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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
I read this because I wanted to know why Brutus was just as cute as Caesar and why we should all just stab Caeser. I wish I could say it was more deep than that, but it really wasn’t lol. Anyway, I like no fear Shakespeare because then I actually understand things
I read this play during my Sophomore year of high school. I loved it! "Et tu, Brute!" I thought of it again because I'm reading "A Long Way Gone", and this play is referenced frequently.
Listened to the LibriVox recording since it was the Ides of March.
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Hum.. what do I think of this play.... I love Antony and I love Brutus. I'm split. I thought it was very well written, one of Shakespeare's best. The end.
http://nhw.livejournal.com/1129384.html[return][return]I probably know this best of all the Shakespeare plays - I'm pretty sure it was the one I did for O-level. It is very good. It is unusual in that the title character is killed off before the halfway point; the play is really about the fall of Brutus, and his relations with his ally Cassius, his enemy Antony, his wife Portia and of course his victim Caesar.[return][return]The dramatic climax is very early, in Act 3, with the murder of Caesar and then Mark Antony's funeral oration. The rest of the play is really mopping up the aftermath. Brutus' sense of honour is insufficient to see him through, as he bickers with Cassius and makes a series of strategic and tactical blunders; meanwhile, Antony swallows his dislike of Octavian in order to take power. [return][return]Like Henry V, it's difficult not to read this in the context of what was happening in 1599; in which case this is the more Essex-sceptic play, of people grasping for power and not quite making it (while the righteous dynastic heir, off in the fringes, takes the power which is his due when the time is right). The character of Mark Antony doesn't fit terribly well into that analysis - which perhaps means that it is not terribly well founded![return][return]Having whined about the Arkangel productions of the last three plays, I was glad to see a return to form here, especially from the three leads - Adrian Lester as Antony, John Bowe as Brutus and Michael Feast as a rather young-sounding Caesar. It's also good to hear, for once in this series, a black actor cast in a part that is usually "white". This is solid stuff, and very enjoyable.
I really like Acts I-III, but after that things get a little pointless to me. This is also one of Shakespeare's more lengthy plays; I found myself thinking it was a bit long and drawn-out, even for an English teacher;)
I'm a real history buff and Roman history is my jam so I thought I'd go ahead and give Julius Caesar a whirl. It's very politically and morally motivated, even a tad gothic when Caesar's ghost shows up (tres Shakespeare). Plus it actually feels like this is what Ancient Rome was like; bloody and violent with every Tom, Dick and Harry forgetting all of their morals simply for political gain. (Pretty much like every Shakespearean tragedy - I'm looking at you two, Macbeth and Hamlet.) Throw in a few psychological doubts of conscience and prophetic dreams, and you've got a Shakespeare play. I can't beat a good Rome romp.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced