Julius Caesar (1599)

Revision Sheet

Themes

Power; leadership; Republicanism versus absolute rule; the importance of rhetoric to government; an examination of the personalities at the vortex of power; masculine virility; imperial Roman virtues and vices; malcontentedness and choice (anticipating Hamlet); the nature of ‘the people’.

The Idea of Rome in Sixteenth-Century England

Humanist renaissance culture glorified the Roman empire. Thomas North’s edition of Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans appeared in English in 1579, was a favorite of Elizabethans and Shakespeare used it as his source, lifting some passages directly in the construction of his play. Ancient Rome was considered the epicenter of all that was honorable and to be admired. Livy, History of Rome (begun AD 29):

So great is the military glory of the Roman People that when they profess that their Father and the Father of their founder was none other than Mars, the nations of the earth may well submit to this… No state was ever greater, none more righteous or richer in good examples, none ever was where avarice or luxury came into the social order so late, or where humble means and thrift were so highly esteemed and so long held in honour.

In the sixteenth century, and even more so in the seventeenth, England began to imagine itself as an imperial power. Roman narratives and the dual Roman virtues of military strength and civilized government increasingly became the blueprint upon which the country sought to base itself. Clearly, in a strictly hierarchical country under a monarchy, Rome under one strong leader was a more palatable idea than Roman democracy.

Rhetoric

Sixteenth century humanism, largely an educational movement, had a huge influence on the reintroduction of Classical Antiquity to European society. Central to this was a rediscovery of the arts of rhetoric. Julius Caesar is permeated by a continually acknowledgement of the importance of rhetoric to government. Rhetoric can be defined as:

1. The study and practice of effective communication.
2. The art of persuasion, especially in oratory.

There were three branches of rhetoric in the early-modern period:

i) Deliberative (legislative, to exhort or persuade).

ii) Judicial (forensic, to accuse or defend).

iii) Epideictic (ceremonial, to commemorate or blame)

Many long speeches in Shakespeare can be seen to fall into one or another of these categories. Oratory, addressing the people, is of huge significance in Shakespeare’s drama overall, and of special importance in this play. The play suggests that the greatest leaders are also the greatest orators: ‘he who seems most kingly is the king’. In the absence of a standing army, a police force, or any mass-media, rhetorical skill was an invaluable agent for the dissemination of ideological messages. It was assumed that good politicians should be eloquent and be able to win the support of a crowd. What Shakespeare puts before us is a study of the way in which language is used and mobilized in the service of authority, how some patterns of speech are imputed with greater weight than others, how some modes of address confer gravity or respect when others do not. What is interesting is the fact that it is rhetoric that holds the greatest importance, not the truth behind what is being said. Julius Caesar alludes to the fact that authority may be a product of strong talk only, and not a manifestation of the divine will as the monarchy would have held.

Scenae

1.1 Hierarchy, place, and the symbols of imperialism/despotism.

A contest for the streets (soul) of Rome.

This is a very public play, takes place in communal areas largely, features ‘the people’, is concerned with the destiny of a community.

The fickle mood of the public.

1.2. Antony’s virility established at the Lupercal, as is Caesar’s lack of an heir.

Caesar’s mock coronation, and the theatricality of leadership.

Cassius courts Brutus, and invokes his nobility against Caesar’s. Idealism versus resentment. The weighing of names.

1.3. What is the role of prophecy? The importance of ancestry, the nobility affronted.

2.2. Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife, and the threat of effeminancy. Caesar addresses himself in the third person (compare Cassius 1.2.140-5). How important is the idea of a name to authority?

3.1. Caesar at the Capitol, refuses to show mercy.

Emblematism of Caesar’s murder.

Antony’s soliloquy: 3.1.257, Antony assumes to the role of revenger.

3.2. The orations in the forum.

Prose vs. verse.

Idealism vs. emotion.

Oration vs. performance.

Inauguration of a cult of Caesar, hagiography of the corpse and wounds.

The response of the people to the will.

4.1. Antony immediately shown as vicious and political.

4.2. Fractious arguments between Cassius and Brutus. Cassius reveals himself to be corrupt and have motives beyond the good of Rome.

4.3. Brutus’ dis-ease. Appearance of Caesar’s ghost.

5.3. Caesar is revenged.

5.5. Antony’s eulogy for Brutus (ll.69-76).