Tag Archives: Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar: Act 5 Commentary

The play’s final act begins and ends with Antony and Octavius, the counterparts to Brutus and Cassius respectively. Antony and Brutus are mirrors of each other: close friends of Caesar, one to the extent that he will get revenge for his death, the other to the extent that he was willing to kill his friendContinue reading “Julius Caesar: Act 5 Commentary”

Julius Caesar: Act 4 Commentary

Act 3 revealed the Roman plebeians as an unruly mob. They do not appear again. Instead, Act 4 shows us the men who will lead these plebeians: the imperial triumvirate in scene 1 and the republicans in scene 2. Both sides are divided. Antony and Octavius dismiss Lepidus, the third man in their partnership. He’sContinue reading “Julius Caesar: Act 4 Commentary”

Julius Caesar: Act 3 Commentary

Act 3 contains the most thrilling scenes in the play: Caesar’s assassination and Brutus’s and Antony’s dueling funeral orations about what that assassination means. Five comments on the act: Caesar is never more defiant than just before he dies. He compares the rest of the senators to mutable heavenly bodies and himself to the unchangingContinue reading “Julius Caesar: Act 3 Commentary”

Julius Caesar: Act 2 Commentary

The most important quotation from Act 1 was Cassius’s comment regarding Caesar: “And this man / Is now become a god.” The first act gives us ample evidence that none of these characters are transcendent, Caesar included. The most important quotation from Act 2 is a question from Caesar himself: “What can be avoided /Continue reading “Julius Caesar: Act 2 Commentary”

Julius Caesar: Act 1 Commentary

My covenantal argument about The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is that the real god in this play is the Roman state. The fight between the empire and republic obscures their deeper commitment to the state. This is a commitment only a Christian could see. What evidence would confirm this reading? First, the play should dramatizeContinue reading “Julius Caesar: Act 1 Commentary”

Julius Caesar: The Historical Bind

Shakespeare rarely made up his own stories. He frequently adapted historical events from chronicles or fictional tales from various places. He wrote at least eight plays with HISTORY in the title. Every event portrayed in those two tetralogies were over a hundred years old. Consequently, talking about history in a Shakespeare play requires two overlappingContinue reading “Julius Caesar: The Historical Bind”