, Cassius and Brutus knowing they will probably both die, smile their last smiles to each other and hold hands. During the battle, Cassius commits suicide after seeing the death of his best friend, Titinius. After Titinius, who wasn't really killed, sees Cassius' corpse, he commits suicide. However, Brutus wins the battle. Brutus, with a heavy heart, battles again the next day. He loses and commits suicide. The play ends with a tribute to Brutus by Antony, who proclaims that Brutus has remained "the noblest Roman of them all" (V.v,68) because he was the only conspirator who acted for the good of Rome. There is then a small hint at the friction between Mark Antony and Octavius which will characterise another of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Antony and Cleopatra.
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Characters/People edit see section history

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Brutus: Brutus emerges as the most complex character in Julius Caesar and is also the play’s tragic hero. In his soliloquies, the audience gains insight into the complexities of his motives. He is a powerful public figure, but he appears also as a husband, a master to his servants, a dignified military leader, and a loving friend. The conflicting value systems that battle with each other in the play as a whole are enacted on a microcosmic level in Brutus’s mind. Even after Brutus has committed the assassination with the other members of the conspiracy, questions remain as to whether, in light of his friendship with Caesar, the murder was a noble, decidedly selfless act or proof of a truly evil callousness, a gross indifference to the ties of friendship and a failure to be moved by the power of a truly great man.(Source: Sparknotes.com)
Julius Caesar: General and Caesar of the Roman Empire.
Marcus Brutus: Caesar's friend and betrayer
Caesar: Add a description of this character.
Mark Antony: Friend of Julius Cesar.
Messala: an officer in Brutus' army
Lucilius: an officer in Brutus' army
Cassius: Caius Cassius, a Roman senator opposed to Caesar
Titinius: an officer in Cassius' army
Publius
Metellus
Pompey
Cinna: one of two "Cinna"s in the play - either a poet or the Roman senator opposed to Caesar
Flavius: a tribune of the people
Antonius: aka, Mark Antony - a general and favorite of Caesar, ruler after his death
Decius: Decius Brutus, not to be confused with "Marcus Brutus", but also opposed to Caesar
Metellus Cimber: opposed to Caesar
Claudio: a soldier in Brutus' army
Casca: opposed to Caesar
Pindarus: Cassius' bondman
Claudius
Theobald
Cleopatra
Trebonius
Strato
Lucius
Cicero: a senator and famous orator
Octavius: Octavius Caesar, ruled together with Mark Antony and Lepidus after the death of Caesar

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Quotes edit see section history

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“I could be well moved if I were as you.If I could pray to move, prayers would move me.But I am constant as the Northern Star,Of whose true fixed and resting qualityThere is no fellow in the firmament.The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks;They are all fire, and every one doth shine;But there’s but one in all doth hold his place.”
These lines come from Caesar’s speech in Act III, scene i, just before his assassination.
“He was my friend, faithful and just to me.But Brutus says he was ambitious,And Brutus is an honourable man.. . .When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.. . .Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,And Brutus is an honourable man.. . .I thrice presented him a kingly crown,Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,And sure he is an honourable man.”
Antony speaks these lines in his funeral oration for Caesar in Act III, scene ii.
“We at the height are ready to decline.There is a tide in the affairs of menWhich, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;Omitted, all the voyage of their lifeIs bound in shallows and in miseries.On such a full sea are we now afloat,And we must take the current when it serves,Or lose our ventures.”
Brutus speaks these words in Act IV, scene ii in order to convince Cassius that it is time to begin the battle against Octavius and Antony.
“My horse is a creature that I teach to fight,To wind, to stop, to run directly on,His corporal motion governed by my spirit;And in some taste is Lepidus but so.He must be taught, and trained, and bid go forth—A barren-spirited fellow, one that feedsOn objects, arts, and imitations,Which, out of use and staled by other men,Begin his fashion. Do not talk of himBut as a property.”
In this passage from Act IV, scene i, in which Antony and Octavius (with Lepidus, who has just left the room) are making plans to retake Rome, the audience gains insight into Antony’s cynicism regarding human nature: while he respects certain men, he considers Lepidus a mere tool, or “property,” whose value lies in what other men may do with him and not in his individual human dignity. Comparing Lepidus to his horse, Antony says that the general can be trained to fight, turn, stop, or run straight—he is a mere body subject to the will of another.
“The sun…is set. Our day is gone; Clouds, dews and dangers come; our deeds are done.”
“"Beware the ides of March."”
The Soothsayer; Act I, Scene 2

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First Sentence edit see section history

Hence! home, you idle creatures, get you home: Is this a holiday?

Table of Contents edit see section history

Act 1

Act 1, Scene 1
Act 1, Scene 2
Act 1, Scene 3
Act 2

Act 2, Scene 1
Act 2, Scene 2
Act 2, Scene 3
Act 2, Scene 4
Act 3

Act 3, Scene 1
Act 3, Scene 2
Act 3, Scene 3

Act 4
Act 4, Scene 1
Act 4, Scene 2
Act 4, Scene 3

Act 5
Act 5, Scene 1
Act 5, Scene 2
Act 5, Scene 3
Act 5, Scene 4
Act 5, Scene 5

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in Folger Shakespeare Library. (edition-based publisher list)

This book is in LMU Anglistik Syllabus. (authoritative list)

This book is in Shakespeare's Histories. (community list)

This book is in Shakespeare's Tragedies. (community list)

This book is in Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Series. (edition-based publisher list)

This book is in Oxford World's Classics. (edition-based publisher list)

This book is in Oxford School Shakespeare. (edition-based publisher list)

This book is in Signet Classic Shakespeare. (edition-based publisher list)

This book is in Cambridge School Shakespeare. (edition-based publisher list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

William Shakespeare (Author)

Other Contributors:

A. R. Humphreys
Burton Raffel (Introduction) - Annotations

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1599
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 104

Classification edit see section history

Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
Dewey: 792.102908

Subjects edit see section history

Books › Literature & Fiction › Drama › Playwrights, A-Z › ( S ) › Shakespeare, William
Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( S ) › Shakespeare, William
Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › British › Shakespeare
Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics

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Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

Julius Caesar Wikipedia Page
Julius Caesar Spark Notes: Read the play with the original text or the modern text
Project Gutenberg: Free e-book, full text

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