Macbeth (Arkangel Complete Shakespeare)

Book Description

Three witches predict not only that Macbeth will become king of Scotland, but also that his fellow general, Banquo, will father a succession of Scottish kings — though Banquo himself will never be crowned. When Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to slay King Duncan and seize the throne of Scotland, Macbeth achieves his ambition, but one murder leads to more. Guilt, retribution, and self-destiny are explored in one of Shakespeare's crowning achievements. Performed by Hugh Ross, Harriet Walter, and the Arkangel cast.

Customer Reviews:

Great Macbeth!.......2007-05-15

This CD is excellent--the witches are super creepy sounding, and the unabridged text is well performed. Definitely helpful for teaching Macbeth.

Great for Classroom Use.......2007-01-13

This series is wonderful if you are a teacher. It really helps students to hear how Shakespeare's words are supposed to flow when spoken by classically trained actors. Students snicker a bit at first when they hear the Scottish accents, but they get used to them quickly and the quality of the recording is excellent. The cheesy music in between acts is irritating, but you learn to ignore it. A fun bit of trivia is that the porter scene is acted by David Tennant who most people know as the current Dr. Who! It's also a treat to be able to listen to Macbeth in my car. Shakespeare makes rush-hour almost tolerable.

Best Yet!.......2005-10-25

I've been playing this in a regular senior English class. Many of the students are finally understanding the play. The actors in this cd do a wonderful job interpreting their lines. The Scottish accents are well done. Sound effects make it vivid. It's the best production I've found to date.

Average customer rating:

Indispensble for teachers and students.

Macbeth (Cliffs Notes)
Alex Went
Manufacturer: Cliffs Notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0764586025

Book Description

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

Packed with action and vivid portrayal of human relationships, Shakespeare's Macbeth traces the bloody climb to power and tragic ruin of a fate-plagued king. Count on CliffNotes on Macbeth to carry you through the rise and fall of a cast of characters that includes a cruel and ambitious warrior, his wicked wife, and a trio of witches who have wormed their way into audiences' hearts since William Shakespeare first presented their prophecies about 300 years ago.

Show your classmates – and your grade-granting teacher – that you're in the know with English literature. You can't miss with scene summaries, plot explorations, language simplification, and insights into the author's life and times. Other features that help you study include

A brief synopsis of the play
A character map to help you see relationships among the characters
Critical essays on major themes and stage productions
An interactive quiz to test your knowledge
Essay topics and practice projects

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure – you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Customer Reviews:

Indispensble for teachers and students........2000-06-09

At last. Shakespeare study notes that are really authoritative, accurate and enthusiastic. This new edition of Cliff's notes on Macbeth is outstanding. There are all the usual things that would be expected in notes of this type, but added to this is a real sensitivity in the appreciation of the language, and also an awareness of Macbeth as a play to be performed. it is perhaps this sensitivity that sets these notes apart. The author communicates a passion for the play by opening it up to everyone in the excellent scene-by-scene analysis. shakespare has never seemed so accessible, relevant and exciting. The suggested tasks are particulalrly inventive- a useful tool for teachers and students.

Average customer rating:

Notes for Romeo and Juliet
DONT BUY THIS BOOK
Excellent for Students

Romeo and Juliet (Cliffs Notes)
Annaliese F. Connolly
Manufacturer: Cliffs Notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0764585924

Book Description

In CliffsNotes on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, you explore Shakespeare's greatest tragedy — the heartbreaking love story of Romeo and Juliet amid the conflict between their two feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets.

This study guide carefully walks you through every twist and turn of Shakespeare's classic by providing chapter summaries and critical analyses of each act and scene of the play. You'll also explore the life and background of the "Bard" himself — William Shakespeare. Other features that help you study include

Character analyses of major players
A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
Critical essays
The history of the play's development, as well as its first performance
A review section that tests your knowledge
A Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sites

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Customer Reviews:

Notes for Romeo and Juliet.......2007-04-23

I would not recommend this for my students. I would purchase a modern day English translation of "Romeo and Juliet" that has the original words on the left side and modern day English on the right side instead of purchasing this. You really can't enjoy Shakespeare this way. Don't cheat yourself from a good education and read only this. Take the time to read the original play along with a good translation. You will be glad that you did.

DONT BUY THIS BOOK.......2004-03-11

This book is not as great as it is made out to be. It is neither clear, nor good, and is no help in studying!!!

Excellent for Students.......2000-10-11

It is very easy to understand when compared to the original text on Romeo & Juliet. Great to use for studying for exams and help with essays. What else can i say it's fantastic!

The Tragedy of King Richard III (Oxford World's Classics)

Average customer rating:

Shakespeare's Classic Villain
This happens to be my favourite historical play.
A real bad guy
Devilishly Delightful
Good, but not his best.

The Tragedy of King Richard III (Oxford World's Classics)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192839934

Book Description

Richard III is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays on the stage and has been adapted successfully for film. This new and innovative edition recognizes the play's pre-eminence as a performance work: a perspective that informs every aspect of the editing. Challenging traditional practice, the text is based on the 1597 Quarto which, it is argued, brings us closest to the play as it would have been staged in Shakespeare's theatre. The introduction, which is illustrated, explores the long performance history from Shakespeare's time to the present. Its critical engagement with the play responds to recent historicist and gender-based approaches. The commentary gives detailed explication of matters of language, staging, text, and historical and cultural contexts, providing coverage that is both carefully balanced and alert to nuance of meaning. Documentation of the extensive textual variants is organized for maximum clarity: the readings of the Folio and the Quarto are presented in separate banks, and more specialist information is given at the back of the book. Appendices also include selected passages from the main source and a special index of actors and other theatrical personnel.

Customer Reviews:

Shakespeare's Classic Villain.......2007-03-19

For better or worse, Richard III's enduring image of the cunning, hunchbacked usurper, more monster than man, is immortalized in Will's tragic history of his bloody rise and fall. This version contains good notes, a superb intro, and even illustrations to liven the text!

This happens to be my favourite historical play........2005-01-22

King Richard III is my favourite historical play, but it ranks up there with my all-time favourites of Shakespeare. I read this play for the first time quite a while after I had read some of his better-known comedies and tragedies, but I absolutely love it. I have seen it performed outside under the stars and the theatre was an outdoor park filled with ruins. The play was held in different places throughout the park. It was absolutely breathtaking and something that I will never forget. Richard III is one of the most fascinating villains of history and in literature. Shakespeare's genius portrays Richard III in a way that shows the playgoers his physical deformity, but we also see that he possesses great charm and wit. He is the ultimate manipulator and is totally ruthless in the pursuit of his goals. Shakespeare's has written this play through the mind and actions of his hero, Richard III, so the audience is aware at all times what he is doing and trying to achieve. We see all his deviousness and manipulation. A truly wonderful play about a very memorable man.

A real bad guy.......2004-03-02

This historical drama, not exactly accurate for all I know (but who cares, it's Billy) depicts one of the best bad guys in all literature, to the point of caricature (and this rhymes!). Richard III is the impersonation of ugliness and pure evil: he is a man both morally and physically malformed, who gives everything for the sake of a vain and insignificant moment of power. He is pure rancour enveloped in hypocrisy and treason. He kills his relatives, including his two child nephews, then he marries his rival's widow, and finally he gets what he deserves screaming: "A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

"Richard III" is a wonderful satire; as always with WS, the dialogues are perfect and the action supreme. It is not intended to be real history, but a satire of ambition run amok, of the lonely obsession for power and of the depths of evil which humans can reach. It has humorous moments and it was, in its times, good politics, since Richard belonged to the predecessors in power of Queen Elizabeth's family . Another masterpiece by the Bard.

Devilishly Delightful.......2004-02-10

Having never read Richard III, I knew that I would be in for a treat, but nothing quite THIS good. Originally labeled as The Tragedy of Richard III by Shakespeare, one can see, upon reading this enthralling play, why this history/tragedy firmly entrenched itself as one of The Bard's most prolifically performed plays with almost unrivaled longevity due to its immense popularity among the genteel and yeomen alike.

Although the much-maligned humpback King Richard was by no means a saint by any stretch, he was not, however, as wretchedly insidious as Shakespeare might have us believe. In an effort to pander to Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare cast perhaps an overly morose shadow over the House of York. The play itself, interestingly enough, focuses not so much on the bloody ending of The War of Roses and the ascension to the throne of Henry VII(the grandfather of Elizabeth) as it does on the uncannily cunning connivances of Richard III. Richard's dastardly deeds, the sordid means to his end of usurping the crown, know no limits as he murders any and all who dare get in his way - and even those that don't(I suppose they're guilty by association).

Inextricably, although I by no means empathize with him even remotely, Richard somehow, despite his inordinately decadent reprobate ploys, coupled with his twisted soliloquies pleading to the audience his hopeless case, make him one entirely enigmatic, yet entirely captivating, antagonist that makes this play enticingly enjoyable -- in a most devilish kind of way.

"O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!"

Good, but not his best........2003-03-22

Let's get one thing clear from the start: when I rate Shakespeare, I rate it against other Shakespeare; otherwise, the consistently high ratings would not be very informative. If I was rating this against the general run of literature available, it would unquestionably rate 5 stars.

So what brings it down to 4, as compared to other Shakespeare? Primarily a few places where it demands a bit too much suspension of disbelief; the language is some of Shakespeare's best, and is comparatively easy for a modern reader (I found most of the footnotes to be sufficiently unnecessary to be actually more distraction than help). But for one thing, if Richard is withered, hunchbacked, and deformed, how is it that he has been able to kill so many of his victims in battle? For another thing, is it REALLY plausible that Princess Anne would be persuaded as she was by someone with nothing more going for him than Richard? To paraphrase the scene,

Anne: You killed my husband and his father! I hate you I hate you I hate you!

Richard: But I only did it 'cause I'm hot for you, babe! Wanna marry me?

Anne: Welll...maybe. Let me think about it.

(And, in fact, she marries him. Just like that.)

Book Description

In the CliffsComplete guides, the novel's complete text and a glossary appear side-by-side with coordinating numbered lines to help you understand unusual words and phrasing. You'll also find all the commentary and resources of a standard CliffsNotes for Literature.

CliffsComplete Othello makes you familiar with one of the most staged of all of Shakespeare's plays. Othello is a tale of love and betrayal, secrets, passion, and intrigue. Psychology and wit pit strength and virtue against jealousy and evil agendas. The results leave no winners, only tragedy in the lives of the jealous Moor, Othello, and his wife, Desdemona.

Enhance your reading of Othello and save valuable studying time — all at once — with CliffsComplete Othello. Additional features include:

A summary and insightful commentary for each scene
Bibliography and historical background on the playwright, William Shakespeare
A look at the historical context and structure of the play
Discussions on the play's symbols and themes
A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
Review questions, a quiz, discussion topics (essay questions), activity ideas
A Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sites

Streamline your literature study with all-in-one help from CliffsComplete guides!

Customer Reviews:

Cliffscomplete Macbeth is great for school reports.......2002-10-14

I read the play with this book and was able to understand it because of the commentaries. It was very helpful for writing a great thesis paper. It identifies reoccuring themes throughout the book to assist in writing reports of thesis papers. I would recommend this to anybody who is doing a report or just want to read the play and understand it all.

This is good but the DVD is better.......2002-04-05

There is an even better DVD for this play that has all the same sort of stuff that this has and a performance. Check it out. It's easy to understand the play because they explain it in modern english and there's this thing that lets you look up words while you're watching the DVD. You can get it here at Amazon. It's the one directed by J. Bretton Truett and EJ Kerwin. I bought it and these Cliff's Notes and the DVD had way better stuff and it was easier to use when I was studying for a test for this play.

its great.......2000-07-22

Cool! I wanted to be first!

Applause First Folio of Shakespeare in Modern Type: Comedies, Histories and Tragedies

Average customer rating:

The Gospel Truth ...
Pointless and Misleading
the only way to read Shakespeare
A Crazy Scheme?
THE BEST FOR ACTORS, DIRECTORS, ETC.

Applause First Folio of Shakespeare in Modern Type: Comedies, Histories and Tragedies
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Applause Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1557833338

Book Description

This landmark publication is printed in clear, legible type. Each play has its own comprehensive introduction as well as extensive, expert annotations. Highlighted areas show where lines have been altered over time and also shows where verse has been changed to prose in the past (but not here!) The original compositions are marked and folio clues are highlighted.

Customer Reviews:

The Gospel Truth ..........2006-10-29

Priceless.

(Please read my book, 'Shakespeare for the Rest of Us' for clarification ...

Pointless and Misleading.......2004-12-23

If you want to consult the First Folio, get a facsimile. Freeman's "editions" are not only pointless, they are profoundly misleading: only someone who was completely ignorant about Jacobean book-production could possibly suppose that the vagaries of F1 represent a meticulous adherence to Shakespeare's intentions. In the matter of lineation, for example, Charlton Hinman long ago showed that compositors would divide their copy into lines to suit their own convenience -- i.e. to take up more or less space as the process of "casting off" required.

the only way to read Shakespeare.......2002-04-09

If you are interested in a simple read of the Bard, any edition will do. But if you want to know what Shakespeare wanted from his actors - how he imagined (I imagine) his lines being spoken - this is the edition for you. The line endings in this edition are different from those in most editions and clearly change the meaning of the text. Captializations and punctuations are clear guides to speech. While this edition is not for everyone, anyone interested in acting Shakespeare, whether on stage or in the privacy of home, must have this edition.

A Crazy Scheme?.......2001-12-27

A Crazy Scheme?

The Applause First Folio of Shakespeare should not be confused with a facsimile of the 1623 folio published by Applause in the 1990's. In the earlier facsmile, Applause used the images from
the Norton Facsimile without permission. W. W. Norton sued, and Applause withdrew the facsimile. In 2001 Applause published another edition of the first folio, this one being in modern
type. It's not specifically a facsimile edition, but it does present the Shakespeare's plays in the order they were presented in the 1623 folio. Though this edition is in modern type the spelling and punctuation of the first folio have been for the most part retained.

In his acknowlegements Freeman thanks his publisher for persisting with such a crazy scheme. Crazy? Perhaps. Audacious? Certainly. You see, Freeman is an actor, not a textual scholar and he rejects the work of textual scholars. For example, he proposes that the punctuation marks of the folio are rhetorical signals. They are the cues for the actors. This controversial proposition has been roundly criticized by many scholars, but Freeman is undaunted. I applaud his audacity. The great value of this edition is that it retains so much of the spelling and punctuation of the 1623 folio. Finally we have an original spelling edition of most of Shakespeare's plays in print.

It is important to note that this is not a complete edition of Shakespeare's writings. The narrative poems, the sonnets, the occasional poems, "Pericles," and "Two Noble Kinsmen" are not included.

It should be stated that this edition does not in every instance reproduce the spelling of the 1623 folio. Freeman's treatment of abbrivations is unsatisfactory. For example it was common practice in the 17th century to represent certain words by a special kind of abbrivation. On page lviii Freeman explains that "y" with an umlaut was usually short hand for "you," "thee," "thou," "thy," "thine," or "yours." The 1623 folio usually spells these abbrivations differently from the way Freeman describes it. The word "thou" could be represented by the letter "y" with the superscript "u" directly on top of it. The word "that" could be written with the letter "y" with the superscript "t" directly over it. The word "the" could be written with the letter "y" with the superscript "e" directly over it and so on. In Freeman's edition all the superscript letters are replaced by umlauts, so there is no way of telling what the superscript letter was, and hence no way of knowing what the word is. So when you come across the line "Thou do'st then wrong me, as (y/with umlaut) slaughterer doth" (page 441, col. 2, line 1) are you supposed to read:

"Thou do'st then wrong me, as thou slaughterer doth," or
"Thou do'st then wrong me, as thee slaughterer doth," or
"Thou do'st then wrong me, as that slaughterer doth"?

You'll have to go to a facsimile edition to find out that that the third line is the correct reading. It is also interesting to note that the word "that" doesn't appear in Freeman's list of what "y with umlaut" could stand for.

The edition should be used with caution.

THE BEST FOR ACTORS, DIRECTORS, ETC........2001-12-17

This is the best edition of Shakespeare's works FOR THE ACTOR OR PERFORMANCE. Period.

Shakespeare wrote before spelling and punctuation were standardized. If he wrote "Meee" he wrote it so the actor would say it that way - think musical scores. These words are meant to be spoken out loud, and Neil Freeman brings you the Folio text so you can see Shakespeare instructions on how to speak them. A large percentage of what you see in a normal edition of Shakespeare is actually a product of an editorial decision made by some editor since Shakespeare wrote. In other words: people who think their poetic sensability is better than Shakespeare's. Neil Freeman, a founding member of the acclaimed Shakespeare & Company theater in Massachusetts creates what is in essence a musical score for the actor: he uses the original Shakespeare Folio texts, spelling, punctuation, etc., but in modern typeface (so you don't have trouble reading the f's and s's and things). His notes (which are not very helpful if you're writing at thesis, but are invaluable if you're performing, directing, etc.) are also very powerful.

FOR SHAKESPEARE IN PERFORMANCE, YOU CANNOT BEAT THIS TEXT.

Book Description

Myriad-minded Shakespeare introduces readers to a variety of approaches to Shakespeare; the political and sexist implications of the plays, their sources, staging issues, textual disputes and the dramatist's character and biography are all analyzed here, bringing out the interconnectedness of critical questions.

Disowning Knowledge: In Seven Plays of Shakespeare

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Disowning Knowledge

Disowning Knowledge: In Seven Plays of Shakespeare
Stanley Cavell
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521529204

Book Description

Reissued with a new preface and a new essay on Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, Coriolanius, Hamlet and The Winter's Tale, this famous collection of essays on Shakespeare's tragedies considers the plays as responses to the crisis of knowledge and the emergence of modern skepticism.

Customer Reviews:

Disowning Knowledge.......2000-04-15

This is a wonderful way to become acquainted with the thought of Stanley Cavell--one of the most important living philosophers in America. The essays on Shakespeare are stunning, and one can feel the force of a restless, moral, rigorous mind at work in every turn of the arguments. Some of these essays are collected from earlier publications, but the reprinting of all his essays on Shakespeare, plus some new work, make it very worth owning!

Shakespeare Set Free: Teaching Hamlet and Henry IV, Part 1 (Teaching Hamlet & Henry IV, Vol. 2)

Average customer rating:

Outstanding teaching resource
A very good teaching resource.

Shakespeare Set Free: Teaching Hamlet and Henry IV, Part 1 (Teaching Hamlet & Henry IV, Vol. 2)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0671760483

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding teaching resource.......2000-05-16

I found this book to be useful in getting across the ideas in Hamlet and Henry IV. The activities are directly related to understanding the text. Instructions are written out to the letter, and a number of outside resources are suggested. This has been one of the most useful aid I have used in teaching either play. The ideas are clear and inventive. My students responded positively to the activities that I used from this book and came away with a clear understanding of plot, characterization, and language.

The only negative comment I have is O'Brien can get a little flighty once and awhile. In truth, however, she gets to and stays with the point better in this book than in any of her others. I find myself going back to this text to supplement her others. She stretches a bit too far into the artistic than my taste allows, and I don't feel that she goes into enough detail in some parts of Hamlet, but these are things that are easily supplemented. Nevertheless, this book sets up the premise for teaching in a very effective way.

Once again, this is learning through movement and acting. No wallflowers or shrinking violets allowed.

A very good teaching resource........1999-02-17

I found in teaching Shakespeare that this book was very valuable. It allows the teacher to combine both drama and literature into one lesson. Students have a remarkable response to its techniques. They seem more interested and have longer retention of the material. The variety of exercises that are written out for you appeal to a number different kinds of learners; especially my resource students. I find the book a valuable aid either as supplemental material, or as a lesson planner in-and-of itself.

Julius Caesar (Oxford School Shakespeare Series)

Average customer rating:

Simply the Best
The Tragedy of the Tragically Unaesthetically Pleasing Review
Great edition of a great play
Excellent Shakespeare Classic
It's Not All Greek.

Julius Caesar (Oxford School Shakespeare Series)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0198320272

Book Description

The Oxford School Shakespeare is a well-established series which helps students understand and enjoy Shakespeare's plays. As well as the complete and unabridged text, each play in this series has an extensive range of students' notes. These include detailed and clear explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters. Also included is a wide range of questions and activities for work in class, together with the historical background to Shakespeare's England, a brief biography of Shakespeare, and a complete list of his plays. For this new edition, the text of the play, the notes, and the introductory matter have all been revised so as to make them clearer and more accessible. In addition, the entire text of the book has been redesigned and reset to make it easier to read. The illustrations have been completely redrawn, photographs of recent stage production have been included and there is a new, attractive cover design. Roma Gill, the series editor, has taught Shakespeare at all levels. She has acted in and directed Shakespeare's plays, and has lectured on Shakespeare all over the world.

Customer Reviews:

Simply the Best.......2007-08-03

The Arden Shakespeare series is the best, for either the beginning of scholarly research, the average needs of the English student, or as a resource for the informed theater professional. My only note of caution is for a casual reader who may find the extensive footnoting more of an interruption than a help. Love this book, love them all.

The Tragedy of the Tragically Unaesthetically Pleasing Review.......2006-05-25

"The Tragedy of Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare proves to be an amazing read if one thoroughly enjoys the challenge of deciphering the selective form of writing and occasionally complicated dialect. This classic play is based on the true, factual account of the assassination of Julius Caesar as it truly took place in 44 B.C. Of course, Shakespeare has completely made the story his own through the use of comic relief, characterization, and wonderful original composition. Julius Caesar, the ambitious and prideful dictator of Rome, has returned home from a victorious battle against his fellow Triumvirate, Pompey. As he celebrates and relishes his absolute power, little does he suspect the growing opposition of conspirators, some of whom he would never expect. This read is certainly worthwhile if one has a good taste for tragedy and does not mind a challenge.

Great edition of a great play.......2006-03-08

I really enjoyed reading this edition of the play. Each scene is proceded by a summary of the secene and followed by commentary on the scene, and there are notes alongside the text explaining unusual words/phrases. As an actor, I have been reading Shakespeare for quite awhile, and I still found this book very helpful. If you are new to reading Shakespeare, I particularly recommend this because you will find it very helpful.

Excellent Shakespeare Classic.......2006-02-12

Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar in about 1599. The play was the first of three Roman plays. Shakespeare based the source material for the play on a translation of a work by the Greek philosopher and biographer Plutarch, called "The lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans". Shakespeare, like Plutarch, praises and criticises the actions of the main characters in the assassination of Julius Caesar. However, the historical events in the play are fairly accurate, although the playwright sometimes changed the sequence and timing of events and added his limitless imagination to produce a timeless play that has been enacted and enjoyed by millions of people worldwide over the centuries.

The play is set in a period of political instability in Rome. The people of Rome celebrate Caesar victory over Pompey, their former leader. However, there are officials that are concerned about Caesar's growing power. The Romans were then aware that absolute power is open to abuse (there are people today who still do not know this simple fact). Among those concerned about the growing power of Caesar are Cassius and Brutus, who are both followers of Caesar.

Cassius persuades Brutus that something needs to be done to thwart Caesar's growing ambitions. Brutus has a problem with his conscience but ultimately decides that it is in the best interests of Rome that Caesar is eliminated.

Caesar receives warnings about the impending danger. During a festival that Caesar attends, he is warned "Beware the Ides of March". Caesar, however, dismisses the Soothsayer's warnings. When the Ides of March arrive and while Caesar is due to go to be crowned, warnings in the form of storms, bad omens and his wife's horrible dreams initially persuade Caesar to stay at home. However, Caesar decides to go after being advised that if he did not show up, Senators might change their minds about crowning him emperor. On entering the capitol, the conspirators stab Caesar to death.

Mark Anthony, a very close ally of Caesar, initially pretends to go along with the conspirators but he is determined to avenge his death. When Brutus addresses the confused crowd to drum up support for the assassination, Mark Anthony cleverly and expertly manages to turn the crowd against the conspirators and incites them to riot. With popular support in Rome, the triumvirs Anthony, Octavious and Lepidus plan to fight Brutus and Cassius. Brutus's conscience still troubles him and he sees Caesars ghost. Fighting takes place and Cassius and Brutus are defeated and both commit suicide to save their honour. The triumvirs then seize power after avenging Caesar.

It's Not All Greek........2005-12-25

When I first read JULIUS CAESAR as a sophomore in high school, I found it to be a decent play, but other than some really cool lines, didn't think it was that great. After having re-read the play and now having taught it to my own classes of sophomore English students, I have a much greater appreciation for the play. Granted, JULIUS CAESAR is not one of Shakespeare's greatest plays nor is it even one of his best histories. And despite much of it being written in the classic Shakespearean iambic pentameter, it really isn't all that poetic. There are moments when the language is extremely vivid and moving, e.g. Mark Antony's speech to the citizens of Rome or some of Brutus' personal soliloquies. However, compared to HAMLET or KING LEAR or HENRY V, the play seems juvenile by comparison. However, it is that very unpolished, amatuerism that makes the play so relevant and easy to connect with younger audiences.

Though Julius Caesar is the title character, the play isn't really about Caesar. Instead, the play is about Caesar's closest friend, Marcus Brutus. Through Brutus, the play examines exactly what it means to be noble, what is honor, and the nature of friendship. In the course of the play, Brutus is led to believe and becomes convinced that in doing a most dishonorable act, he is doing the most honorable thing he possibly can to save Rome and all the ideals he has staked his life upon. Yet, his decision brings him to kill his best friend and ultimately brings about the end of the republic which he had tried to save.

Contrary to what I had been led to believe before I began teaching this play, students really enjoy JULIUS CAESAR. It is full of murder and betrayal. They enjoy the violence and the theme of betrayal is something they are all able to relate to. I have also found that student seem to sympathize much more with Caesar than with Brutus. They can't understand why Brutus would kill his best friend. The concept of caring more about a group of people (family, country, etc.) than one single person seems beyond them. I've tried to use Stephen King's THE DEAD ZONE to help them understand this better (in that story the question is "If you were able to stop Hitler before he became Hitler, even if he was your closest friend, would you?").

Overall, though JULIUS CAESAR is not one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, it is a great play to introduce people both to the brilliance of Shakespeare and to one of history's most pivotal moments; the time when Rome became an Empire.

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