Download Ides of March - Rowan County Schools

Julius Caesar's bloody assassination on
March 15, 44 BCE, forever marked
March 15, or the Ides of March, as a day
of infamy. It has fascinated scholars and
writers ever since.
For ancient Romans living before that
event, however, an ides was merely one
of several common calendar terms used
to mark monthly lunar events. The ides
simply marked the appearance of the
full moon.
Information about the play
William Shakespeare never published any of his plays
and therefore none of the original manuscripts have
survived. Eighteen unauthorized versions of his plays
were, however, published during his lifetime in quarto
editions by unscrupulous publishers (there were no
copyright laws protecting Shakespeare and his works
during the Elizabethan era). A collection of his works
did not appear until 1623 (a full seven years after
Shakespeare's death on April 23, 1616) when two of his
fellow actors, John Hemminges and Henry Condell,
posthumously recorded his work and published 36 of
William’s plays in the First Folio. Some dates are
therefore approximate other dates are substantiated by
historical events, records of performances and the dates
plays appeared in print.
Date first performed
It is believed that Julius Caesar was first performed
between 1600 and 1601. In the Elizabethan era there was
a huge demand for new entertainment and Julius Caesar
would have been produced immediately following the
completion of the play.
The settings for the drama
The settings for Julius Caesar are Verona and Mantua in Italy
The theme of the play
The play Julius Caesar is categorized as a Tragedy
Famous Quotes / Quotations
The quotes from Julius Caesar are amongst Shakespeare's most famous:
"Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar,
not to praise him". - (Act III, Scene II).
"But, for my own part, it was Greek to me". - (Act I, Scene II).
"Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of war". - (Act III, Scene I).
"Et tu, Brute!" - (Act III, Scene I).
"Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more". - (Act III, Scene
II).
"Beware the Ides of March". - (Act I, Scene II).
"This was the noblest Roman of them all". - (Act V, Scene V).
History of the drama
Julius Caesar is a dramatization of actual events. He
was assassinated in 44 B.C.
It is believed that his mother endured agonizing
surgery in order to extract him at birth. This belief
gave rise to the term "Caesarean birth"
William Shakespeare's Main Source for the work
Shakespeare found the story in Caesar, Parallel
Lives, by Plutarch. He may have also referred to
Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (The Monk's
Tale).
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is
the tragic true story of the
betrayal and assassination of
Roman ruler Julius Caesar in
44 BCE. After successfully
conquering much of the ancient
world, Caesar is invited to lead
the Roman Empire. Cassius and
other members of the Roman
senate fear that Caesar will
become a power-hungry
dictator. They decide that
Caesar must be stopped. They
enlist Caesar’s trusted friend,
Brutus, to help murder the
leader as a patriotic act for the
good of Rome.
Brutus - A supporter of the republic who believes strongly in a government guided by the
votes of senators. While Brutus loves Caesar as a friend, he opposes the ascension of any
single man to the position of dictator, and he fears that Caesar aspires to such power.
Brutus’s inflexible sense of honor makes it easy for Caesar’s enemies to manipulate him into
believing that Caesar must die in order to preserve the republic. While the other conspirators
act out of envy and rivalry, only Brutus truly believes that Caesar’s death will benefit Rome.
Unlike Caesar, Brutus is able to separate completely his public life from his private life; by
giving priority to matters of state, he epitomizes Roman virtue. Torn between his loyalty to
Caesar and his allegiance to the state, Brutus becomes the tragic hero of the play.
Antony - A friend of Caesar. Antony claims allegiance to Brutus and the conspirators after
Caesar’s death in order to save his own life. Later, however, when speaking a funeral oration
over Caesar’s body, he spectacularly persuades the audience to withdraw its support of
Brutus and instead condemn him as a traitor. With tears on his cheeks and Caesar’s will in his
hand, Antony engages masterful rhetoric to stir the crowd to revolt against the conspirators.
Antony’s desire to exclude Lepidus from the power that Antony and Octavius intend to share
hints at his own ambitious nature.
Read and Reflect
• Read the text of this famous speech from
Julius Caesar here
• And then, read a translated version for
meaning here
• Now Read the Julius Caesar by William
Shakespeare Plot Summary
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• Compose – Prewrite for Literary Magazine
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to me.
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