Context

Likely the most influential writer in all of English literature and certainly the most important playwright of the English Renaissance, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. The son of a successful middle-class glovemaker, Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582, he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590, he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 15581603) and James I (ruled 16031625); he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, King James paid Shakespeares theater company the greatest possible compliment by endowing its members with the status of kings players. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford, and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two. At the time of Shakespeares death, such luminaries as Ben Jonson hailed him as the apogee of Renaissance theater. Shakespeares works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his death, and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as the greatest poet ever to write in English was well established. The unprecedented admiration garnered by his works led to a fierce curiosity about Shakespeares life, but the dearth of biographical information has left many details of Shakespeares personal history shrouded in mystery. Some scholars have concluded from this lack and from Shakespeares modest education that his plays were actually written by someone elseFrancis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the two most popular candidates. The evidence for this claim, however, is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and few take the theory very seriously. In the absence of definitive proof to the contrary, Shakespeare must be viewed as the author of the thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets that bear his name. The legacy of this body of work is immense. A number of Shakespeares plays seem to have transcended even the category of brilliance, becoming so influential as to affect profoundly the course of Western literature and culture ever after. Julius Caesar takes place in ancient Rome in 44 B . C . , when Rome was the center of an empire stretching from Britain to North Africa and from Persia to Spain. Yet even as the empire grew stronger, so, too, did the force of the dangers threatening its existence: Rome suffered from constant infighting between ambitious military leaders and the far weaker senators to whom they supposedly owed allegiance. The empire also suffered from a sharp division between citizens, who were represented in the senate, and the increasingly underrepresented plebeian masses. A succession of men aspired to become the absolute ruler of Rome, but only Julius Caesar

seemed likely to achieve this status. Those citizens who favored more democratic rule feared that Caesars power would lead to the enslavement of Roman citizens by one of their own. Therefore, a group of conspirators came together and assassinated Caesar. The assassination, however, failed to put an end to the power struggles dividing the empire, and civil war erupted shortly thereafter. The plot of Shakespeares play includes the events leading up to the assassination of Caesar as well as much of the subsequent war, in which the deaths of the leading conspirators constituted a sort of revenge for the assassination. Shakespeares contemporaries, well versed in ancient Greek and Roman history, would very likely have detected parallels between Julius Caesars portrayal of the shift from republican to imperial Rome and the Elizabethan eras trend toward consolidated monarchal power. In 1599, when the play was first performed, Queen Elizabeth I had sat on the throne for nearly forty years, enlarging her power at the expense of the aristocracy and the House of Commons. As she was then sixty-six years old, her reign seemed likely to end soon, yet she lacked any heirs (as did Julius Caesar). Many feared that her death would plunge England into the kind of chaos that had plagued England during the fifteenth-century Wars of the Roses. In an age when censorship would have limited direct commentary on these worries, Shakespeare could nevertheless use the story of Caesar to comment on the political situation of his day. As his chief source in writing Julius Caesar, Shakespeare probably used Thomas Norths translation of Plutarchs Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, written in the first century A . D . Plutarch, who believed that history was propelled by the achievements of great men, saw the role of the biographer as inseparable from the role of the historian. Shakespeare followed Plutarchs lead by emphasizing how the actions of the leaders of Roman society, rather than class conflicts or larger political movements, determined history. However, while Shakespeare does focus on these key political figures, he does not ignore that their power rests, to some degree, on the fickle favor of the populace. Contemporary accounts tell us that Julius Caesar, Shakespeares shortest play, was first performed in 1599. It was probably the first play performed in the Globe Theater, the playhouse that was erected around that time in order to accommodate Shakespeares increasingly successful theater company. However, the first authoritative text of the play did not appear until the 1 6 2 3 First Folio edition. The elaborate stage directions suggest that this text was derived from the companys promptbook rather than Shakespeares manuscript.

Written in 1599, Julius Caesar tells the story of an extremely powerful general who substantially increased the size of Rome's territorial possessions yet was assassinated because he wanted to rule Rome by himself. In his death, he left no children and although he named his grand nephew Octavius as his heir, there was no clear successor, and a devastating civil war ensued. Likewise, Queen Elizabeth was an extremely effective monarch who brought England to its golden age of prosperity. By 1599, however, Elizabeth was sixty-six and she had no children to succeed her. Since she hadn't named an heir and her reign was clearly coming to an end very soon, England worried whether her passing would be followed by chaotic civil war - the same kind that brought turmoil to Rome more than sixteen hundred years before. 1599 was also the year that the Globe Theater was built by Shakespeare's successful theater company. It is believed that Julius Caesar was the first play performed in the Globe, which is somehow appropriate because the ambition to rule the world is central to this play. Shakespeare takes certain liberties with his historical sources - the lives of Caesar and Brutus in Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans - in order to condense the events of several years into seemingly just a few weeks. Historically, Caesar's triumphal ceremony over Pompey occurs months before his assassination in March, and Brutus and Cassius wait in Rome for a year after Caesar's funeral before amassing their armies to fight Antony and Octavius on the plains of Philippi. In Shakespeare's play, however, Caesar marches into Rome in triumph on the Lupercalia, which is in February, and he is assassinated in the middle of March. Also, Brutus and Cassius are driven out of Rome immediately after Antony's stirring speech at Caesar's funeral. In addition to increasing the dramatic intensity of the action, Shakespeare suggests that the decisions the characters make - Caesar ignoring the warning of the soothsayer or Brutus allowing Antony to speak at Caesar's funeral - have huge and immediate consequences.

The only authoritative edition of Julius Caesar is the 1623 First Folio, which appears to have used the theater company's official promptbook rather than Shakespeare's manuscript. Some anomalies exist, most notably in Act Four where there is confusion concerning the parts of the minor characters. Also, in writings from 1614 and 1625 Shakespeare's contemporary Ben Jonson makes fun of a line from 3.1 where Caesar says, "Know Caesar doth not wrong but with just cause." The First Folio omits the final four words, yet the fact that Jonson was writing in 1625 appears to indicate that the words may have been used in productions of the play even after the publication of the First Folio. The Oxford edition chose to add the four words back into the play, arguing that the apparent contradiction helps to more fully portray Caesar's characteristic godlike aspirations. Julius Caesar opens in 44 B.C., at a time when Rome ruled territories stretching from as far north as Britain to as far east as Persia. However, Rome's military success had come at a serious cost to the political situation in the home city, which was governed by a senate. Rome's senators became increasingly factionalized causing internal disarray, which allowed the more successful military generals gain power. Furthermore, the state

suffered from class divisions, and the plebeians had managed to win the right to elect "tribunes," or representatives, giving them some political power. However, women and most of the plebeian men remained excluded from this franchise. Thus, although the republic showed some signs of democracy, the majority did not participate in the general politics. Several men attempted to take over the government during this tumultuous period, most failing in the endeavor. Julius Caesar was a Roman general who had made a name for himself through his successful campaigning of northwest Europe. His advantage lay not only in winning battles, but also in his popularity among the poorer classes in Rome. He possessed innate talent, charisma, ambition, and luck, which, when combined, allowed his political power to increase. Supporters of the traditional form of government realized that men like Caesar posed a serious threat to the republic, and when legal and military attempts failed to stop him, conspirators led by Caius Cassius and Marcus Brutusassassinated him. The death of Caesar undermined the very political institution it was meant to defend. Rome was soon split by civil war, and the armies of the conspirators were defeated by Caesar's friend Mark Antony and his heir, Octavius. The culmination of these events was the defeat of the senate and the installment of Octavius as emperor Augustus. Contemporaries of Caesar quickly grasped the importance of these events, documenting them well. Throughout the centuries since, the events of Caeser's time have been interpreted and discussed at length, and continue to be alluded to even in present day politics. Political commentators have interpreted the actions of the main figures differently. For example, Michelangelo viewed Brutus as a defender of human liberty, while Dante placed him (and Cassius) into the deepest circle of hell in his Inferno. For Shakespeare, this historical drama presented numerous possibilities for analyzing and exploring conflicting perspectives of these events, and thus was a logical choice for one of his plays. The story of Caesar's death and the resulting political upheaval was especially salient in Shakespeare's time. The play is thought to have been written in 1599, when Queen Elizabeth was sixty-six years old. Europe and England were ruled by monarchs struggling to consolidate their power. In England, the monarchy ran into opposition from the established aristocracy and elected representatives in the House of Commons. Since Elizabeth had no direct heirs, many feared England might decay into civil chaos similar to that of the fifteenth century. Fear of censorship prevailed in matters relating to political discourse, and so for Shakespeare, the story of Julius Caesar provided a safe way to comment on many of the important questions of the time. Shakespeare's main source in writing the play was Thomas North's English translation of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans. Plutarch wrote in the first century A.D. and recorded his biographies as an historian. His description of the Roman Republic stated that it was ruled by at least one or more powerful men, yet rarely more than a few men. Shakespeare adopts this concept of Rome for Julius Caesar, focusing on the actions and influences of a few remarkable individuals rather than dealing with larger social movements. However, this approach does not imply a limited awareness of Rome's social problems, as the play's opening scenes clearly address Rome's social divisions. Shakespeare condenses the action in Julius Caesar as in many of his historical dramas, breaking slightly from historical accuracy. For example, Shakespeare places Caesar's triumph over Pompey's sons with the Lupercalia in February, whereas Plutarch indicates the victory took place in October. With this time change, the assassination on the Ides of March appears to be in response to Caesar's growing influence and arrogance. Furthermore, in Shakespeare's version, Brutus and Cassius flee from Rome immediately after Antony's speech to the Roman mob, but Plutarch describes them withdrawing from the city over a year after Caesar's funeral. These differences cause Roman leaders'

personal flaws and strengths to appear far more important in shaping the action of the plot. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is composed of several characters, none of whom dominate the plot; even the titular hero is merely one of the several personalities in the play. Indeed, Shakespeare creates only a limited depth to Caesar's characterization, mainly relying on the negative reports from those most hostile to him. However, when onstage, Caesar does not live up the reputation his enemies claim for him, thereby undermining his ability to dominate the plot at any point. Brutus is a much fuller character. As the friend and murderer of Caesar, he provides tremendous insight into his personality through soliloquies in which he discusses his motives and the consequences of his actions. Brutus also is portrayed in many different roles, including husband, military leader and assassin. These different roles allow us to see the internal strife inherent in Brutus' character; he is a man who must justify his extralegal murder while simultaneously remaining a faithful and good husband. In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare utilizes one of his great techniques, often called "gradual release", slowly providing pertinent plot information as the play progresses, forcing the audience to continually revise its interpretation of the action. A good example of this is when Antony climaxes his famous eulogy by reading Caesar's will and speaking of the generosity Caesar has shown to the common people, mentioning that Caesar has left them all some money. However, only two scenes later we see him trying to minimize the cost of this generosity by reducing the amount of money that needs to be given out. The combination of the two scenes forces the audience to reevaluate everything we know about Antony, and denies us the ability to fix firm motives on any of the play's characters. Shakespeare never intended the play to be historically accurate. In fact, he clearly expected the actors to appear in Elizabethan dress. Furthermore, he gives Rome the medieval invention of the mechanical clock, a notorious anachronism. However, Shakespeare's Romans share a distinct cultural heritage and society, including Roman society's implicit ideals and assumptions. When Antony calls Brutus, "the noblest of the Romans," he is referring to the specific "Roman" virtue, associated with the Republican government Brutus dies defending. The protagonists in the plot are never able to overcome the pressure of the Roman values, and thus are not completely free to invent themselves, relying instead on the cultural values provided.

Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar remains one of the best known figures in Roman history. As Elizabethan society was heavily influenced by classic Greek and Roman teaching, it makes sense that at some point Shakespeare would write about history's most famous Roman. This play was written in the year 1599 and is believed to have been the first play performed at the Globe Theatre, in which Shakespeare was an investor. It is broadly classified as one of Shakespeare's tragic plays although it is not considered to be as tragic as others such as Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet or King Lear. The play centres on the period of Roman history around the assassination of Julius Caesar. It provides a context for the events leading up to the murder and explores the consequences for the people involved. Shakespeare is believed to have based much of his play on the English translation of Plutarch's history called The Lives of the Greeks and Romans. This was originally written in Greek,

translated first into Latin and then translated into French. The French version was translated into English by Sir Thomas North in 1579. The events in this play condense several years in Roman history (around 48BC) and trade heavily on the assumption that audiences will be familiar with the basic history surrounding this time. This was true in Elizabethan times, however often today we are less familiar with this period in history and it's worth taking some time to catch up.

Rome in the time of Julius Caesar

Several hundred years before the time of the events in the play, Rome was ruled by a tyrannical king called Tarquin the Proud. Tarquin was defeated in a rebellion led by Lucius Junius Brutus (an ancestor of Marcus Brutus) in the year 509BC. At this time Rome was made a Republic, ruled by consuls who were elected by the people. The Senate advised the consuls. Tribunes were elected from the citizenry to protect the rights of the commoners and keep an eye on the Senate. By 1st century BC this whole system had weakened and three Roman leaders formed a triumvirate (a group of three people who share administrative responsibility) to rule Rome and its provinces. This triumvirate consisted of Pompey, Crassus and Julius Caesar. Crassus was killed fighting the Parthians in 53BC and civil war broke out as Pompey and Caesar fought to gain control of the empire. In 48BC Pompey was defeated by Julius Caesar who then fought and defeated Pompey's sons. The play begins with Caesar returning to Rome after his victory. These events inform the characters, themes and plot of the play.

Elizabethan audience
Shakespeare often wrote his plays to be as relevant to the lives of his audience as possible. Commenting directly on the political situation at the time could have got him and the actors into serious trouble. It wasn't unusual, however, for his plays to involve characters and situations similar to the times he lived in. Julius Caesar was written towards the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. England had enjoyed relative prosperity under her rule and this play is often thought to have held subtle references to the possible future of England after the Queen's death. Shakespeare also wrote to larger themes about the nature of people and the ways in which different people can respond to circumstances. These themes can be applied to all people and are part of why his plays have endured the test of time. In addition to this, Elizabethan society held a great appreciation for word play and so Shakespeare often makes clever use of double meanings to tell jokes and advance his plot lines. This is part of what can make his language difficult to understand, but is also what helps to make it so rich.