Julius Caesar

William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.8

Word count: 115K words
Chapters: 12

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Julius Cæsar by William ShakespeareAuthor: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616,Language: Latin, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 4, 2014

Editor's review

Julius Cæsar is a Roman tragedy from Shakespeare's mature period, drawing on events from ancient Roman history and centering on the choices facing Brutus, Cassius, Antony, and others around the assassination of Caesar. The play's core conflict—whether to commit assassination for the sake of republican ideals—interweaves political ambition, personal friendship, and public opinion, and Antony's speech in the forum is a classic passage in English literature on the power of rhetorical persuasion. Moderate in length and concentrated in plot, the play is often regarded as an entry point to Shakespeare's Roman plays and is also well suited to classroom discussion of the legitimacy of power and crowd psychology. The public-domain electronic text provided by Project Gutenberg makes it easy for students to search lines repeatedly and read closely against the original, especially for readers interested in political rhetoric and ethical dilemmas.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of English and American literature who need to read the original text of a Shakespearean Roman tragedy
Readers interested in political rhetoric and crowd psychology
Drama enthusiasts who want a shorter introduction to Shakespeare
Teachers and students preparing for classroom discussion or staging dramatic excerpts

Not a good fit for

First-time readers who rely entirely on modern vernacular translations may find it difficult
Readers who prefer comedy or light romantic themes
Readers wholly unfamiliar with ancient Roman history who are unwilling to look it up

Reading tips

Read a plot summary first, clarify the timeline before and after the assassination, then move on to the original text.
Read Antony's and Brutus's forum speeches side by side and compare their rhetorical strategies.
Excerpt key soliloquies to appreciate the characters' inner ethical struggles.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is Caesar the protagonist of this play?

Although the title is Caesar, the dramatic focus often falls on Brutus. Caesar is assassinated in the first half, and the remainder centers on the assassins' ideals, wavering, and downfall, as well as how Antony turns public opinion through his speech.

The metadata lists the language as Latin—is this a Latin text?

The play was originally written in English; the language label in the metadata is a cataloging record. The main text is Shakespeare's English verse drama, which readers can read in the original English without any knowledge of Latin.

Do I need to know ancient Roman history before reading?

Not systematically, but a basic grasp of Caesar's dictatorship, the republicans' suspicions, and the assassination will make it easier to understand the characters' motives and the political tension in the lines.

Is it suitable as an introduction to Shakespeare?

Fairly suitable. The plot is concentrated and the threads are clear, and it is shorter than the four major tragedies, making it one of the common introductory texts for becoming familiar with Shakespeare's verse language and political themes.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

William Shakespeare Author · English · 1564–1616

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was the greatest playwright, poet and actor of the English Renaissance. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he is known as the "Bard of Avon." He wrote roughly thirty-seven to thirty-nine plays, one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and narrative poems. His representative works include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. His works span tragedy, comedy and history play, distinguished by rich, poetic language and profound characterization. His explorations of human nature, power, love and fate have had a lasting influence, and his works have been translated into many languages and circulated widely around the world.