Julius Caesar by WILLIAM Shakespeare

1
Julius Caesarby WILLIAM Shakespeare

• Background Notes

2
Historical Events

• First 250 years after founding, Rome was ruled by
  oppressive kings Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin
  the Proud) was the last
• Romans revolted Led by Lucius Junius Brutus (in
  play, Brutus descended from him)

3

• Lucius Junius Brutus pledged to kill anyone who
  aided the oppressive ruler Tarquinius Superbus.
  That included his own sons. Painting is by
  Jacques-Louis David (18th century)

4
Roman Republic

• Made up of
• Senators (from the noble class)
• Praetors (administered civil justice) like
  police
• Tribunes (represented the plebeians, or common
  people)
• Two consuls (powerful)
• One served in Rome
• One commanded the army

5
The First Triumvirate

• 60 BCE Caesar-Pompey-Crassus
• 59 BCE Caesar-Pompey became consuls
• (Caesar army-Gallic campaigns Pompey Rome)
• Caesar/Pompey struggled for power
• Pompey killed outside Italy
• Caesar defeated Pompeys sons in Spain in 45 BCE

6
(No Transcript)
7
Opening of Play

• Caesars return from defeating Pompeys sons
• Some senators fear Caesar may take absolute
  power (like kings Lucius Junius Brutus deposed)
• Caesar very popular with commoners

8
Plutarch

• Source for historical background
• Wrote 56 AD (100 yrs after Caesars death)
• Elizabethans familiar w/Caesar story
• Shakespeare followed Plutarchs basic account of
  historical events.

9
William Shakespeare vs. Plutarch

• To save time Shakespeare condensed some of the
  historical events.
• - Caesars murder, funeral, and reading of the
  will all happened on the same day in the play.
• He combined the two Battles of Phillipi

10
Julius Caesar the play

• Written by William Shakespeare
• First performed approx. 1599
• Concerns
• Historical events
• Evils of rebellion and civil war
• Ambition and its effect on leadership

11
Elizabethan England

• Queen Elizabeths reign a good time in British
  history
• Long reign ending
• Concern about successor
• Violence preceded her reign
• Henry VIIIs 6 wives, no certain
• successor lots of
• instability

12
Connection From ancient Roman history to
Elizabethan England

• Attitude of Brits better to accept power than to
  have civil war
• In play, those who would fight against Caesar
  (even for noble cause) would cause suffering for
  the people

13
The Globe Theater
14
Rhetorical Devices

• Julius Caesar is about power, ambition, and
  betrayal. The characters are constantly trying
  to persuade themselves, each other, and the
  audience of the rightness of their cause. As a
  result, the play is full of speeches that make
  masterful use of rhetorical devices, such as
  repetition, parallelism, and rhetorical
  questions.
• Watch for them!