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Summary: Profoundly Powerful - All Hail Caesar!!!
Review: "Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once." - CaesarJust one of the many brilliant quotes from this powerful and enduring tragedy, which happens to be amongst my very favorite Shakespeare. How could anyone not enjoy Marc Antony swaying the weak-minded and feeble-minded plebians with his vibrant and rousing speech? Julius Caesar is unquestionably quintessential Shakespeare, a monumental work that perhaps is surpassed only by Hamlet and rivaled by Othello, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, & King Lear. Julius Caesar teaches us about the dangers and pitfalls of ambition, jealousy, power, as well as the sacrifice for the greater good - even if it is another's life. Amongst the bood-thirsty traiotors, only Brutus genuinely believes in the assassination of Caesar for the greater good of the Republic. Julius Caesar galvanizes the brain and awakens the spirit from within with scenes such as when Marc Antony proclaims, "Cry Havoc and let slip the dogs of war."
Countless amounts of quotes and passages throughout the play rank among my favorite Shakespeare. Needless to say, this book should be on the bookshelf of any and all with any semblance of intellect and enough cultivation to appreciate such superb literature. The modern perspective following the text enlightens and should be read by anyone seeking more knowledge about this amazing tragedy and time in history. An irrepressible 5 stars.
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Summary: Shakespeare's vying supermen
Review: "Julius Caesar", as a play, breathes the altogether purer air of antique virtues. The action centres around the ambitions and loyalties, both personal and political, of Shakespeare's supermen, Brutus, Caesar, Cassius and Mark Antony. The ending sees the suicide of Brutus, properly the play's dramatic hero. Sincere but blind, Brutus, is motivated by the greater good of restoring the Republic to such an extent that he is willing to sacrifice even his dearest friend, Caesar, to this design. Swayed by the spiteful malcontent Cassius, he unwisely underestimates Mark Antony, who emerges as a formidable adversary of Brutus's. Haunted by Caesar's spirit, which indicates that his influence will also prove to be posthumous, Brutus realises his error and submits to his fate. The notion of Brutus's "noble suicide", which is repugnant to Christian doctrine, is introduced in the end by Shakespeare, fully evoking Brutus's greatness of soul in avenging the friend he killed, Caesar, by killing himself: "Caesar now be still./I killed not thee with half so good a will." As a worthy character, he devises a grand plan but fails and so submits to his own code. He punishes Caesar for his ambition and then punishes himself for his own. Unlike "Hamlet", "Julius Caesar" is more compact, less complex. The action and psychological characterisation are simpler and the language is more hard-trimmed. The tragic elements of error and chance are present throughout the play and the ending neatly combines an address of the tragic hero's principal flaw and a meting out of justice.
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Summary:
Listen to Shakespeare Out Loud!
Review:
This unabridged, 2 cassette full cast recording of Julius Caesar is a wonderful addition to any William Shakespeare collection and a fantastic way to experience Shakespeare out loud. Howard Sackler (who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for The Great White Hope in 1969) directs this splendid cast - A Shakespeare Recording Society Production - including Ralph Richardson, Alan Bates, Anthony Quayle, and Eileen Atkins. Whether you read along, use this recording for school, or intend to spend your next long drive with William Shakespeare, relax and enjoy this production of one Shakespeares most acclaimed plays.
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Summary: Deplorable (...)
Review: A further proof of the dumbing down of our society are this entire series. It is a shame and a disgrace that ever such as these were needed. For those who can't follow the text I suggest you get the Folger series. The only real problem with understanding Shakespeare would be the ancronistic words. The Folger series, in fact most editions of Shakespeare, provide notes explaining those words. Shakespeare is poetry. Changing the words to "modern" english is as futile as rewriting Robert Frost. It is pathetic.
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Summary: Friends, Romans, Web Surfers...
Review: A while back, a friend of mine and I decided to pick a Shakespeare play every couple months, read it, then get together and discuss it. It worked with pretty good results for ROMEO AND JULIET, but then we ran out of gas somewhere in the middle of our next selection, JULIUS CAESAR. Now that I've finally finished reading the play long after our allotted "couple months," I have to say that the fault (the mutual disinterest that effectively brought our little Shakespeare club to a halt) doesn't lie in the play itself, but rather in my preconceptions of what the play was about. I can't speak for my friend, but since I took the Cliff Notes route in high school when we were supposed to be reading about Caesar and Brutus and the rest of the treacherous Roman senate (and didn't do a very thorough job at that) I always assumed the play's action revolved around the plot to kill Caesar and culminated with his death scene. I wasn't prepared to find Caesar dead halfway through the play, with two-plus acts remaining. I think I just lost interest once Caesar blurted, "Et tu, Brute?" and slouched over lifeless on the cold marble. But thankfully I eventually kept going, and discovered what the play is really about: the manipulation of the public that goes on after Caesar's death. The speeches in JULIUS CAESAR, given by those who would take his place, are full of the damage-control, image-making spin that happens everday on our "all news" channels. It's an interesting play, maybe not Shakespeare's best, but one that has certainly has some modern relevance and is worth examining. Now if my friend and I can just get our club back on its feet. Maybe a comedy next time...
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Summary: Boring! Boring! Boring!
Review: Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring boring.
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Summary: Ceasar was powerful and then lost his power.
Review: Ceasar,waas a very powerful man in his day and time. Mark Antony was a good guy with a bad reputation. Ceasar said, "Forget not in your speed, Antonius, To Touch Calpurina; for our elders say The barren, touched in this holy chase, Shake off their sterile curse."
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Summary: Teacher Knows Best
Review: Diana Sweeney is a teacher. She not only teaches Shakespeare, she teaches Shakespeare to students who have limited English skills. She also produces the works of Shakespeare with her students(including, can you believe it, a production of Titus?). I urge my students to use Cliff Notes because they too are limited in English. This new version of Julius Caesar is so readable. Sweeney writes with the student in mind at all times and this fact shows. What a valuable tool this work is!!
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Summary: English class strikes again
Review: For all you who take Shakespeare, or even if you don't, this is a pretty entertaining play, and not so difficult to understand. Plus, its short. I probably wouldn't have read this if it hadn't been assigned, but it is a cool play. If you have to read it for school, don't worry, you may enjoy it and even if you dont understand Shakespearean writing, there's tons of notes to help.
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Summary: Interesting history but poor resolution
Review: Having read much historically about the the Roman emperors, I was very excited to be reading JULIUS CAESAR. It was interesting at first to compare the characters of the play to the same names we read about in history books. I felt that this is one of Shakespeare's most difficult books to interpret in today's language. Even though this edition does have extensive foot (or in this book, side) notes, the reading process was confusing having to look back in forth. If you are just reading this play to read some Shakespeare, try another less difficult Shakespeare work, like A COMEDY OF ERRORS. Thsi is much easier to understand, and for beginners, you will probably enjoy it more. But if you are a beginner looking for a tragedy, try ROMEO and JULIET. While the language can be confusing at time, this classic story should really be read by all.
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