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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
William Shakespeare
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Introduction
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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
William Shakespeare
Julius Caesar: Introduction
The setting of this play is ancient Rome.
Shakespeare creates a world full of political
intrigue, magical occurrences, and military
conquest.
Julius Caesar: Introduction
Caesar, the most
powerful man in
Rome, has recently
returned to the city
after months of
fighting abroad.
Julius Caesar: Introduction
Caesar was fighting Pompey, another powerful
Roman, and his sons.
Pompey, as well as others
in the Roman senate,
was disturbed by
Caesar’s growing ambition.
Julius Caesar: Introduction
Their fears seem to be valid when Caesar refuses
to enter Rome as an ordinary citizen after the war.
Instead, he marches his army on Rome and takes
over the government.
Julius Caesar: Introduction
But the people don’t
mind—in fact, they love
him.
Caesar is made dictator,
or ruler—a position that
was sometimes granted
for a ten-year term—for
the rest of his life.
Julius Caesar: Introduction
Many senators,
however, resent Caesar
for having so much
power.
Julius Caesar: Introduction
Some senators begin to conspire. . .
Brutus, Caesar’s friend who believes that he must act
against Caesar for the good of Rome
Casca, who hates the ordinary citizens of Rome yet is
jealous because they love Caesar and not him
Cassius, a greedy and jealous man who wants
to take drastic measures to keep Caesar from winning any
more power—and to take away any power that Caesar
previously had!
Julius Caesar: Background
One of the reasons the Senate was concerned by
Caesar’s accumulation of power was Rome’s long
history as a republic.
Julius Caesar : Background
Around 509 B.C., the
Romans ended a
monarchy by rebelling
against the last king of
Rome, Tarquinius.
Julius Caesar: Background
After this revolution, the
Romans established their
famous republic, in which
all citizens were
represented in the Senate.
They were very proud of
their non-king ruled
government, and were
determined to preserve it—
but when Caesar arrived,
they changed their minds!
Julius Caesar : Background
Shakespeare uses
Roman customs and
superstition to create
spooky conditions to
mirror the dangerous
plot being planned.
Julius Caesar : Background
The Romans believed
that omens could reveal
the future.
These omens could
take the form of
unusual weather,
flights of birds, or
other natural
phenomena.
Julius Caesar: Background
Unusual astronomical
and meteorological
occurrences were also
seen as signs of future
events.
Solar eclipses were
believed to foreshadow
doom, as was lightning.
Shakespeare’s Life
• 1563-1616
• Stratford-on-Avon, England
• Started out as an actor for Lord
Chamberlain’s Men (London theater
company)
• 1599-- Lord Ch. Co. built Globe Theater
where most of Shakespeare’s plays were
performed
Shakespeare’s Plays

37 plays, including comedies, tragedies,
histories
 Remember,
generally a play is a
Shakespearean comedy if everyone gets
married at the end, and a tragedy if
everyone dies at the end!

Examples?
The Theater Then…
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No scenery
Settings -- references in dialogue
Elaborate costumes and plenty of props
Only men and boys acted
Young boys whose voices had not changed play
women’s roles
 Would have been considered indecent for a
woman to appear on stage
Five Rules for Reading Shakespeare
1. Paraphrase: Restate information in your own words to
help you understand difficult passages
2. Use the footnotes! They can help you with archaic
language
3. Get the big picture: Don’t get stuck on a single word or
line. Think about the overall meanings.
4. Don’t pause at the ends of lines. The meaning
continues to the punctuation. If you’re struggling with this,
listen to it aloud.
5. Remember this is a play: Don’t get confused by stage
direction, asides, or soliloquies. Instead, visualize the
action.
Shakespeare is fun!
• Be prepared to re-read and remember that no one
understands everything about Shakespeare (or any
good text) on the first, second, or even tenth reading.
• Don’t begrudge the difficulty of the language—the
language is the point! In the words of Vladimir
Nabokov’s fictional poet John Shade, the reader
should “get drunk on the poetry of Hamlet or Lear”
and learn “to read with his spine and not with his
skull.”
Terms to Know
1. dialogue: speech between two or more
characters
2. act: major division/section of a play
3. scene: smaller sections an act is divided into
4. stage directions: directions that tell characters
how to deliver lines, how to position
themselves/body language, etc.
Terms to Know
5. soliloquy: a speech in which a character,
ALONE ON STAGE (“solo”), speaks his/her
thoughts aloud for the audience to hear
6. aside: when a character, with other characters
on the stage, speaks directly to the audience
but the other characters can’t hear him/her