Julius Caesar
(William Shakespeare)
Written in 1599, Julius Caesar tells the story of an extremely powerful
general who substantially increased the size of Rome?s territorial
possessions yet was assassinated because he wanted to rule Rome by
himself. In his death, he left no children and although he named his
grand nephew Octavius as his heir, there was no clear successor, and a
devastating civil war ensued. Likewise, Queen Elizabeth was an
extremely effective monarch who brought England to its golden age of
prosperity. By 1599, however, Elizabeth was sixty-six and she had no
children to succeed her. Since she hadn?t named an heir and her reign
was clearly coming to an end very soon, England worried whether her
passing would be followed by chaotic civil war ? the same kind that
brought turmoil to Rome more than sixteen hundred years before. 1599
was also the year that the Globe Theater was built by Shakespeare?s
successful theater company. It is believed that Julius Caesar was the
first play performed in the Globe, which is somehow appropriate because
the ambition to rule the world is central to this play.
Shakespeare takes certain liberties with his historical sources ? the
lives of Caesar and Brutus in Plutarch?s Lives of the Noble Greeks and
Romans ? in order to condense the events of several years into
seemingly just a few weeks. Historically, Caesar?s triumphal ceremony
over Pompey occurs months before his assassination in March, and Brutus
and Cassius wait in Rome for a year after Caesar?s funeral before
amassing their armies to fight Antony and Octavius on the plains of
Philippi. In Shakespeare?s play, however, Caesar marches into Rome in
triumph on the Lupercalia, which is in February, and he is assassinated
in the middle of March. Also, Brutus and Cassius are driven out of Rome
immediately after Antony?s stirring speech at Caesar?s funeral. In
addition to increasing the dramatic intensity of the action,
Shakespeare suggests that the decisions the characters make ? Caesar
ignoring the warning of the soothsayer or Brutus allowing Antony to
speak at Caesar?s funeral ? have huge and immediate consequences.
Resumos Relacionados
- Julius Caesar
- Julius Caesar
- Antony And Cleopatra
- Antony And Cleopatra
- Cleopatra And His Love Antonio
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