JULIUS CAESARThe Real Man

The PlayThe Characters

JULIUS CAESAR – THE REAL MAN

A historic figure who lived from 100 to 44 BC

Military Leader and Ruler of Rome Statues currently exist in museums

today Caesar’s biography was written in

Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans

Caesar was assassinated by his fellow senators in 44 BC

Multitude of cultural references exist for Caesar

JULIUS CAESAR – THE PLAY Shakespeare retained many facts from

Plutarch’s biography of Caesar, Antony and Brutus

But he added, deleted and altered to suit his dramatic purposes

Took 3 years and telescoped it into 6 days of action

Speeches in the Forum (famous lines in the play by Brutus and Antony) – no historical precedent

JULIUS CAESAR – THE PLAY

The emotional and fickle mob – Shakespeare’s creation to add drama

Characters of Casca, Octavius, Portia and Calpurnia – greatly expanded by Shakespeare

The raw material of the real historic figure of Julius Caesar is true in the play

BUT the finished product is entirely Shakespeare’s creation

THE PLAY

Characteristics of Shakespearean Tragedy Tragedy: a drama in which a series of actions

leads to the downfall of the main character Tragic Hero: usually the title character – but

in Julius Caesar not so The tragic hero is a person of high rank, whose

fate has an impact on society Hero has a Tragic Flaw – a fatal error in

judgment, a weakness in character that contributes to his/her downfall

THE PLAY

Soliloquies (asides) – speeches given by an actor alone on state that express thoughts that are hidden from the other characters

“Beware the Ides of March” – famous line, but a real reference to a date on the calendar – March 15th

JULIUS CAESAR – THE MOVIE

THE CHARACTERS OF THE PLAY

Julius Caesar and his wife Calpurnia

BRUTUS AND CASSIUS

Marcus Brutus

Cassius

THE CHARACTERS OF THE PLAY

Portia, wife of Brutus

CHARACTERS OF THE PLAY

Marcus Antonius (Marc Antony)

Antony giving his famous speech to the people of Rome in Act 3 Scene 2

Act 1 Runner in the Lupercal Gamestouch Calpurnia for good luck

THE CHARACTERS

In Act 3 Scene 1 – the conspirators assassinate CaesarThe conspirators: Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Trebonius, Caius Ligarius, Decius Brutus, Metellus Cimber, Cinna (not the poet)

THE CHARACTERS

In Act 1 Scene 2 – a Soothsayer (fortune teller) warns Caesar to beware of the 15th of March – known as “the Ides of March”

FAMOUS QUOTES - CAESAR “I could be well

moved if I were as you.If I could pray to move, prayers would move me.But I am constant as the Northern Star…”

 

“Et tu Brute”

FAMOUS QUOTE - ANTONY

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.The evil that men do lives after them;The good is oft interred with their bones;So let it be with Caesar.”