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Transcript
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar William Shakespeare Menu Introduction Background Discussion Starters 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… 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