Transcript Starting Julius Caesar, pt. 2

Starting Julius Caesar, pt. 2
English 112
Last time…
• We talked about universal themes
• We talked about the painful nature of
change
• We went over a brief summary of the
play’s events
This time…
• We’ll talk about why Shakespeare might
write about this
• We’ll talk about Shakespeare’s historical
sources
• Finally, we’ll discuss the historical figures
the play’s characters are based on
William Shakespeare
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1564-1616
Often cited as being the best English writer or one of—
Born in Stratford, lived in London, retired in Stratford
Led The King’s Men, a travelling band of actors
Travelled around England performing plays, and, yes,
getting paid for it
• Wrote JC in 1599
Shakespeare’s Roman Tragedies
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Julius Caesar
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Titus Andronicus
• Why the Roman obsession?
Classicism
• Today, we use the word classic to denote
anything that is
– Of great quality, or
– Has stood the test of time
• In Shakespeare’s time, the word “classic”
meant a work of literature from Ancient
Greece and Rome, written in the original
Greek and Latin
Shakespeare’s Source: Plutarch
How accurate is JC?
• There are only a few changes from Plutarch’s text,
mostly where place names and dates are cleaned up for
convenience of performance
• One major difference are Caesar’s last words—
Shakespeare has them as “Et tu, Brute? Then fall,
Caesar!”
• Plutarch says that Caesar said nothing, put pulled his
cloak over his head when he saw Brutus among the
conspirators
• Other historians say that Caesar’s last words were καί
σύ τέκνον (Kai su, teknon?—“Even you too, child?”)
Julius Caesar
Born 13 July, 100 BC
Died 15 March, 44 BC
Was dictator from October 49 BC
Reigned for 5 years
A roman political and military official
who played a key role in changing the
Roman Republic into the Roman
Empire
Was the Magister populi (“Master of
the People”) or dictator, whose power
was unchecked by other officials
Brutus
Full name: Marcus Junius
Brutus
Born June 85 BC
Died October 42 BC
Senator in Rome who was
convinced to lead the plot
against Caesar
Mark Anthony
Real name: Marcus Antonius
Born 14 January 83 BC
Died Aug 1 30 BC
After Caesar’s assassination, defeated
Marcus, and formed a triumvirate with
Octavius and Lepidus
Octavius and Mark Antony later disagreed,
and in 33 BC, there was another civil war,
known as The Final Battle of the Roman
Republic. He was defeated, and Octavian
became Caesar Augustus, the first Roman
emperor
Is the main character of another
Shakespearean Roman tragedy, Antony
and Cleopatra
Questions to think about as you
read the play
• Does absolute power corrupt absolutely?
That is, can you have great political power
and not be corrupt?
• Were these characters good people or bad
people? In your opinion, how should
history remember them?