Download Themes in Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar
by William Shakespeare
Student Notes
Definitions
• Monarchy—absolute rule by a single person
(hereditary chief)
• Republic—a government in which supreme power
resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is
exercised by elected officers and representatives
responsible to them and governing according to law
(indirect democracy)
• Democracy—a government in which the supreme
power is vested in the people and exercised by them
either directly or indirectly through a system of
periodically held free elections
• Dictatorship—a form of government in which
absolute power is concentrated in a dictator
(absolute and unlimited rule)
Rome’s Beginnings
• Rome began as a Monarchy—ruled by
one person (King)
• It remained this way for 250 years.
• Many citizens felt oppressed and
eventually revolted.
Rome’s Beginnings: 500 BC
• Roman Republic was established in 500 B.C.—
ruled for over 500 years
– Roman Republic was ruled by two men called
consuls—
• Consuls’ duties:
–
–
–
–
controlled the army
could declare war
controlled taxes
established laws
• Got advice from the senate—basically did what the senate
told them to do.
The Senate
•Upper class, wealthy
•Have to be born into it (ancestor
must be traced from the
beginning of Rome)
•Once you were on the senate,
you stayed on the senate
Tribunes
•Represented the poor
•Working class people
•Elected by the people for the
people
The Fall of the Republic:
60 B.C.
• In 60 B.C., Roman Republic falls apart and
the Triumvirate is established
• Triumvirate—unofficial Roman political
alliance
– Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar)
– Crassus (Marcus Licinius Crassus)
– Pompey (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus)
Triumvirate Falls: All Hail
Caesar!
• 49 B.C—The Triumvirate falls apart
and Caesar is the only one left
• 46 B.C—Julius Caesar appointed
dictator (the sole ruler of Rome)
This is where the play begins!
• The Feast of Lupercal—the festival of fertility
•
•
(wards off evil spirits)
A race where young aristocrats run dressed in a
girdle of goat’s skin and carry a leather throng
and hit women who are considered sterile. By
hitting the women, it wards off evil spirits and
the women are able to reproduce.
On the eve of the feast, February 14th, the boys
were to pick the name of a woman who will be
his “sweetheart” for the remainder of the year.
Summary: Acts I - III
• Act One: Caesar returns from
defeating Pompey’s son, the Feast of
Lupercal occurs
• Act Two: March 15th, beware of the
ides of March
• Act Three: Days after death of Julius
Caesar
Major Roman Achievements
• law and order
• effective road systems
• unparalleled military
• at its peak, the Roman Empire
covered all of the Mediterranean from
Gibraltar to Egypt and up into Europe
Themes in Julius Caesar:
• Chaos results when the prescribed social
order is overturned
• Good intentions do not always yield a
positive result
• Language is a powerful weapon, and in
the hands of a skilled person, it can be
used to manipulate others
• Violence and bloodshed can never have
morally good results
• Pride is the harbinger of destruction
Themes in Julius Caesar:
• Great political ambition breeds great
•
•
•
•
political enmity
Deceit wears the garb of innocence
Recognize and heed warnings
One man’s hero is another man’s villain
Actions often have unforeseen
consequences
Remember the Characteristics
of a Tragic Hero?
• Noble Stature/High Birth
• Tragic Flaw (Hamartia)—often times hubris
• Capable of great suffering
• Discovery: The revelation of a fact
previously unknown, knowledge of which
results in the turning of the action
• Peripety: The reversal of fortune for a
protagonist