Fearing the public’s reaction to his ascension to the throne, Caesar denies the crown three times when Mark Antony presents it to him. Although Caesar secretly wants to rule Rome as a monarch, he presents himself as uninterested in becoming king. He and his fellow Roman senator conspirators are nervous over what Caesar would do with more power they believe his ambition makes him dangerous to the future of Rome as a free republic. Meanwhile, Roman Senator Caius Cassius plots Caesar’s assassination. As he parades through the city, a soothsayer-a person who tells the future-tells Caesar to “beware the Ides of March,” meaning the 15th of March, a holiday which represented the paying off of debts. This guide was written using The Norton Shakespeare, second edition.Ĭaesar marches into Rome after defeating Pompey’s sons in battle. Its cultural impact is evidenced by its many oft-repeated lines including “Beware the ides of March” “Friends, Romans, countrymen” and “Et tu, Brute?” It is also one of the most famous and most often performed of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Julius Caesar is one of four Shakespearean tragedies set in Ancient Rome, alongside Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Titus Andronicus.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |