Julius Caesar

Content Group

Overview
Julius Caesar, California Shakespeare Theatre, 2003

This play is often favored because it broadly answers neoclassical critics like Sidney who question the decorum of the Elizabethan stage. In dealing with a high topic, Caesar's murder, it does not observe the unities of time and place but does sustain a severe style, avoiding the mixture of comedy and tragedy. Nevertheless, it does not focus narrowly on the life of Caesar, but rather covers the causes and consequences of his murder, making this a political play rather than a conventional Aristotelian tragedy. It is often interpreted in the light of the society of the audience. In 19th-century America Brutus was seen as the heroic defender of the Republic against the threat of monarchy and empire, like founders of the USA. However, Elizabethans might have seen it as the failure of murderous rebels against the establishment. Moderns tend to recognize the speciousness of Brutus arguing for punishment of hypothetical usurpation, noting not only the cynicism of Cassius, but that the assassination does not prevent the creation of an empire (Octavius becomes the Emperor Caesar Augustus) but brings it into being under the worst conditions: civil war becoming international. Despite (or because of) its severe tone and consistency, the play has always been surprisingly popular considering its divergence from the Shakespearean norm of tonal diversity, not to say tragicomedy. Fascination with its notoriously flamboyant assassination scene is probably the key.

Images
Julius Caesar, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1983
Julius Caesar, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1983
Julius Caesar, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, 1999
Julius Caesar, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1972
Julius Caesar, Otho Stuart as Brutus, Shakespeare Festival Stratford-upon-Avon
Julius Caesar, Her Majesty's Theatre, 1898
Julius Caesar, the Booth Brothers, 1864
Julius Caesar, Lawrence Barrett as Cassius, 1870
Julius Caesar, Otho Stuart as Brutus, 20th Century
Julius Caesar, Henry Ainley as Antony, 20th Century
Julius Caesar, Henry Ainley as Cassius, 20th Century
Julius Caesar, 1910
Julius Caesar, Otho Stuart as Brutus, 20th Century
Julius Caesar, Lyric Theatre, 1912
Julius Caesar, Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, 1970
Julius Caesar, California Shakespeare Theatre, 2003

Pages

Slideshows
Play Settings: Classical Rome
Commentary
Essay Title Author
Antony with Octavian: Antony & Cleopatra Hugh Richmond
Bibliography

Alexander, Peter, ed. Julius Caesar. New York: Mayflower Books, 1978; London: BBC, 1979.

Axline, Kimberly L. "A 'New Deal' and a New Direction: Welles' and Houseman's Depression-Era Productions of Macbeth, Doctor Faustus, and Julius Caesar." Theatre Studies 45 (2001): 16-49.

Benson, Richard L. "Jarrett and Palmer's 1875 Production of Julius Caesar: A Reconsideration." Dissertation Abstracts International 29 (1968-69): 2384A (Illinois--Champaign-Urbana).

Brantley, Ben. "Friends, Romans, Countrywomen." New York Times, 10/10/13, pp. C1, 7.

Charney, Maurice, ed. Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. New York and London: Applause, 1996.

Chothia, Jean. "Julius Caesar in Interesting Times." In Remaking Shakespeare: Performance across Media, Genres, and Cultures, edited by Pascale Aebischer, Edward J. Esche and Nigel Wheale, 115-33. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Clayton, Thomas. "'Should Brutus Never Taste of Portia's Death But Once?': Text and Performance in Julius Caesar." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 23, no. 2 (Spring 1983): 237-55.

Ellwood, Colin. "Directing Julius Caesar: The Events on Stage." In Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, edited by Michel Bitot, 237-51. Tours: U.F.R. Anglais et Langues Etrangres Appliques, 1995.

Earnest, Stephen. "The Image of Caesar: Production Approaches to Julius Caesar." On-Stage Studies 15 (1992): 103-8.

Field, Brad S., Jr., ed. Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar": A Production Collection/Comments by Eighteen Actors and Directors in Seven Different Productions. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1980.

France, Richard. "Orson Welles's Modern Dress Production of Julius Caesar." Theatre Quarterly 5 (September-November 1975): 55-66.

Gianakaris, C. J. Julius Caesar. Garland Shakespeare Bibliographies. London: Taylor and Francis, 1990.

Liebler, Naomi Conn. "Julius Caesar Set in Africa." Shakespeare Bulletin 9, no. 4 (Fall 1991): 39-40.

McNamee, Lawrence F. "The First Production of Julius Caesar on the German Stage." Shakespeare Quarterly 10, no. 3 (Summer 1959): 409-421.

Miller, Anthony. "Julius Caesar in the Cold War: The Houseman-Mankiewicz Film." Literature/Film Quarterly 28, no. 2 (2000): 95-100.

Nettles, John. "Brutus in Julius Caesar." In Players of Shakespeare 4: Further Essays in Shakespearean Performance by Players with the Royal Shakespeare Company, edited by Russell Jackson and Robert Smallwood, 177-92. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

O'Connor, John S. "But Was It 'Shakespeare'?: Welles' Macbeth and Julius Caesar." Theatre Journal 32 (1980): 337-48.

Richmond, Hugh Macrae. "Julius Caesar." Review of Julius Caesar, directed by Jonathan Moscone, California Shakespeare Theatre, 2003. Shakespeare Bulletin 21, no. 3 (2003): 106-8.

Richmond, H. M. "Julius Caesar." In Shakespeare's Political Plays, 203-17. New York: Random House, 1967.

Ripley, John. "Julius Caesar" on Stage in England and America, 1599-1973. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980.

Soloski, Alexis. "Once More Into the Breeches." Arts and Leisure: New York Times, 10/6/13, p.4.

Julius Caesar at Talkin' Broadway.

  • 1810 reads

Please offer comments and suggestions on any aspects the site to: Director Hugh Richmond at richmondh77@gmail.com. See samples at the site Blog.

Except where otherwise specified, all written commentary is © 2016, Hugh Macrae Richmond.