''The Tragedy of Julius Caesar ''(
First Folio
''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
title: ''The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar'') is a history play and
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
by
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
first performed in 1599.
In the play,
Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
joins a conspiracy led by
Cassius to assassinate
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
, to prevent him from becoming a tyrant. Caesar's right-hand man
Antony stirs up hostility against the conspirators and Rome becomes embroiled in a dramatic civil war.
Characters
*
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
''
Triumvirs
A triumvirate ( la, triumvirātus) or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs ( la, triumviri). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are ...
after Caesar's death''
*
Octavius Caesar
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
*
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...
*
Lepidus
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (; c. 89 BC – late 13 or early 12 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who formed the Second Triumvirate alongside Octavian and Mark Antony during the final years of the Roman Republic. Lepidus had previously bee ...
''Conspirators against Caesar''
*
Marcus Brutus (Brutus)
*
Cassius
*
Casca
*
Decius Brutus
*
Cinna
*
Metellus Cimber
Lucius Tillius Cimber (died 42 BC) was a Roman senator. He was one of the assassins of Julius Caesar, creating the diversion that enabled the conspirators to attack.
Assassin
Cimber was initially one of Caesar's strongest supporters. Caesar grant ...
*
Trebonius
Gaius Trebonius (c. 92 BC – January 43 BC) was a military commander and politician of the late Roman Republic, who became suffect consul in 45 BC. He was an associate of Julius Caesar, having served as his legate and having fought on his side du ...
*
Caius Ligarius
''Tribunes''
*
Flavius
The gens Flavia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members are first mentioned during the last three centuries of the Republic. The first of the Flavii to achieve prominence was Marcus Flavius, tribune of the plebs in 327 and 323 BC; ...
*
Marullus
''Roman Senate Senators''
*
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
* Publius
*
Popilius Lena
''Citizens''
*
Calpurnia – Caesar's wife
*
Portia
Portia may refer to:
Biology
* ''Portia'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders
*'' Anaea troglodyta'' or Portia, a brush-footed butterfly
*Portia tree, a plant native to Polynesia
Medication
A form of birth control made of ethinylestradiol/lev ...
– Brutus' wife
*
Soothsayer – a person supposed to be able to foresee the future
*
Artemidorus
Artemidorus Daldianus ( grc-gre, Ἀρτεμίδωρος ὁ Δαλδιανός) or Ephesius was a professional diviner who lived in the 2nd century AD. He is known from an extant five-volume Greek work, the '' Oneirocritica'' or ''Oneirokritikon ...
–
sophist
A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...
from
Knidos
Knidos or Cnidus (; grc-gre, Κνίδος, , , Knídos) was a Ancient Greece, Greek city in ancient Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the ...
*
Cinna – poet
*
Cobbler
Cobbler(s) may refer to:
*A person who repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes
Places
* The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland
* Mount Cobbler, Australia
Art, entertainment and media
* ''The Cobbler'' (1923 film) ...
*
Carpenter
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...
*
Poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
(believed to be based on Marcus Favonios)
*
Lucius
Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...
– Brutus' attendant
''Loyal to Brutus and Cassius''
*
Volumnius
*
Titinius Titinius was an ancient Roman soldier. He was a centurion in the army of Gaius Cassius Longinus at the battle of Phillipi. After the battle was over, he was sent by Cassius to find out what had happened to the legions commanded by Marcus Junius Br ...
*
Young Cato – Portia's brother
*
Messala – messenger
*
Varrus
Publius Quinctilius Varus (Cremona, 46 BC – Teutoburg Forest, AD 9) was a Roman general and politician under the first Roman emperor Augustus. Varus is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions when ambushed by Germanic tribes l ...
* Clitus
* Claudius
* Dardanius
* Strato
*
Lucilius
The gens Lucilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The most famous member of this gens was the poet Gaius Lucilius, who flourished during the latter part of the second century BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vo ...
*
Flavius
The gens Flavia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members are first mentioned during the last three centuries of the Republic. The first of the Flavii to achieve prominence was Marcus Flavius, tribune of the plebs in 327 and 323 BC; ...
(non-speaking role)
* Labeo (non-speaking role)
* Pindarus – Cassius' bondman
''Other''
*
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
's
servant
A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
* Antony's
servant
A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
*
Octavius'
servant
A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
*
Messenger
''MESSENGER'' was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field. The name is a backronym for "Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geoche ...
* Other
soldiers
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
,
senators,
plebeians
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary.
Etymology
The precise origins of ...
, and
attendants
Synopsis
The play opens with two
tribunes
Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...
discovering the
commoners
A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...
of Rome celebrating
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
's
triumphant return
''Triumphant Return'' is the third album from the Christian metal band Whitecross, released on January 31, 1989. It reached No. 13 on ''Billboards Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart. The album won the 1990 Dove Award for Hard Music ...
from
defeating the sons of his military rival,
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
. The tribunes, insulting the crowd for their change in loyalty from Pompey to Caesar, attempt to end the festivities and break up the commoners, who return the insults. During the
feast of Lupercal, Caesar holds a victory parade and a
soothsayer warns him to "Beware
the ides of March
The Ides of March (; la, Idus Martiae, Late Latin: ) is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable in Rome as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became ...
," which he ignores. Meanwhile,
Cassius attempts to convince
Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
to join his
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
to kill Caesar. Although Brutus, friendly towards Caesar, is hesitant to kill him, he agrees that Caesar may be abusing his power. They then hear from
Casca that
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...
has offered Caesar the crown of Rome three times. Casca tells them that each time Caesar refused it with increasing reluctance, hoping that the crowd watching would insist that he accept the crown. He describes how the crowd applauded Caesar for denying the crown, and how this upset Caesar. On the eve of the ides of March, the conspirators meet and reveal that they have forged letters of support from the Roman people to tempt Brutus into joining. Brutus reads the letters and, after much moral debate, decides to join the conspiracy, thinking that Caesar should be killed to ''prevent'' him from doing anything against the people of Rome if he were ever to be crowned.

After ignoring the soothsayer, as well as his wife
Calpurnia's own premonitions, Caesar goes to the Senate. The conspirators approach him with a fake petition pleading on behalf of
Metellus Cimber
Lucius Tillius Cimber (died 42 BC) was a Roman senator. He was one of the assassins of Julius Caesar, creating the diversion that enabled the conspirators to attack.
Assassin
Cimber was initially one of Caesar's strongest supporters. Caesar grant ...
's banished brother. As Caesar predictably rejects the petition, Casca and the others suddenly stab him; Brutus is last. At this point, Caesar utters the famous line "
Et tu, Brute?
''Et tu, Brute?'' () is a Latin phrase literally meaning "and you, Brutus?" or "also you, Brutus?", often translated as "You as well, Brutus?", "You too, Brutus?", or "Even you, Brutus?". The quote appears in Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakesp ...
" ("And you, Brutus?", ''i.e.'' "You too, Brutus?"), concluding with "Then fall, Caesar!"
The conspirators make clear that they committed this killing for the good of Rome, in order to prevent an autocrat. They prove this by not attempting to flee the scene. Brutus delivers an oration defending his own actions, and for the moment, the crowd is on his side. However, Antony makes a subtle and eloquent speech over Caesar's corpse, beginning with the much-quoted "
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears
"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" is the first line of a speech by Mark Antony in the play ''Julius Caesar'', by William Shakespeare. Occurring in Act III, scene II, it is one of the most famous lines in all of Shakespeare's works ...
!" In this way, he deftly turns
public opinion
Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them.
Etymology
The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...
against the assassins by manipulating the emotions of the
common people
A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...
, in contrast to the rational tone of Brutus's speech, yet there is method in his rhetorical speech and gestures: he reminds them of the good Caesar had done for Rome, his sympathy with the poor, and his refusal of the crown at the Lupercal, thus questioning Brutus's claim of Caesar's ambition; he shows Caesar's bloody, lifeless body to the crowd to have them shed tears and gain sympathy for their fallen hero; and he reads Caesar's will, in which every Roman citizen would receive 75
drachmas
The drachma ( el, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history:
# An ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states during a period of ten centuries, fro ...
. Antony, even as he states his intentions against it, rouses the mob to drive the conspirators from Rome. Amid the violence, an innocent poet,
Cinna, is confused with the conspirator
Lucius Cinna and is taken by the mob, which kills him for such "offenses" as his bad verses.
Brutus next attacks Cassius for supposedly soiling the noble act of
regicide
Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
by having accepted bribes. ("Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? / What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, / And not for justice?") The two are reconciled, especially after Brutus reveals that his
beloved wife committed suicide under the stress of his absence from Rome; they prepare for a
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
against Antony and Caesar's adopted son,
Octavius, who have formed a triumvirate in Rome with
Lepidus
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (; c. 89 BC – late 13 or early 12 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who formed the Second Triumvirate alongside Octavian and Mark Antony during the final years of the Roman Republic. Lepidus had previously bee ...
. That night, Caesar's ghost appears to Brutus with a warning of defeat. (He informs Brutus, "Thou shalt see me at Philippi.")

At the
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
, Cassius and Brutus, knowing that they will probably both die, smile their last smiles to each other and hold hands. During the battle, Cassius has his servant kill him after hearing of the capture of his best friend,
Titinius Titinius was an ancient Roman soldier. He was a centurion in the army of Gaius Cassius Longinus at the battle of Phillipi. After the battle was over, he was sent by Cassius to find out what had happened to the legions commanded by Marcus Junius Br ...
. After Titinius, who was not really captured, sees Cassius's corpse, he commits suicide. However, Brutus wins that stage of the battle, but his victory is not conclusive. With a heavy heart, Brutus battles again the next day. He asks his friends to kill him, but the friends refuse. He loses and commits suicide by running on his own sword, held for him by a loyal soldier.
The play ends with a tribute to Brutus by Antony, who proclaims that Brutus has remained "the noblest Roman of them all" because he was the only conspirator who acted, in his mind, for the good of Rome. There is then a small hint at the friction between Antony and Octavius which characterises another of Shakespeare's Roman plays, ''
Antony and Cleopatra
''Antony and Cleopatra'' (First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around ...
.''
Sources
The main source of the play is
Thomas North
Sir Thomas North (28 May 1535c. 1604) was an English translator, military officer, lawyer, and justice of the peace. His translation into English of Plutarch's ''Parallel Lives'' is notable for being the main source text used by William Sha ...
's translation of
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
's ''
Lives
Lives may refer to:
* The plural form of a ''life''
* Lives, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran
* The number of lives in a video game
* '' Parallel Lives'', aka ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', a series of biographies of famous m ...
''.
Deviations from Plutarch
* Shakespeare makes Caesar's triumph take place on the day of
Lupercalia
Lupercalia was a pastoral festival of Ancient Rome observed annually on February 15 to purify the city, promoting health and fertility. Lupercalia was also known as ''dies Februatus'', after the purification instruments called ''februa'', the b ...
(15 February) instead of six months earlier.
* For dramatic effect, he makes the
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
the venue of Caesar's death rather than the ''Curia Pompeia'' (
Curia of Pompey
The Curia of Pompey, sometimes referred to as the ''Curia Pompeia'', was one of several named meeting halls from Republican Rome of historic significance. A ''curia'' was a designated structure for meetings of the senate. The Curia of Pompey was ...
).
* Caesar's murder, the funeral, Antony's oration, the reading of the will, and the arrival of Octavius all take place on the same day in the play. However, historically, the assassination took place on 15 March (
The Ides of March
The Ides of March (; la, Idus Martiae, Late Latin: ) is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable in Rome as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became ...
), the will was published on 18 March, the funeral was on 20 March, and Octavius arrived only in May.
* Shakespeare makes the
Triumvirs
A triumvirate ( la, triumvirātus) or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs ( la, triumviri). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are ...
meet in Rome instead of near
Bononia to avoid an additional locale.
* He combines the two
Battles of Philippi although there was a 20-day interval between them.
* Shakespeare has Caesar say ''
Et tu, Brute?
''Et tu, Brute?'' () is a Latin phrase literally meaning "and you, Brutus?" or "also you, Brutus?", often translated as "You as well, Brutus?", "You too, Brutus?", or "Even you, Brutus?". The quote appears in Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakesp ...
'' ("And you, Brutus?") before he dies.
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
and
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire.
His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...
each report that he said nothing, with Plutarch adding that he pulled his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators, though Suetonius does record other reports that Caesar said in Latin, "ista quidem est vis (This is violence.) The Latin words ''Et tu, Brute?'', however, were not devised by Shakespeare for this play since they are attributed to Caesar in earlier Elizabethan works and had become conventional by 1599.
Shakespeare deviated from these historical facts to curtail time and compress the facts so that the play could be staged more easily. The tragic force is condensed into a few scenes for heightened effect.
Date and text

''Julius Caesar'' was originally published in the
First Folio
''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
of 1623, but a performance was mentioned by
Thomas Platter the Younger
Thomas Platter the Younger (; ; c. 24 July 1574 in Basel – 4 December 1628 in Basel) was a Swiss-born physician, traveller and diarist, the son of the humanist Thomas Platter the Elder.
The foremost record of Platter's life is the manuscript j ...
in his diary in September 1599. The play is not mentioned in the list of Shakespeare's plays published by
Francis Meres
Francis Meres (1565/1566 – 29 January 1647) was an English churchman and author. His 1598 commonplace book includes the first critical account of poems and plays by Shakespeare.
Career
Francis Meres was born in 1565 at Kirton Meres in the par ...
in 1598. Based on these two points, as well as a number of contemporary allusions, and the belief that the play is similar to ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' in vocabulary, and to ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
'' and ''
As You Like It
''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...
'' in metre, scholars have suggested 1599 as a probable date.
The text of ''Julius Caesar'' in the First Folio is the only
authoritative
In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The Ne ...
text for the play. The Folio text is notable for its quality and consistency; scholars judge it to have been set into type from a theatrical prompt-book.
The play contains many
anachronistic
An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...
elements from the
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
. The characters mention objects such as
doublets (large, heavy jackets) – which did not exist in ancient Rome. Caesar is mentioned to be wearing an Elizabethan doublet instead of a Roman toga. At one point a clock is heard to strike and Brutus notes it with "Count the clock".
Analysis and criticism
Historical background
Maria Wyke has written that the play reflects the general anxiety of Elizabethan England over succession of leadership. At the time of its creation and first performance,
Queen Elizabeth, a strong ruler, was elderly and had refused to name a successor, leading to worries that a
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
similar to that of Rome might break out after her death.
Protagonist debate

Critics of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar'' differ greatly on their views of Caesar and Brutus. Many have debated whether Caesar or Brutus is the protagonist of the play, because of the title character's death in Act Three, Scene One. But Caesar compares himself to the
Northern Star, and perhaps it would be foolish not to consider him as the axial character of the play, around whom the entire story turns. Intertwined in this debate is a smattering of philosophical and psychological ideologies on
republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...
and
monarchism
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
. One author, Robert C. Reynolds, devotes attention to the names or epithets given to both Brutus and Caesar in his essay "Ironic Epithet in ''Julius Caesar''". He points out that Casca praises Brutus at face value, but then inadvertently compares him to a disreputable joke of a man by calling him an
alchemist
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...
, "Oh, he sits high in all the people's hearts,/And that which would appear offence in us/ His countenance, like richest alchemy,/ Will change to virtue and to worthiness" (I.iii.158–160). Reynolds also talks about Caesar and his "Colossus" epithet, which he points out has its obvious connotations of power and manliness, but also lesser known connotations of an outward glorious front and inward chaos.
Myron Taylor, in his essay "Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'' and the Irony of History", compares the logic and philosophies of Caesar and Brutus. Caesar is deemed an intuitive philosopher who is always right when he goes with his instinct; for instance, when he says he fears Cassius as a threat to him before he is killed, his intuition is correct. Brutus is portrayed as a man similar to Caesar, but whose passions lead him to the wrong reasoning, which he realises in the end when he says in V.v.50–51, "Caesar, now be still:/ I kill'd not thee with half so good a will".
Joseph W. Houppert acknowledges that some critics have tried to cast Caesar as the protagonist, but that ultimately Brutus is the driving force in the play and is therefore the tragic hero. Brutus attempts to put the republic over his personal relationship with Caesar and kills him. Brutus makes the political mistakes that bring down the republic that his ancestors created. He acts on his passions, does not gather enough evidence to make reasonable decisions and is manipulated by Cassius and the other conspirators.
Traditional readings of the play may maintain that Cassius and the other conspirators are motivated largely by
envy
Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.
Aristotle defined envy as pain at the sight of another's good fortune, stirred b ...
and ambition, whereas Brutus is motivated by the demands of
honour
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
and patriotism. Certainly, this is the view that Antony expresses in the final scene. But one of the central strengths of the play is that it resists categorising its characters as either simple heroes or villains. The
political journalist
Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power.
Political journa ...
and
classicist
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
Garry Wills
Garry Wills (born May 22, 1934) is an American author, journalist, political philosopher, and historian, specializing in American history, politics, and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Genera ...
maintains that "This play is distinctive because it has no villains".
It is a drama famous for the difficulty of deciding which role to emphasise. The characters rotate around each other like the plates of a Calder mobile
A mobile (,) is a type of kinetic sculpture constructed to take advantage of the principle of equilibrium. It consists of a number of rods, from which weighted objects or further rods hang. The objects hanging from the rods balance each other, ...
. Touch one and it affects the position of all the others. Raise one, another sinks. But they keep coming back into a precarious balance.
Performance history
The play was probably one of Shakespeare's first to be performed at the
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...
.
Thomas Platter the Younger
Thomas Platter the Younger (; ; c. 24 July 1574 in Basel – 4 December 1628 in Basel) was a Swiss-born physician, traveller and diarist, the son of the humanist Thomas Platter the Elder.
The foremost record of Platter's life is the manuscript j ...
, a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
traveller, saw a tragedy about
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
at a
Bankside
Bankside is an area of London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. Bankside is located on the southern bank of the River Thames, east of Charing Cross, running from a little west of Blackfriars Bridge to just a short distance befor ...
theatre on 21 September 1599, and this was most likely Shakespeare's play, as there is no obvious alternative candidate. (While the story of Julius Caesar was dramatised repeatedly in the Elizabethan/Jacobean period, none of the other plays known are as good a match with Platter's description as Shakespeare's play.)
After the theatres re-opened at the start of the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
era, the play was revived by
Thomas Killigrew
Thomas Killigrew (7 February 1612 – 19 March 1683) was an English dramatist and theatre manager. He was a witty, dissolute figure at the court of King Charles II of England.
Life
Killigrew was one of twelve children of Sir Robert Killigrew ...
's
King's Company
The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London, after the London theatre closure had been lifted at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682, when it merged wit ...
in 1672.
Charles Hart initially played Brutus, as did
Thomas Betterton
Thomas Patrick Betterton (August 1635 – 28 April 1710), the leading male actor and theatre manager during Restoration England, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London.
Apprentice and actor
Betterton was born in August 16 ...
in later productions. ''Julius Caesar'' was one of the very few Shakespeare plays that was not adapted during the Restoration period or the eighteenth century.
Notable performances

* 1864:
Junius Jr.,
Edwin
The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures.
People
* Edwin of Northumbria (died ...
and
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth th ...
(later the assassin of U.S. president
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
) made the only appearance onstage together in a benefit performance of ''Julius Caesar'' on 25 November 1864, at the
Winter Garden Theater
The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...
in New York City. Junius Jr. played Cassius, Edwin played Brutus and John Wilkes played Mark Antony. This landmark production raised funds to erect a
statue of Shakespeare
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
in Central Park, which remains to this day.
* 29 May 1916: A one-night performance in the natural bowl of
Beachwood Canyon, Hollywood drew an audience of 40,000 and starred Tyrone Power Sr. and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. The student bodies of Hollywood and Fairfax High Schools played opposing armies, and the elaborate battle scenes were performed on a huge stage as well as the surrounding hillsides. The play commemorated the tercentenary of Shakespeare's death. A photograph of the elaborate stage and viewing stands can be seen on the Library of Congress website. The performance was lauded by
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
.
* 1926: Another elaborate performance of the play was staged as a benefit for the
Actors Fund of America
The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that supports performers and behind-the-scenes workers in performing arts and entertainment, helping more than 17,000 people directly each year. Ser ...
at the
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018.
The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...
. Caesar arrived for the
Lupercal
The Lupercal (from Latin '' lupa'' "female wolf") was a cave at the southwest foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome, located somewhere between the temple of Magna Mater and the Sant'Anastasia al Palatino. In the legend of the founding of Rome, Romu ...
in a chariot drawn by four white horses. The stage was the size of a city block and dominated by a central tower eighty feet in height. The event was mainly aimed at creating work for unemployed actors. Three hundred
gladiator
A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
s appeared in an arena scene not featured in Shakespeare's play; a similar number of girls danced as Caesar's captives; a total of three thousand soldiers took part in the battle sequences.

* 1937: ''
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
'',
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
's famous
Mercury Theatre
The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also ...
production, drew fevered comment as the director dressed his protagonists in uniforms reminiscent of those common at the time in
Fascist Italy
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, drawing a specific analogy between Caesar and Fascist Italian leader
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
. ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine gave the production a rave review, together with the New York critics.
The fulcrum of the show was the slaughter of Cinna the Poet (
Norman Lloyd
Norman Nathan Lloyd (' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including ...
), a scene that literally stopped the show. ''Caesar'' opened at the
Mercury Theatre
The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also ...
in New York City in November 1937
and moved to the larger
National Theater in January 1938,
running a total of 157 performances. A second company made a five-month national tour with ''Caesar'' in 1938, again to critical acclaim.
* 1950:
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
played Cassius at the
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespea ...
under the direction of
Michael Langham
Michael Seymour Langham (22 August 1919 – 15 January 2011) was an English director and actor, who spent much of his career living and working in Canada and the United States.
He was educated at Radley College and studied law at the Universi ...
and
Anthony Quayle
Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969). ...
. The production was considered one of the highlights of a remarkable
Stratford season and led to
Gielgud (who had done little film work to that time) playing Cassius in
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (; February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career, and won both the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best ...
's 1953
film version
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...
.
* 1977: Gielgud made his final appearance in a Shakespearean role on stage as Caesar in
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...
's production at the
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
. The cast also included
Ian Charleson
Ian Charleson (11 August 1949 – 6 January 1990) was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Oscar-winning 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. ...
as Octavius.
* 1994:
Arvind Gaur
Arvind Gaur is an Indian theatre director known for innovative, socially and politically relevant plays in India. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political ...
directed the play in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
with Jaimini Kumar as Brutus and Deepak Ochani as Caesar (24 shows); later on he revived it with
Manu Rishi
Manu Rishi Chadha (born 3 January 1971) is an Indian actor, lyricist, script and dialogue writer who works in Hindi films. Rishi is trained under theatre director Arvind Gaur for six years. He won the Filmfare Best Dialogue Award, 2009 for ''Oy ...
as Caesar and Vishnu Prasad as Brutus for the Shakespeare Drama Festival,
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
in 1998. Arvind Kumar translated ''Julius Caesar'' into
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
. This production was also performed at the Prithvi international theatre festival, at the
India Habitat Centre
The India Habitat Centre is a multipurpose building in the city of New Delhi, India. It was the brain child of the HuDCO Chairman, Santosh Sharma.
The India Habitat Centre is one of India's most comprehensive convention centers that is aimed at ...
, New Delhi.
* 2005:
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...
played Brutus in the first Broadway production of the play in over fifty years. The production received universally negative reviews but was a sell-out because of Washington's popularity at the box office.
* 2012: The
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
staged an all-black production under the direction of
Gregory Doran
Gregory Doran (born 24 November 1958) is an English director known for his Shakespearean work. ''The Sunday Times'' called him 'one of the great Shakespearians of his generation'.
Doran was artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RS ...
.
* 2012: An all-female production starring
Harriet Walter
Dame Harriet Mary Walter (born 24 September 1950) is a British actress. She has received a Laurence Olivier Award as well as numerous nominations including for a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 20 ...
as Brutus and
Frances Barber
Frances Barber (née Brookes, born 13 May 1958) is an English actress. She received Olivier Award nominations for her work in the plays '' Camille'' (1985), and ''Uncle Vanya'' (1997). Her film appearances include three collaborations with Gar ...
as Caesar was staged at the
Donmar Warehouse
The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977.
Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...
, directed by
Phyllida Lloyd
Phyllida Christian Lloyd, (born 17 June 1957) is an English film director and producer, best known for '' Mamma Mia!'' (2008) and '' The Iron Lady'' (2011). Her theatre work includes directing productions at the Royal Court Theatre and Royal N ...
. In October 2013, the production transferred to New York's
St. Ann's Warehouse
St. Ann's Warehouse is a performing arts institution in Brooklyn, New York City. Formerly the Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity on Montague Street, in 1980 the site was converted into a venue for classical music. Initially known as ''Arts a ...
in Brooklyn.
* 2018: The
Bridge Theatre
The Bridge Theatre is a commercial theatre near Tower Bridge in London that opened in October 2017. It was developed by Nick Starr and Nicholas Hytner as the home of the London Theatre Company, which they founded following their tenancy as execut ...
stages ''Julius Caesar'' as one of its first productions, under the direction of
Nicholas Hytner
Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner (; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include ''Miss Saigon'', ''Th ...
, with
Ben Whishaw
Benjamin John Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor and producer. After winning a British Independent Film Award for his performance in ''My Brother Tom'' (2001), he was nominated for an Olivier Award for his portrayal of the titl ...
,
Michelle Fairley
Michelle Fairley (born 1964–1965) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is best known for playing Catelyn Stark in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2013). She has since appeared in the USA Network series '' Suits'' (2013), the Fo ...
, and
David Morrissey
David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. Described by the British Film Institute as "one of the most versatile English actors of his generation", he is noted for the meticulous preparation and research h ...
as leads. This mirrors the play's status as one of the first productions at the
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...
in 1599.
Adaptations and cultural references

One of the earliest cultural references to the play came in Shakespeare's own ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''.
Prince Hamlet
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
asks
Polonius
Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. He is chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course of ...
about his career as a thespian at university, and Polonius replies: "I did enact Julius Caesar. I was killed i' th' Capitol. Brutus killed me." This is a likely
meta-reference
Meta-reference is a special type of self-reference that can occur in all media or media artifacts, for instance literature, film, painting, TV series, comic strips, or video games. It includes all references to, or comments on, a specific medium, ...
, as
Richard Burbage
Richard Burbage (c. 1567 – 13 March 1619) was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owner, ent ...
is generally accepted to have played leading men Brutus and Hamlet, and the older
John Heminges
John Heminges (bapt. 25 November 1566 – 10 October 1630) was an actor in the King's Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. Along with Henry Condell, he was an editor of the First Folio, the collected plays of Shakespeare ...
to have played Caesar and Polonius.
In 1851, the German composer
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
wrote a
concert overture
Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...
''
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
'', inspired by Shakespeare's play. Other musical settings include those by
Giovanni Bononcini
Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers.
Biography
E ...
,
Hans von Bülow
Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for es ...
,
Felix Draeseke
Felix August Bernhard Draeseke (7 October 1835 – 26 February 1913) was a composer of the "New German School" admiring Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. He wrote compositions in most forms including eight operas and stage works, four symphonies, ...
,
Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Josef Bohuslav Foerster (30 December 1859 – 29 May 1951) was a Czechs, Czech composer and musicologist. He is often referred to as J. B. Foerster, and his surname is sometimes spelled Förster.
Life
Foerster was born in Prague. His ancestors ...
,
John Ireland
John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomina ...
,
John Foulds
John Herbert Foulds (; 2 November 188025 April 1939) was an English cellist and composer of classical music. He was largely self-taught as a composer, and belongs among the figures of the English Musical Renaissance.
A successful composer of li ...
,
Gian Francesco Malipiero
Gian Francesco Malipiero (; 18 March 1882 – 1 August 1973) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor.
Life Early years
Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gia ...
,
Manfred Gurlitt
Manfred Gurlitt (6 September 1890 – 29 April 1972) was a German opera composer and conductor. He studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck and conducting with Karl Muck. He spent most of his career in Japan.
Life
Manfred Ludwig Hugo An ...
,
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
, and
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...
.
The Canadian comedy duo
Wayne and Shuster
Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian double act, comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s, first as a live act, then on radio, then as part of ''The Army Show'' ...
parodied ''Julius Caesar'' in their 1958 sketch ''Rinse the Blood off My Toga''. Flavius Maximus, Private Roman Eye, is hired by Brutus to investigate the death of Caesar. The police procedural combines Shakespeare, ''
Dragnet'', and vaudeville jokes and was first broadcast on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...
''.
In 1984, the
Riverside Shakespeare Company
The Riverside Shakespeare Company of New York City was founded in 1977 as a professional ( AEA) theatre company on the Upper West Side of New York City, by W. Stuart McDowell and Gloria Skurski. Focusing on Shakespeare plays and other classical ...
of New York City produced a modern dress ''Julius Caesar'' set in contemporary Washington, called simply ''CAESAR!'', starring
Harold Scott as Brutus, Herman Petras as Caesar, Marya Lowry as Portia, Robert Walsh as Antony, and Michael Cook as Cassius, directed by W. Stuart McDowell at
The Shakespeare Center
The Shakespeare Center was the home of the Riverside Shakespeare Company, an Equity professional theatre company in New York City, established in 1980 and dedicated in 1982, when the company established its center of theatre production and advance ...
.
In 2006,
Chris Taylor from the Australian comedy team
The Chaser
The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedy group, best known for their television programmes and satirical news masthead. The group take their name from their satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste. The ...
wrote a comedy musical called ''
Dead Caesar'' which was shown at the Sydney Theatre Company in Sydney.
The line "The Evil That Men Do", from the speech made by Mark Antony following Caesar's death ("The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.") has had many references in media, including the titles of:
*An
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
*A politically oriented
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
directed by
J. Lee Thompson
John Lee Thompson (1 August 1914 – 30 August 2002) was a British film director, active in London and Hollywood, best known for award-winning films such as ''Woman in a Dressing Gown'', ''Ice Cold in Alex'' and ''The Guns of Navarone (film), Th ...
in 1984
*A
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
in the
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' series.
The 2008 movie ''
Me and Orson Welles
''Me and Orson Welles'' is a 2008 period drama film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Zac Efron, Christian McKay, and Claire Danes. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name, the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hire ...
'', based on a book of the same name by
Robert Kaplow
Robert Kaplow (born 1954) is an American novelist and teacher whose coming-of-age novel was made into a film titled ''Me and Orson Welles''. The story is about "youthful creative ambition" and has received positive reviews from ''The New York Ti ...
, is a fictional story centred around
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
' famous 1937 production of ''Julius Caesar'' at the
Mercury Theatre
The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also ...
. British actor
Christian McKay
Christian Stuart McKay (born 30 December 1973) is an English stage and screen actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Orson Welles in the 2008 film ''Me and Orson Welles'', for which he was nominated for over two dozen awards includi ...
is cast as Welles, and co-stars with
Zac Efron
Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' trilo ...
and
Claire Danes
Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, ''Time'' named her one of the 100 most influentia ...
.
The 2012 Italian
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
''
Caesar Must Die
''Caesar Must Die'' ( it, Cesare deve morire) is a 2012 Italian drama film directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. The film competed at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Golden Bear. The film is set in Rebibbia Prison ...
'' ( it, Cesare deve morire), directed by
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Paolo Taviani (; born 8 November 1931) and Vittorio Taviani (; 20 September 1929 – 15 April 2018), collectively referred to as the Taviani brothers, were Italian film directors and screenwriters who collaborated on film productions.
At the C ...
, follows convicts in their rehearsals ahead of a prison performance of ''Julius Caesar''.
In the
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
book ''
Fahrenheit 451
''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, ''Fahrenheit 451'' presents an American society where books have been personified and outlawed and "firemen" burn any that ar ...
'', some of the character Beatty's last words are "There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, for I am armed so strong in honesty that they pass me as an idle wind, which I respect not!"
The play's line "the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves", spoken by Cassius in Act I, scene 2, is often referenced in popular culture. The line gave its name to the
J.M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...
play ''Dear Brutus'', and also gave its name to the best selling young adult novel ''
The Fault in Our Stars
''The Fault in Our Stars'' is a novel by John Green. It is his fourth solo novel, and sixth novel overall. It was published on January 10, 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar'', in which the noble ...
'' by
John Green
John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube Content creation, content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' ( ...
and its
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
. The same line was quoted in
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe fo ...
's epilogue of his famous 1954 ''
See It Now
''See It Now'' is an American newsmagazine and documentary series broadcast by CBS from 1951 to 1958. It was created by Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly, with Murrow as the host of the show. From 1952 to 1957, ''See It Now'' won four Emmy A ...
'' documentary broadcast concerning Senator
Joseph R. McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
. This speech and the line were recreated in the 2005 film ''
Good Night, and Good Luck
''Good Night, and Good Luck'' (stylized as ''good night, and good luck.'') is a 2005 historical drama film about American television news directed by George Clooney, with the movie starring David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Ro ...
''. It was also quoted by
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...
's character in the
Coen brothers
Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...
film ''
Intolerable Cruelty
''Intolerable Cruelty'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, and produced by Brian Grazer and the Coens. The script was written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone and Ethan and Joel Coen, with the ...
''.
The line "And therefore think him as a serpent's egg / Which hatch'd, would, as his kind grow mischievous; And kill him in the shell" spoken by Brutus in Act II, Scene 1, is referenced in the
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...
song "
California über alles
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
".
The titles of
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
novel ''Taken at the Flood'', titled ''
There Is a Tide'' in its American edition, refer to an iconic line of Brutus: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." (Act IV, Scene III).
Film and television adaptations
''Julius Caesar'' has been
adapted
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
to a number of film productions, including:
* ''Julius Caesar'' (Vitagraph Company of America, 1908), produced by J. Stuart Blackton and directed by William V. Ranous, who also played Antony.
* ''Julius Caesar (1950 film), Julius Caesar'' (Avon Productions, 1950), directed by David Bradley (director), David Bradley, who played Brutus; Charlton Heston played Antony and Harold Tasker played Caesar.
[''Shakespeare and the Moving Image: The Plays on Film and Television'' (eds. Anthony Davies & Stanley Wells: Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 29–31.]
* ''Julius Caesar (1953 film), Julius Caesar'' (MGM, 1953), directed by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (; February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career, and won both the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best ...
and produced by John Houseman; starring James Mason as Brutus, Marlon Brando as Antony and Louis Calhern as Caesar.
* ''An Honourable Murder'' (1960), directed by Godfrey Grayson; depicted the play in a modern business setting.
* ''The Spread of the Eagle'', a 1963 BBC series comprising ''Coriolanus'', ''Julius Caesar'', and ''Antony & Cleopatra''.
* ''Julius Caesar (1970 film), Julius Caesar'' (Commonwealth United Entertainment, Commonwealth United, 1969), directed by Stuart Burge, produced by Peter Snell (producer), Peter Snell, starring Jason Robards as Brutus, Charlton Heston as Antony and
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
as Caesar.
* ''Heil Caesar'' (BBC, 1973), a three-part television play written by John Griffith Bowen that was "a modern-dress modern-dialogue rewrite of the play, updated to an unnamed present-day regime that's about to switch from democracy to dictatorship unless Brutus and his conspirators act to prevent it." It was intended as an introduction to Shakespeare's play for schoolchildren, but it proved good enough to be shown on adult television, and a stage version was later produced. The British Universities Film & Video Council database states that the work "transforms the play into a modern political conspiracy thriller with modern dialogue and many strong allusions to political events in the early 1970."
* ''BBC Television Shakespeare#Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar'' (BBC Television Shakespeare, BBC/Time-Life Television, Time-Life TV, 1978), a television adaptation in the BBC Television Shakespeare series, directed by Herbert Wise and produced by Cedric Messina, starring Richard Pasco as Brutus, Keith Michell as Antony and Charles Gray (actor), Charles Gray as Caesar.
* ''Julius Caesar'' (2010), is a short film starring Randy Harrison as Brutus and John Shea as Julius Caesar. Directed by Patrick J Donnelly and produced by Dan O'Hare.
* ''
Caesar Must Die
''Caesar Must Die'' ( it, Cesare deve morire) is a 2012 Italian drama film directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. The film competed at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Golden Bear. The film is set in Rebibbia Prison ...
'' (2012), is an Italian film about a group of prison inmates rehearsing the play. Ultimately, the prison life and the play become indistinguishable and Mark Antony's Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears, Friends, Romans... speech is delivered in a prison courtyard with hundreds of prisoners peeking from their cell windows taking the role of Roman citizens. While the film is fictional, the actors are actual prison inmates Cameo role, playing themselves.
* ''Zulfiqar (film), Zulfiqar'' (2016), a Bengali language, Bengali-language Indian film by Srijit Mukherji that is an adaptation of both ''Julius Caesar'' and ''
Antony and Cleopatra
''Antony and Cleopatra'' (First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around ...
'' and a tribute to the film ''The Godfather''.
Contemporary political references
Modern adaptions of the play have often made contemporary political references,
[Peter Marks]
When 'Julius Caesar' was given a Trumpian makeover, people lost it. But is it any good
''Washington Post'' (16 June 2017). with Caesar depicted as resembling a variety of political leaders, including Huey Long, Margaret Thatcher, and Tony Blair.
[Frank Pallotta]
Trump-like 'Julius Caesar' isn't the first time the play has killed a contemporary politician
CNN (12 June 2017). Professor A. J. Hartley, the Robinson Chair of Shakespeare Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, states that this is a fairly "common trope" of ''Julius Caesar'' performances: "Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, the rule has been to create a recognisable political world within the production. And often people in the title role itself look like or feel like somebody either in recent or current politics."
A 2012 production of ''Julius Caesar'' by the Guthrie Theater and The Acting Company "presented Caesar in the guise of a black actor who was meant to suggest Barack Obama, President Obama."
This production was not particularly controversial.
In 2017, however, a modern adaptation of the play at Shakespeare in the Park (New York City), New York's Shakespeare in the Park (performed by The Public Theater) depicted Caesar with the likeness of then-president Donald Trump and thereby aroused ferocious controversy, drawing criticism by media outlets such as ''The Daily Caller'' and ''Breitbart'' and prompting corporate sponsors Bank of America and Delta Airlines to pull their financial support.
The Public Theater stated that the message of the play is not pro-assassination and that the point is that "those who attempt to defend democracy by undemocratic means pay a terrible price and destroy the very thing they are fighting to save." Shakespeare scholars Stephen Greenblatt and Peter Holland agreed with this statement.
Pallotta stated that "I have never read anyone suggesting that 'Julius Caesar' is a play that recommends assassination. Look what happens: Caesar is assassinated to stop him becoming a dictator. Result:
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, Second Triumvirate, massive slaughter, creation of an emperor, execution of many who sympathized with the conspiracy. Julio-Claudian dynasty, Doesn't look much like a successful result for the conspirators to me."
The play was interrupted several times by Right-wing politics, right-wing protesters, who accused the play of "violence against the right", and actors and members of theatres with Shakespeare in the name were harassed and received death threats, including the wife of the play's director Oskar Eustis. The protests were praised by American Family Association director Sandy Rios who compared the play with the Damnatio ad bestias#Execution of Christians, execution of Christians by damnatio ad bestias.
See also
* 1599 in literature
* Assassinations in fiction#Plays, Assassinations in fiction
* Caesar's Comet
* Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears, Mark Antony's Funeral Speech
* The dogs of war (phrase), "The dogs of war"
References
Citations
Secondary sources
* Boyce, Charles. 1990. ''Encyclopaedia of Shakespeare'', New York, Roundtable Press.
* E. K. Chambers, Chambers, Edmund Kerchever. 1923. ''The Elizabethan Stage''. 4 volumes, Oxford: Oxford University Press. .
* F. E. Halliday, Halliday, F. E. 1964. ''A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964''. Shakespeare Library ser. Baltimore, Penguin, 1969. .
* Houppert, Joseph W. "Fatal Logic in 'Julius Caesar'". South Atlantic Bulletin. Vol. 39, No.4. Nov. 1974. 3–9.
* Kahn, Coppelia. "Passions of some difference": Friendship and Emulation in Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar: New Critical Essays. Horst Zander, ed. New York: Routledge, 2005. 271–283.
* Parker, Barbara L. "The Whore of Babylon and Shakespeares's Julius Caesar." Studies in English Literature (Rice); Spring95, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p. 251, 19p.
* Reynolds, Robert C. "Ironic Epithet in Julius Caesar". Shakespeare Quarterly. Vol. 24. No.3. 1973. 329–333.
* Taylor, Myron. "Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and the Irony of History". Shakespeare Quarterly. Vol. 24, No. 3. 1973. 301–308.
* Stanley Wells, Wells, Stanley and Michael Dobson, eds. 2001. ''The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare'' Oxford University Press
External links
Complete Annotated Text on One Page* Text of
', fully edited by John Cox, as well as original-spelling text, facsimiles of the 1623 Folio text, and other resources, at th
Internet Shakespeare Editions''Julius Caesar'' NavigatorIncludes Shakespeare's text with notes, line numbers, and a search function.
No Fear Shakespeare Includes the play line by line with interpretation.
''Julius Caesar''at the British Library
*
*
''Julius Caesar''– by The Tech
– Searchable and scene-indexed version.
''Julius Caesar'' translated into latin by Dr. Hilgersat Web English Teacher
*
Quicksilver Radio Theater adaptation of ''Julius Caesar'', which may be heard online at PRX.org (Public Radio Exchange).
Read Online in Flash version.
Clear Shakespeare ''Julius Caesar''– A word-by-word audio guide through the play.
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1599 plays
English Renaissance plays
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Cultural depictions of Cicero
Cultural depictions of Marcus Junius Brutus
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