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Julius Caesar: the “foremost man of all the world.” pp.115. Overview. 1. Getting acquainted with Shakespeare 2. Alook at Shakespeare ’ s London 3. The Elizabethan Theater - The Global Theater 4. Biography of Julius Caesar and brief historical overview 5. Analysis of Acts
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Overview 1.Getting acquainted with Shakespeare 2. Alook at Shakespeare’s London 3. The Elizabethan Theater - The Global Theater 4. Biography of Julius Caesar and brief historical overview 5. Analysis of Acts 6. Questions and quote sheets corresponding with respective acts. 7. Essay Questions 8. Review Sheet
Part 1: Introductory Material • The Text, p.4 • Read page 4 and discuss why you think many editors chose to rearrange Shakespeare’s words: • the modernization of spelling and grammar • the creation of consistent iambic pentameter • Note: your text has not chosen this convention
Queen Elizabeth I • Julius Caesar Similar to Elizabethan England • Her reign was drawing to a close and she did not have any successors to throne. • People were concerned about peaceful transition of power because there were threats of rebellion. • This political concern becomes a major concern of the play- the struggle for power and what it does to those who engage in it. This theme is shared in the respective histories of Rome and England and therefore would appeal to Elizabethan audiences.
Interactive Global Theater • Let’ s take a tour
The Elizabethan Theater • Inn yards: common folks • Balconies: gentry • Social classes • Divided stage :planks-improvised • Flag
The death of Caesar was considered one the vilest crime in all of history
The stab wound #23 was the fatal wound! • According to Noah Charney on Art Crime and Art Historical Mysteries in his book The Secret History of Art • Caesar could have survived all other wounds! • And Caesar was stabbed coming out of the senate and not as guidebooks state coming from the Theater of Marcellus
Shakespearean Trivia • Refer to p.147 of your text • Caesar and Lincoln
Introduction to Julius Caesar • Best known of Shakespeare’s tragedies • Taken directly from Roman history • Only play that deals with a historical personage of “the highest magnitude.” p.5 • Caesar has been a historical figure that has intrigued both Elizabethan and modern audience • Why is this so?
A Problem Play : • Who is the central character? • Julius Caesar? • Brutus? • The city of Rome? • Refer to page 5 • Is Caesar a Hero or tyrant? • Elizabethans perspective • American perspective • Modern perspective • Refer to pages 5 &6
Tyrant Hero I say Caesar you say?
Julian Calendar & Gregorian Calendar • Julian Calendar • Julius – month of July • Who still uses Julian calendar? • The Berber people of North Africa on Mt. Athos • The Orthodox Church uses it to calculate movable religious feasts
Accomplishments: Quite a resume! • Aqueducts-this one is in Rome • Greatest Roman General and statesman of his time • Student of Greek and Latin • Military genius • Impoverished aristocrat - Triumvirate • Attacked bribery in existing political system and made taxation fair for the common people • Conquered peoples always treated justly • Law - legal system developed based on the idea must be for the good of the people who are governed • People loved him and were ready to make him king - problem Rome had a republican form of government! http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ancient-roman-achievements.html Julius Caesar revealed…
Cornelia, the first wife of Caesar The daughter of Sulla a Roman general and conservative statesmenThe mother of Julia http://www.google.ca/search?hl52Fen.wikipedia.org
Calpurnia , The wife of Caesar in this play Pompeia, Caesar’s second wife The wives of Caesar
Caesar’s daughter Julia: the 4th wife of Pompey- known for her beauty and virtue-once engaged to Brutus!
BETRAYAL • THEMATIC STATEMENT • EXAMPLES
Historical Background to Julius Caesar • Before Act 1 • By Isaac Asimov • Read pp.115-119
Pompey: Historical Overview • -Brilliant general and in 70 B.C. elected to Consul • - Cicero and Caesar supported Pompey and helped him obtain supreme command of Roman armies in the East • - when Pompey returned from the East in 62 B.C. Caesar suggested that Pompey, Crassus and himself form a political alliance known as the First Triumvirate • http://www.mikeanderson.biz/2013_05_01_archive.html
The Triumvirate • Rome- 250 years kings and monarchy -Tarquin the Proud overthrown as an oppressive king/ revolt led by Brutus ( ancestor of Brutus in play) and replace monarchy with Republican form of government • Rome - Republican State-Ruled by the People • Plebeian - elect Tribunal- Patricians • Plebeian:cobbler / carpenter Tribunes:Marullus / Flavius Patricians:Roman Nobility
First Triumvirate- the three-Pomphey, Crassus & Ceasar • Death of Pompey • Julia his wife and Caesar’s daughter caused the bond between Pompey and Caesar to die. • In 55 B.C., Crassus was killed in a campaign and Pompey and Caesar seriously vied for power. Caesar in charge of the army, joined by Mark Antony, marched on Rome and defeated Pompey. This was the first time Pompey was defeated on the battlefield and he fled to Egypt where he was killed by someone who wished to win Caesar’s favor ( supposedly). Caesar went on to defeat Pompey’s sons. • Caesar : Ambitious man • 44 B.C. Made dictator for life / absolute rule • Mark Antony offered him the crown -complication • March 15/ Ides of March he was killed by conspirators threatened by the idea of kingship taking over their Republican form of government-feared dictatorship.
Shakespeare’s time-plays divided into 5 Acts • A modern play characteristically had three acts. The Elizabethan audience, due to lack of seats, moved about freely. They did not want breaks or intervals because they were there to be entertained. • Act 1: Exposition: informs the audience , supplies background information. • Act 2: Complication: characters begin to embroil themselves in various problems and conflicts. • Act 3: Climax : highest point of action • Act 4: Resolution: situation has to be sorted out -resolved • Act 5: Denouement: all complications of the plot are unraveled, the untying of knots. If the play is a tragedy, the word catastrophe (meaning disaster) is used.
Time Compression of play by Shakespeare • Time of Play’s Action: • Day 1: Act 1. sc.1&2 ---- Feb.15, 44 B.C. • Day 2: Act 1. sc.3 ---- Mar.14, 44 B.C. Events of play 3 years; Shakespeare • Day 3: Act 2. sc.3 ---- Mar.15, 44 B.C. Reduces time to 6 days! • Day 4: Act 4. sc.4 ---- Nov.43 B.C. • Day 5: Act.4 sc. 2&3 • Day 6: Act.5 ---- Oct.42 B.C.
Act III, scene I, lines 65-67 How Caesar saw himself “But I am constant as the Northern Star, Of whose true-fixed and resting quality, There is no fellow in the firmament.” • What does this reveal about this man? Julius Caesar
Dramatic Technique • 1. Spectacular - Supernatural • 2. Dramatic Irony • 3. Nemesis: - just punishment {Cassius and Brutus} • 4. Suspense: conspiracy & battle • 5. Fate: the intervention of some force, over which we have no control; a force which determines human destiny . • Battle -> Cassius eyesight led him to send Pindarius to report the success of Titinius and resulted in his death. • Caesar -> interpretation of Calpurnia’s dream • 6. The Oracular : Prophetic utterances which determine human procedure. Ex: Soothsayer & Caesar’s spirit. • 7. Tragic Hero
Terms: reminder terms sheet • Oxymoron • a figure of speech which juxtaposes elements that appear to be contradictory. Oxymora appear to be seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.” .
Metonymy • Metonymies are frequently used in literature and in everyday speech. A metonymy is a word or phrase that is used to stand in for another word. Sometimes a metonymy is chosen because it is a well-known characteristic of the word. • One famous example of metonymy is the saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword," which originally came from Edward Bulwer Lytton's play Richelieu. This sentence has two examples of metonymy: • •The "pen" stands in for "the written word." • •The "sword" stands in for "military aggression and force."
Themes-thematic statements needed • struggle for power and what this struggle does to men who engage in it • the noble ideals of man-Brutus, the tragedy of honesty and idealism in a world of human vanity and self- interest • ambition, greed, pride, corruption etc. • the death of liberty • honor, friendship, loyalty to the state, patriotism • manipulation and persuasion to acquire power - the end justifies the means • appearance versus reality
Supernatural • foreshadows/creates atmosphere/affects characters’ behaviors • soothsayer, storm (owl, omens, blood, fire, eagle, lions), strange behaviors of men and beasts, omens of evil, dreams of Calpurnia, Caesar’s ghost/spirit • Shakespeare’s use of night and storms
Setting, Mood and Atmosphere • Setting, Mood and Atmosphere • Best scene?
IMPORTANT • Funeral Speeches of Brutus and Antony • Argumentative /Persuasion Techniques in speeches • Brutus as a Shakespearean Tragic Hero (flaw, pathos, catharsis) • Conflict: External/Interpersonal and Internal • The struggle of Good and Evil • The Dual Nature of Humankind
Imagery • blood • fire • darkness • light • birds
Irony : dramatic • Verbal, • Situational • Dramatic irony
Make the connections Symbolism - Supernatural - Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing • Soothsayer • Cassius comments about Antony, • Caesar’s comments about Cassius Dream of Calpurnia • Supernatural omens [turmoil reflected]
Tragedy Brainstorm characteristics of tragedy.