ENGLISH PROJECT ON

DRAMA:JULIUS

CAESAR

Brief introduction

about the author

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely

regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's

pre-eminent dramatist. His surviving works, including some

collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long

narrative poems, and several other poems.

Some prominent leaders who were

assassinated

Hi! I am Kakoli Sengupta. You saw some pictures in the

previous slide. These pictures are of the famous leaders who were assassinated in the past.

Now I will tell you about Rome, capital of Italy and the story of one of its powerful general and

conqueror who was assassinated. He was known as

Julius Caesar.

About the ancient city of Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian

Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the

Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient

world

Gaius Julius Caesar

• Full Name - GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR• Birth - JULY12,100 B C or 102 B C• Death - MARCH15,44 B C• Father - GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR• Mother - AURELIA COTTA• Offspring - 1).JULIA CAESARIS

2).CAESARION• Consort -1) POMPEIA (68 B C -63 B ) -2)CALPURNIA PISONIS (59 B

C - 44 BC)

Introduction to the Characters

• Calpurnia: Caesar’s wife.• Mark Antony: Caesar’s most loyal

friend.• Marcus Brutus: Caesar’s great friend

who joins the conspiracy because of his great love for Rome and for democracy.

• Cassius: Inspirer and organizer of the conspiracy.

• Decius Brutus: Co- conspirator in Caesar’s assassination.

The Story begins…

Once upon a time there was a ruler named Julius Caesar who returned to Rome after defeating the sons of Pompey. The people of Rome celebrated his victorious return and Mark Antony offered him the crown which he refused. Jealous of Caesar’s growing power and afraid he may one day become a dictator Cassius instigated a conspiracy to murder Caesar. He realized that to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the Romans, he must win over the noble Marcus Brutus to his side for Brutus was the most trusted and respected person in Rome. Marcus was a close friend of Caesar. He joined the group of senators because of his love for Rome.

One day a soothsayer / fortune – teller came and warned Caesar to "beware the Ides of March”, which he ignored because of his arrogance. After ignoring the soothsayer as well as his wife, Calpurnia’s own dream in which she saw the death of Caesar, he went to the senate- house.

The conspirators created a superficial motive for the assassination by means of a petition brought by Metellus Cimber, pleading on behalf of his banished brother, Publius Cimber. As Caesar predictably, rejected the petition, Casca grazed Caesar in the back of his neck, and the others followed in stabbing him; Brutus was last among them. At this point, Caesar uttered the famous line “Et tu, Brute?” ("You too, Brutus?").

After the death of Caesar

The conspirators made it clear that they committed this act for Rome, not for their own purposes. After Caesar's death, Brutus delivered an oration defending his actions, and for the moment, the crowd was on his side. However, Mark Antony, with a subtle and eloquent speech over Caesar's corpse—began with the much-quoted "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"—deftly turned public opinion against the assassins by manipulating the emotions of the common people, in contrast to the rational tone of Brutus's speech. Antony roused the mob to drive the conspirators from Rome. Amid the violence, an innocent poet, Cinna, was confused with the conspirator Lucius Cinna and was murdered by the mob.

After this the armies of Antony and Octavius Caesar (nephew of Julius Caesar) clashed with those of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi and Sardis. During the battle, Cassius committed suicide after he heard of the capture of his best friend, Titinius. Titinius, who wasn't really captured, saw Cassius's corpse and commits suicide. However, Brutus won the battle. Brutus, with a heavy heart, battled again the next day. He loses and committed suicide.

The story ends with a tribute to Brutus by Antony, who proclaims that Brutus has remained "the noblest Roman of them all" as he was the only conspirator who acted for the good of Rome.

Kakoli Sengup

ta10th –G

Roll no.- 13