Julius Caesar: the “foremost man of all the world.” pp.115.
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Transcript of Julius Caesar: the “foremost man of all the world.” pp.115.
1.Getting acquainted with Shakespeare2. A look at Shakespeare’s London3. The Elizabethan Theater - The Global Theater 4. Biography of Julius Caesar and brief historical overview5. Analysis of Acts6. Questions and quote sheets corresponding with respective acts.7. Essay Questions8. Review Sheet
Overview
Part 1: Introductory Material
The Text, p.4
Read page 4 and discuss why you think many editors chose to rearrange Shakespeare’s words:
the modernization of spelling and grammar
the creation of consistent iambic pentameter
Note: your text has not chosen this convention
Queen Elizabeth I
Julius Caesar Similar to Elizabethan England
Her reign was drawing to a close and she did not have any successors to throne.
People were concerned about peaceful transition of power because there were threats of rebellion.
This political concern becomes a major concern of the play- the struggle for power and what it does to those who engage in it. This theme is shared in the respective histories of Rome and England and therefore would appeal to Elizabethan audiences.
Interactive Global Theater
Let’ s take a tour
The Elizabethan Theater
Inn yards: common folks
Balconies: gentry
Social classes
Divided stage :planks-improvised
Flag
The stab wound #23 was the fatal wound!
According to Noah Charney on Art Crime and Art Historical Mysteries in his book The Secret History of Art
Caesar could have survived all other wounds!
And Caesar was stabbed coming out of the senate and not as guidebooks state coming from the Theater of Marcellus
Introduction to Julius Caesar
Best known of Shakespeare’s tragedies
Taken directly from Roman history
Only play that deals with a historical personage of “the highest magnitude.” p.5
Caesar has been a historical figure that has intrigued both Elizabethan and modern audience
Why is this so?
A Problem Play :
Who is the central character?
Julius Caesar?
Brutus?
The city of Rome?
Refer to page 5
Is Caesar a Hero or tyrant?
Elizabethans perspective
American perspective
Modern perspective
Refer to pages 5 &6
Julian Calendar & Gregorian Calendar
Julian Calendar
Julius – month of July
Who still uses Julian calendar?
The Berber people of North Africa on Mt. Athos
The Orthodox Church uses it to calculate movable religious feasts
Julius Caesar revealed…
Accomplishments:
Aqueducts-this one is in Rome
Greatest Roman General and statesman of his time
Student of Greek and Latin
Military genius
Impoverished aristocrat - Triumvirate
Attacked bribery in existing political system and made taxation fair for the common people
Conquered peoples always treated justly
Law - legal system developed based on the idea must be for the good of the people who are governed
People loved him and were ready to make him king - problem Rome had a republican form of government!
Quite a resume!
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ancient-roman-achievements.html
Cornelia, the first wife of Caesar
The daughter of Sulla a Roman general and conservative statesmen
The mother of Julia
http://www.google.ca/search?hl52Fen.wikipedia.org
Caesar’s daughter Julia: the 4th
wife of Pompey- known for her beauty and virtue-once engaged to Brutus!
Pompey: Historical Overview
-Brilliant general and in 70 B.C. elected to Consul
- Cicero and Caesar supported Pompey and helped him obtain supreme command of Roman armies in the East
- when Pompey returned from the East in 62 B.C. Caesar suggested that Pompey, Crassus and himself form a political alliance known as the First Triumvirate
http://www.mikeanderson.biz/2013_05_01_archive.html
The Triumvirate
Rome- 250 years kings and monarchy -Tarquin the Proud overthrown as an oppressive king/ revolt led by Brutus
( ancestor of Brutus in play) and replace monarchy with Republican form of government
Rome - Republican State-Ruled by the People
Plebeian - elect Tribunal- Patricians
Plebeian:cobbler / carpenter Tribunes:Marullus / Flavius Patricians:Roman Nobility
First Triumvirate- the three-Pomphey, Crassus & Ceasar
Death of Pompey
Julia his wife and Caesar’s daughter caused the bond between Pompey and Caesar to die.
In 55 B.C., Crassus was killed in a campaign and Pompey and Caesar seriously vied for power. Caesar in charge of the army, joined by Mark Antony, marched on Rome and defeated Pompey. This was the first time Pompey was defeated on the battlefield and he fled to Egypt where he was killed by someone who wished to win Caesar’s favor ( supposedly). Caesar went on to defeat Pompey’s sons.
Caesar : Ambitious man
44 B.C. Made dictator for life / absolute rule
Mark Antony offered him the crown -complication
March 15/ Ides of March he was killed by conspirators threatened by the idea of kingship taking over their Republican form of government-feared dictatorship.
Shakespeare’s time-plays divided into 5 Acts
A modern play characteristically had three acts. The Elizabethan audience, due to lack of seats, moved about freely. They did not want breaks or intervals because they were there to be entertained.
Act 1: Exposition: informs the audience , supplies background information.
Act 2: Complication: characters begin to embroil themselves in various problems and conflicts.
Act 3: Climax : highest point of action
Act 4: Resolution: situation has to be sorted out -resolved
Act 5: Denouement: all complications of the plot are unraveled, the untying of knots. If the play is a tragedy, the word catastrophe (meaning disaster) is used.
Time Compression of play by Shakespeare
Time of Play’s Action:
Day 1: Act 1. sc.1&2 ---- Feb.15, 44 B.C.
Day 2: Act 1. sc.3 ---- Mar.14, 44 B.C. Events of play 3 years; Shakespeare
Day 3: Act 2. sc.3 ---- Mar.15, 44 B.C. Reduces time to 6 days!
Day 4: Act 4. sc.4 ---- Nov.43 B.C.
Day 5: Act.4 sc. 2&3
Day 6: Act.5 ---- Oct.42 B.C.
Julius CaesarAct III, scene I, lines 65-67
“But I am constant as the Northern Star,
Of whose true-fixed and resting quality,
There is no fellow in the firmament.”
What does this reveal about this man?
How Caesar saw himself
Dramatic Technique
1. Spectacular - Supernatural
2. Dramatic Irony
3. Nemesis: - just punishment {Cassius and Brutus}
4. Suspense: conspiracy & battle
5. Fate: the intervention of some force, over which we have no control; a force which determines human destiny .
Battle -> Cassius eyesight led him to send Pindarius to report the success of Titinius and resulted in his death.
Caesar -> interpretation of Calpurnia’s dream
6. The Oracular : Prophetic utterances which determine human procedure. Ex: Soothsayer & Caesar’s spirit.
7. Tragic Hero
Terms: reminder terms sheet
Oxymoron
a figure of speech which juxtaposes elements that appear to be contradictory. Oxymora appear to be seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.” .
Metonymy
Metonymies are frequently used in literature and in everyday speech. A metonymy is a word or phrase that is used to stand in for another word. Sometimes a metonymy is chosen because it is a well-known characteristic of the word.
One famous example of metonymy is the saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword," which originally came from Edward Bulwer Lytton's play Richelieu. This sentence has two examples of metonymy:
•The "pen" stands in for "the written word."
•The "sword" stands in for "military aggression and force."
Themes-thematic statements needed
Struggle for power and what this struggle does to men who engage in it
Et tu, Brutus? Then fall Caesar ( Caesar, p.59).
“Not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more” ( Brutus , p.66) Had you rather Caesar were living and you die all slaves” ( Brutus, p.67)
Caesar,now be still: I killed thee with half so good a will.” ( Brutus,p. 108)
The noble ideals of man-Brutus, the tragedy of honesty and idealism in a world of human vanity and self- interest
“ This was the noblest Roman of them all” (Antony at Brutus death, p, 109)
Ambition, greed, pride, corruption etc. “ The lowliness of young ambition’s ladder…once attains…unto the ladder [he]turns his back” (Brutus, p.36).
The death of liberty; “Stoop Romans, stoop And let us bathe our hands in Caesar’s blood…waving red weapons over our heads…cry, Peace , freedom, liberty” ( Brutus p. 60)
Themes-thematic statements needed
Honor, friendship, loyalty to the state, patriotism
“Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead !” ( Cinna, p.59)
Manipulation and persuasion to acquire power - the end justifies the means
Appearance versus reality: “Let not our faces put on our purposes” ( Brutus p. 41).
“And half their faces buried in their cloaks” ( Lucius p.37)
“Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers” (Brutus,p.40
Themes-thematic statements needed
Can we use…
Absolute power corrupt absolutely?
The end justifies the means?
Wisdom is gained through suffering?
Evil lies within?
How can we fine tune these?
“Cowards die many times before their deaths; but the valiant never taste death but once” (Caesar, p.46)
Corruption of Power
In the attainment of power we often corrupt ourselves
One thing corruption of power reveals is the truth
Ambition
Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.
Napoleon Bonaparte Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/napoleonbo150168.html#eCFy8lQM6hsjr6eJ.99 Macbeth:I have no spurTo prick the sides of my intent, but onlyVaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,And falls on th'other. . . .
Macbeth Act 1, scene 7. 25–28
Appearance versus Reality
There is no vice so simple but assumesSome mark of virtue on his outward parts.” ― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
There is evil so simple as one that pretends to be good outwardly
There is flattery in friendship- William Shakespeare
“Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous” Caesar, p.21)
Supernatural
foreshadows/creates atmosphere/affects characters’ behaviors
soothsayer, storm (owl, omens, blood, fire, eagle, lions), strange behaviors of men and beasts, omens of evil, dreams of Calpurnia, Caesar’s ghost/spirit
Shakespeare’s use of night and storms
Reveals Conflict
Make the connections; Symbolism - Supernatural – Foreshadowing and External Conflict
Example#1: pp.26-27 Example of
of pathetic fallacy: a false belief that nature reflects what is going on in the lives of people. Casa supported this view point (p.33) Do we do this today? Springtime?
Act 1 sc.3 Thunder and lightning Casca meets with Cicero and notes: “tempest dropping fire”
“ocean swell, and rage”, “civil stife in heave”
a slave’s “ left hand did flame and burn like twenty torches’
“against the Capitol I met a lion”
“hundred ghastly women”
The “bird of night” at “noon-day” was “hooting and shrieking”
Calpurnia’s Dream: “When beggar’s die , there are no comets seen” ( Calpurnia, p.46)
Calpurnia pp. 45-46Lioness whelped in the street
Graves yawned, and
yielded up their dead
Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds
Caesar’s statue:Like a fountain with an hundred spouts Did run pure blood , and many lusty Romansdid bathe their hands in it
Interpretation Flash back to Casca And
Cicero
Warning
Decius: Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck Reviving blood, p.48
The Senate have concluded To give the crown to mighty Caesar p. 48 if you do not come their mind may change!
Death of Cinna, the poet Act 3 scene 3,p.74
Dreamt he did feast with Caesar
Plebeians - mob – kill him for his name and bad poetry
“ Tear him for his bad verses”
Civil strife has begun – ‘the dogs of war have been let slip’ there is ‘mutiny and rage’
Portia: Brutus’ Wife
Portia: Brutus’ wife. Find lines which illustrate Portia’s strength: Wounds herself? p.43 read
counterpart of Brutus and a worthy mate for Brutus
shares Brutus’ innermost thoughts
embraces Stoic philosophy of her husband
anxious about Brutus
intelligence and insightful
understands rights as wife in partnership of marriage
can be trusted
honorable lineage shows strength
woman of dignity who demands respect
loves Brutus
HOW DOES SHE KILL HERESELF?
Calpurnia: Caesar’s Wife
Calpurnia: wife of Caesar
not one to believe in superstitions
fearful
willing to lie
astute
*identity as wife of Caesar
*barren
*loves Caesar
Brutus and Antony
Brutus Antony
Honorable Dishonorable
Beloved by friends, held in high regard Gamesome, without friends except Caesar
No interest in sports Strong athlete
Intelligent, kind, considerateAppeals to emotions versus intellect
Cruel
Straight forward & honest Cunning, deceitful, politically shrewd
Domineering with Cassius Submissive towards Octavius
Independent in action Dependent upon Caesar
Pure living Playboy mentality
Brutus and Cassius
Brutus Cassius
Stoic Philosophy Epicurean Philosophy
Man of action
Overbearing in his values & beliefs Submissive
Acts on honorable principle Acts on impulse
Weak organizer, Strong organizer
Politically naïve Politically shrewd
Weak leader Strong leader
Honor in crime Dishonorable in crime - letters & bribes
Kills Caesar for patriotism Kills Caesar personal
jealousy, envy & hatred
Slow in anger and forgiveness Hasty temper but quick recovery
Brutus as Tragic Hero
A tragic hero is a man of noble stature and birth who through his own flaw in character precipitates an event which causes his ultimate downfall. If the fall of the hero is to arouse emotions of pity and fear on the part of the audience, the fall must be from a great height.
What evidence is there that Brutus was of noble birth and stature?
What is Brutus’s tragic character flaw /his error in judgment? What event is precipitated? The tragic hero is pre-eminently great but not perfect; his fall
from greatness leads to self knowledge. Therefore, his tragic flaw {idealism of Brutus} is not a pure loss due to his discovery of his understanding from his defeat.
Brutus as Tragic Hero
How is Brutus not perfect?
List the mistakes he made:
His internal conflict is part of his self - knowledge. What is this conflict and what does he discover about himself?
The punishment exceeds the crime of the tragic hero leaving the audience feeling pity for the protagonist.
List how Brutus is punished :
Note: How does the audience respond to Brutus?
Foreshadowing
Soothsayer
Cassius comments about Antony,
Caesar’s comments about Cassius
Dream of Calpurnia
Supernatural omens [turmoil reflected]
IMPORTANT
Funeral Speeches of Brutus and Antony
Argumentative /Persuasion Techniques in speeches
Brutus as a Shakespearean Tragic Hero (flaw, pathos, catharsis)
Conflict: External/Interpersonal and Internal
Themes: The struggle of Good and Evil/The Dual Nature of Humankind
Characters
Soliloquys
Setting Mood And Atmosphere
Go over Question and Quote Sheet