Julius Caesar
Ratings192
Average rating3.8
“Cowards die many times before their deaths;The valiant never taste of death but once.Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,It seems to me most strange that men should fear;Seeing that death, a necessary end,Will come when it will come.”
My edition is an American short graphic novel, 61 pages long. Great for an introduction to Shakespeare or those, like me, who find the original to heavy.
Sorry guys, I just found Caesar incredibly boring. The only line I remember is “Et tu, Brute” and that's only because I was taking French at the time and found it fascinating that there was French in an English play.
If you can avoid it, please steer clear of Caesar. IMO, it's a waste of time. Read Hamlet instead.
Summary: This history play gives a fictionalized account of the conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar and the aftermath of the event.
It features some of literature’s best examples of effective uses of rhetoric.
I remember loving “Julius Caesar” I high school. And there are still brilliant speeches and dramatic moments to enjoy, and certainly glimpses into the character's psyches. But, I do think that this play, supposedly one of Shakespeare's earlier works, suffers from lack of even a few stanzas of exposition about Julius Caesar's lack of character or Brutus' motivation. Perhaps, an older Shakespeare would have addressed that weakness.
My book club read the play along with Plutarch's “Lives” segment about Julius Caesar, which provides a more comprehensive view of historical events of the time. Shakespeare is said to have used Thomas North's translation Plutarch's “Lives” (available online I found that one dry as dust but there are entire passages that are nearly lifted from that translation. It's worthwhile to read the two works in conjunction for that reason alone. Eventually, I plan to read all of the associated “Lives,” although tax season is not the time to do it.
I meant to only listen to half of this today, but it was a lot more fun than I expected and I listened to the whole thing almost non-stop. I'm thinking now that I really want to read a copy of this. The only other Shakespeare play I've read was The Tempest, but I think what I heard said about Shakespeare's plays was right - they need to be performed, not read. I've just got a few lingering questions about what went on, things that I wasn't quite able to follow and - if I'm being truthful - probably wasn't paying quite enough attention to.
