Julius Caesar: Introduction and Character Analysis By: William Shakespeare Presentation for English 10

Transcription

1 Julius Caesar: Introduction and Character Analysis By: William Shakespeare Presentation for English 10 Introduction to the play: Shakespeare was a man who loved to his audience. He would do just about anything to reach that goal, but he wouldn t sacrifice and to do it. This is even more evident in the plays he created for the stage. Introduction to the play: While his historical plays are not 100% accurate with the real events of the past, Shakespeare. His purpose was to show the past in an entertaining and (in some instances) educational way. He wants us to! Introduction to the play: This extra benefit of education has been one of the reasons that Shakespeare has been so successful for so long. There will never be a society where learning from the past is not needed, so these plays will always have the potential to speak to people. This play was probably written somewhere around. It covers a time when Rome had survived many attacks from some rather strong enemies. The Roman Empire was massive as it spread from east to west in one of its largest areas of coverage. The problem for Rome, though, was not! The problem was coming from the Empire. Nobody was really concerned about Rome being conquered from without. That seemed an impossibility to most people. What did concern SOME people was the and of some of the generals and even some of the higher-up political leaders of the day. The phrase, is true, but it could be vulnerable to a quick destruction if the leaders could not resolve inner problems.

2 There were a couple of major areas of dissention in the Empire: 1. The very powerful military generals did not always follow the wishes of the lower-ranking senators (to whom they were supposed to have sworn their allegiance). and would be issued and, at times, disregarded or changed to suit their own purposes. 2. There were also divisions between in the Empire. The problem here was that there was a large number of citizens represented in the Senate who were not happy with how the leaders in the Senate. There were also the (the common folk ) who were not represented in the Senate. This fact alone was troubling. seemed to be the only character in the higher ranks that would be able to handle a position of absolute ruler. The citizens who favored democratic rule would not be happy with a dictator like Caesar being in charge because he could to his powers. This led to the conspirators forming! On a MUCH broader scale, the play would have been seen as a by Shakespeare about government. Shakespeare s colleagues would be well-versed in history and current events of the day and they would easily spot a parallel in the play. It seemed to be a comparison to the rule. At the time of the play s performance, Queen Elizabeth I had sat the throne of England for 40 years. The British were very much into the idea of a. At the time, though, she was 63 years old and had no heir as her reign seemed to be ready to come to a close. This is the same predicament Caesar found himself in. Because of all the issues of the day, Shakespeare could not make a DIRECT comment on what he thought about the British attempts at absolute rule. However, he could discuss it or present the issue in the form of a play and let his opinions be known (or at least figured out by the scholars).

3 Doing so, Shakespeare chose to focus on the importance of the process of a leader in a society. He did, though, also make a strong point that the fickle favor of the common people has a lot to do with how a leader will be received and defined. Not much has changed in the world of politics even to this day it seems! Miscellaneous Facts: This is Shakespeare s play. First performed at the. The first authoritative text of the play did not appear until about (almost years after it was first performed). The play is known for in the text. It contains one of the most famous speeches.antony s funeral speech! CHARACTER SUMMARIES PART ONE: SUMMARIES OF THE MAJOR CHARACTERS IN JULIUS CAESAR JULIUS CAESAR Ruler of Rome Husband of Opens the play with a victory over the Imperial & egotistical Benevolent & Epileptic ( ) Wary of Cassius Assassinated on ( Ides of March ) Dies at the foot of Pompey s statue CALPURNIA Wife of Julius Caesar Believed to be (by her husband) Warns Caesar not to on March 15th Dreams that Caesar is a Outmaneuvered by Decius flattering interpretation of her fountain of blood dream Not seen after the ANTONY Caesar s political Runs in the race (supposed to touch Calpurnia to make her fertile) Reputed reveler Pretends to befriend the conspirators

4 Turns the crowd against Friends, Romans, countrymen speech Leads the army against the conspirators Phillipi Victorious over in the 1 st battle Victorious over in the 2 nd battle OCTAVIUS Grand-nephew and of Caesar Confident and equanimous Controls Rome with Antony and Loses to Brutus in first battle at Phillipi Wins with Antony in 2 nd Phillipi Takes all of Brutus loyal followers into his own service BRUTUS Roman Cousin & husband of Noble; Intellectual idealist Leads the conspiracy Constructs the case for Decides to spare Allows to speak at the funeral Wins 1 st Phillipi against Octavius Loses 2 nd Phillipi against Antony & Octavius Stoic Commits suicide while retreating from Phillipi PORTIA Cousin & wife of Brutus with many things Pleads to be taken into Brutus confidence Suffers self-inflicted wound on her to prove her discretion Frantically sends on an ambiguous errand to the Senate house just before the assassination Commits suicide by! CASSIUS Roman politician Lobbies for to join and LEAD the conspiracy Resentful & envious of Forges letters and has them delivered to Brutus Warns to kill Antony Warns not to allow Antony to speak at the funeral Warns not to rush into battle at Phillipi Loses 1 st battle against Phillipi after misinterpreting the situation in Phillipi

5 CASCA Duplicitous Scared of the. Tells the story of Caesar s at the Lupercalian festival First to Caesar Stabs Caesar in the MAJOR DIVISIONS OF THE PLAY Julius Caesar can be divided into to more easily follow the plot line. The central event for the entire play is the of Caesar in Act. Each third of the play has its own main events and central characters to know. You should concern yourself with knowing how to separate the play into these parts. THE FIRST THIRD: The Formation of the Rome is splintering into 2 factions: those supporting Caesar and those wary of his growing power. Cassius knows this and gets to be a lead conspirator. Details of 1 st Third: Cassius lobbies to enlist Brutus Takes place at Lupercalia races This is done gently and with great flattery Brutus is at first Into what would you lead me? Brutus is troubled by Caesar s He tells Cassius he ll think things over This leads to the of Brutus Details of 1 st Third: Brutus leads the conspiracy In Act 2, Brutus rationally puts together the case for killing Caesar Does a justify the killing of a leader? His own haunts his mind during this process. This will be mirrored by later. Many moments of bad decisions to come Details of 1 st Third: Brutus & the Tragic Moving from Act 1 to 2 transfers leadership of the conspiracy from to Brutus Cassius knows he needs someone of Brutus noble in order to pull this off Cassius does not count on the honorable intellect/conscience of Brutus as a problem This idealism of Brutus is his.

6 THE SECOND THIRD: Assassination & March 15 th trip to Senate kills Caesar 1 st Climax = Antony speaks 2 nd Climax = turns crowd against Details of the Second Third: The Warnings! On the day of the assassination, Caesar receives a minimum of warnings Wife,,, Artemidorus He just doesn t listen! After the killing, ignorance switches to Brutus Doesn t kill Antony & lets him speak to crowd Countermovement now underway! Details of the Second Third: & The Unresolved Question Assassination & Oration events are a transition point from conspiracy to counter-movement Killing Caesar seemed to satisy conspiracy, but Antony s speech turned crowd against the conspirators and into a countermovement Mob rule seems to take effect Is it or??? THE FINAL THIRD: The Aftermath: A Political Antony & take control of Rome Fight against the armies of Phillipi Cassius & Brutus end up committing suicide Details of the Final Third: The Cascade of After already ignoring Cassius advice to kill Antony, Brutus goofs again by going against Cassius wishes and battling Antony and Octavius armies at Phillipi The 1 st battle is pretty much a Before the 2 nd battle, Cassius misinterprets information from a scout and thinks he s.kills himself Brutus loses 2 nd battle kills himself also

7 Details of the Final Third: Tying Up the Loose Ends ( ) There is a lot of going on Antony & Octavius disagree but get together Brutus & Cassius disagree but fall apart The jockeying of the leadership in Acts & now mirrors that of the in Acts &. ghost appears to Brutus to remind him of the of his actions. Brutus kills himself partly due to