Julius Caesar - Shakespeare

I decided to read Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar because I found it to be one of the easiest plays to read. Unfortunately, at the time, I was not able to really dive into the play because I had to read and report on several of his writings for school. Savoring was not an option.

Now that I’ve read the play all the way through, I can honestly say that it is enjoyable and I am just as pleased with reading it as I had been in the past. I got a little lost though after act 4. At one point there were too many people speaking and I got lost on who was saying what and to whom they were speaking to. This, I think, can be smoothed if I actually went to see the play, to get a visual of what the scene could actually look like.

This could easily be an epic film but the way Hollywood works, I would not entrust them with something so treasured as Shakespeare. Remember Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes? It was artistic and vibrant but they did not stick to the classic Shakespeare way. I enjoyed the movie. The interpretation was amazing but why change what is already artistic and so prodigious? I say no.

What I love about Julius Caesar is the honor man has for his fellow country men. Caesar wasn’t killed because he was oppressive nor was he ill intent. Indeed he believed his intent was for the good of Rome. Even his fellow Romans, those who ensnared him believed he had the best intention. He was killed because it was feared he could eventually befall the path of dictator; fueled by the sense of power given him by an otherwise superficial republic.

Brutus, a key character along with Cassius and several others plot to kill Caesar. Their reasoning is that the future of Rome depends on it. They love Julius but they love Rome more; and this love of country rests within their actions. Brutus takes the first strike against Caesar and the others follow. Caesar’s wife had premonitions about his demise but Marc Antony was the only character to give an emotional reaction after his death. I understand Antony to have had larger attachment to Caesar as a man first and not so much an attachment to country like the others.

The reaction of the crowd threw me off the first time because they loved Caesar but seemed to have little concern after he died. The Fickleness of the public became clear at Caesar’s funeral. Not long after Brutus explained his reasons for the killing, the crowd was indeed in his favor. In the same scene that same crowd was convinced by Marc Antony that Brutus, Cassius and the others were not acting in the best interest of Rome and they too must also die.

After the funeral things began to get a bit muddy. Octavius and several other characters come in and the conversations become much harder to follow. However, I do know there was a battle to avenge Caesar’s death; which, ironically, is justified when the majority of the conspirators including Cassius and Brutus die. Like Caesar, they too failed to realize their human limitations. Cassius commits suicide, dying by the same sword he used to kill Julius; but unlike him no one was there to give a heart felt speech.

A short time later Brutus too kills himself but in a more altruistic sense. He is visited by Caesars ghost and is troubled. With the help of one of his men, he impales himself against a sword. Antony eulogizes Brutus by stating that he was the noblest Roman of them all. Out of all the conspirators, it seems that Brutus had the purest intention; to spare Rome from potential demise. Cassius for sure seemed to have a personal vendetta against Caesar first and a sincere concern for Rome second. I don’t know if this was true of the others but there was a clear difference between Brutus and Cassius. Even after death Caesar remained the driving force for all the events of the entire play.

Whew! This is a long post and if I’d really got it all, I’m sure it would be longer. I have another book to read by Milan Kundera but because this Shakespeare was so heavy, I may read something on the lighter side first.