Julius Caesar

216 Pages·2010·2.27 MB·English

CLIFFSCOMPLETE
Shakespeare’s
Julius Caesar
Edited by Sidney Lamb
Associate Professor of English
Sir George Williams University, Montreal
Complete Text + Commentary + Glossary
Commentary by Diana Sweeney
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CLIFFSCOMPLETE
Shakespeare’s
Julius Caesar
About the Author Publisher’s Acknowledgments
Diana Sweeney has an M.A. from The Shakespeare Institute in Stratford- Editorial
upon-Avon. She has both taught and directed Shakespeare for the past fif- Project Editor: Elizabeth Netedu Kuball
teen years at North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, California. Acquisitions Editor: Gregory W. Tubach
Editorial Director: Kristin A. Cocks
Special Help: Michelle Hacker
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CliffsComplete Julius Caesar
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CLIFFSCOMPLETE
Shakespeare’s
Julius Caesar
CONTENTS AT A GLANCE
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Act I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Act II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Act III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Act IV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Act V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
CliffsComplete Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
CliffsComplete Resource Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
CliffsComplete Reading Group
Discussion Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

CLIFFSCOMPLETE
Shakespeare’s
Julius Caesar
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Julius Caesar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction to William Shakespeare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction to Early Modern England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Introduction to Julius Caesar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Character Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Act I Scene 1 Rome, a street. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Scene2 Rome, a public place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Scene3 Rome, a street. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
ActII Scene 1 Brutus’ orchard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Scene2 Caesar’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Scene3 A street. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Scene4 Before Brutus’ house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
ActIII Scene 1 Rome, before the Capitol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Scene2 The Forum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Scene3 Rome, a street. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
ActIV Scene 1 Rome, a room in Antony’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Scene2 Before Brutus’ tent near Sardis. . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Scene3 Within Brutus’ tent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
ActV Scene 1 The Plain of Philippi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Scene2 The battlefield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Scene3 The battlefield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Scene4 The battlefield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Scene5 The battlefield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
viii CliffsComplete Julius Caesar
CliffsComplete Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
CliffsComplete Resource Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
CliffsComplete Reading Group Discussion Guide. . . 176
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Shakespeare’s
JULIUS CAESAR
INTRODUCTION TO WILLIAM Anti-Stratfordians — modern scholars who
SHAKESPEARE question the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays —
have used this lack of information to argue that
William Shakespeare, or the “Bard” as people fondly
William Shakespeare either never existed or, if he did
call him, permeates almost all aspects of our society.
exist, did not write any of the plays we attribute to
He can be found in our classrooms, on our televisions,
him. They believe that another historical figure, such
in our theatres, and in our cinemas. Speaking to us
as Francis Bacon or Queen Elizabeth I, used the
through his plays, Shakespeare comments on his life
name as a cover. Whether a man named William
and culture, as well as our own. Actors still regularly
Shakespeare ever actually existed is ultimately sec-
perform his plays on the modern stage and screen. The
ondary to the recognition that the group of plays
1990s, for example, saw the release of cinematic ver-
bound together by that name does exist and contin-
sions of Romeo and Juliet,Hamlet, Othello, A Mid-
ues to educate, enlighten, and entertain us.
summer Night’s Dream, and many more of his works.
In addition to the popularity of Shakespeare’s
plays as he wrote them, other writers have modern-
ized his works to attract new audiences. For example,
West Side Storyplaces Romeo and Julietin New York
City, and A Thousand Acres sets King Lear in Iowa
corn country. Beyond adaptations and productions,
his life and works have captured our cultural imagi-
nation. The twentieth century witnessed the pro-
duction of a play about two minor characters from
Shakespeare’s Hamletin Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are Dead and a fictional movie about Shakespeare’s
early life and poetic inspiration in Shakespeare in Love.
Despite his monumental presence in our culture,
Shakespeare remains enigmatic. He does not tell us
which plays he wrote alone, on which plays he col-
laborated with other playwrights, or which versions
of his plays to read and perform. Furthermore, with
only a handful of documents available about his life,
he does not tell us much about Shakespeare the per-
son, forcing critics and scholars to look to historical
An engraved portrait of Shakespeare by an unknown artist, ca. 1607.
references to uncover the true-life great dramatist. Culver Pictures, Inc./SuperStock