Agenda:Intro Julius Caesar!

**Remember to buy No Fear Shakespeare: Julius Caesar (optional) as a study guide!

Journal #1: Betrayal! Start a new section in your logbook:

“Julius Caesar Intro Questions” Journal (3 minutes): Is there anything

for which you would betray a friend? Explain your answer.

Journal #2: Assassination

Julius Caesar is a play about an assassination intended to bring about political change. Under what circumstances, if any, do you think violence might be a legitimate way to bring about change?

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

ByWilliam Shakespeare

What do you know about Shakespeare?(Intro Question #3)

“The Bard”: 1564-1616 Elizabethan Theatre The most widely read

author in the English language

Considered to be the greatest writer of all time The themes in his

plays are universal, and thus remain applicable to today

His writing style is poetic and (for those who become accustomed to it) full of beauty

75% written in Iambic Pentameter

Iambic Pentameter

Pentameter is simply penta, which means 5, meters. So a line of poetry written in pentameter has 5 feet, or 5 sets of stressed and unstressed syllables. In basic iambic pentameter, a line would have 5 feet of iambs, which is an unstressed and then a stressed syllable.

Iambic Pentameter

/ / - / - - / - - / Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend

me your ears; - / - / - / - / - / - I come to bury Caesar, not to praise

him. - / - - / / - / - / The evil that men do lives after

them;

A Few Interesting Facts

For much of his life he lived in London, while his wife lived in the town of Stratford, 100 miles to the northwest

Of his 150+ sonnets about love, not one was to or about his wife

Because he did not go to college, some people think he could not have written the plays that he did

He had three children: Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet (does this last one sound familiar?) Hamnet died at the age of 11

The London Theatre

Differs from the Greek Theatre in several ways The VIPs sat in the

back, in the balcony The front was

standing room only Home of the

“Groundlings”

What the Greeks gave Elizabethan Theatre

The proscenium The skene The parados And, what Shakespeare occasionally

used, the concept of “Deus ex machina”

It is believed that he died on his birthday, April 23rd

He placed a curse on his grave to ensure that no one would rob his body parts.

Upon his death, he left his wife his “second best bed”

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

ByWilliam Shakespeare

What do you know?

When/Where was the Roman Empire? (Timeline of important events)

Who is Julius Caesar & What are his accomplishments?

Why was he assassinated? Why should we care???

Roman Virtues: Via Romana Pietas - duty to one's state, gods and family

and a personification of the Roman virtue of pietasDuty to the State

Industria - "Industriousness" Hard work.

Justica – Roman Law: Sensible laws & governance

Nobilitas - Preserved the political traditions of the aristocratic republic.Nobel action within the public sphere

What we know. . . “Statesman” (high ranking member

of senate) Author, Historian, Orator Military Genius – never lost a battle! Increased military by 100,000 legions Gallic Wars (58-52 BCE): Gaul

(France)

After Gallic Wars. . . Roman people given 8 times what he

promised them Roads Indoor plumbing Fresh water Public baths and parks Colosseums for recreation

The Fall of Caesar

Fearing his rise to power, and unwilling to be controlled, sixty senators decided to kill him on March 15

The planning, execution, and aftermath of this plot is the subject of Shakespeare’s play.

WHY?

Jealousy – Caesar’s connection to the citizens

Fear of his rising power Fear of losing Republican form of

Government (Ironically, they did anyway)

Love of their country

Death in the Senate

Why was the Senate the perfect place for Caesar’s murder?

Why is the Senate a perfect place to kill him?

Public place – no body guards No weapons are allowed in the

Senate – so Caesar will be unarmed The Senators don’t trust anyone else

to carry out this “enterprise” The Senators wanted to make a

statement to the Roman citizens that they are in control! (Duty to the State)

History vs. Literature (Intro Question #4)

You just studied the history of Julius Caesar – why isn’t that enough? (What do you think you might get out of a play that you don’t get from the history books?)

A Few of Shakespeare’s Changes

Last Words: “Et tu, Brute” Caesar seems to have just returned

from defeating Pompey The battle of Philippi lasts about a

day

True last words: “Mi dignitas” The real timeline: three years had

passed There are two battles, three weeks

apart

Shakespeare was not concerned as much with historical accuracy

as he was with the way that people interacted with each

other, particularly in “big picture” issues

Shakespeare does not write history; he writes politics.

-Arlene Okerlund