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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
challenging
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved this! It was oddly relatable, let me say. It felt like I was reading about a regular day in a high school!
Shout out to Mark Antony and Metellus Cimber, my favorite characters.
I really enjoy Shakespeare's writing, so I went out and bought a bunch of his plays. I'm excited to keep reading his work!
Shout out to Mark Antony and Metellus Cimber, my favorite characters.
I really enjoy Shakespeare's writing, so I went out and bought a bunch of his plays. I'm excited to keep reading his work!
The latest Shakespeare in our Litsy group, with a slight twist in that I was the organizer (hence all the pictures). Thinking back to high school, when I failed to read this assignment but was exposed to it, I was worried that this might not be that great. It might be a bunch of too-formal stodgy speeches that feel ridiculous in our era. Not sure why, but I was quite pleased to see just how alive this play is. This was the play that opened up the Globe Theatre, and so was likely there to make a statement about Shakespeare's company. It apparently had extensive special effects, and a lot of action takes place on the stage that might normally only be told about in the dialog. Caesar is, of course, assassinated on the stage, stabbed by this knife-wielding co-patriot senators, leading to the plays most famous line. (I think some of the lines in the play are more famous than the play - this one, "Et Tu Brute", and "Friends, Romans, Country", and "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves", "Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War")
Anyway, enjoyed it, enjoying seeing how the bard made this happen, creating interest and drama in many layers, working in subtext, managing a major anticlimax after the main character is killed off in Act 3. And how he managed to portray a famous act of liberty and rebellion to a ruler in Elizabethan England. And, he managed all this with, possibly, very high expectations. Good stuff. (Next will Antony and Cleopatra...a nice follow-up)
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18. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (Folger Shakespeare Library Updated Edition)
originally performed: 1599
editors: Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, 1992, 2011
afterword “A Modern Perspective” by Coppélia Kahn
format: 300-page paperback
acquired: February
read: Mar 8 – Apr 11
time reading: 9 hr 58 min, 2 min/page
rating: 5
locations: Rome, Philippi
about the author English playwright April 23, 1564 – April 23, 1616
I thought it was pretty good. Obviously not as good as Romeo and Juliet, which is my favorite of what I've read by him, but it was decent. I liked it.
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
medium-paced
kinda fun!! not enough happened for me to feel comfy giving it over 3 stars but i enjoyed for the most part!! very gay which is always a plus. the battle stuff was a little boring but the first three acts?? very much enjoyable.
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
JC me lad, you really do need to pick your friends better!
Look how quickly old Brutus went from being the banner waving, top cheerleader of the "Go Caesar Go, we love you so!" fan club to just another mook in the "Let's polish him off" gang.
He sort of hits me as that kid in school who tried to do everything to please everyone and just ends up utterly miserable and crying into his pillowus caseious.
Brutus, if you don't make your mind up, there are plenty out there happy to make it up for you.
And Cassius? You have to admit he did stay true to form! One lean and hungry snake that got the rat in the end, he reminds me a bit of Scar in the Lion King. I wish he'd had a musical number...
But murder most foul, wrangling with consciousness, doubts, second guessing, suicide!
It really is a Shakespearean DRAMA BOMB!
Honestly recommend it for all fans of the bard and for folk that just want to watch Brutus come unhinged like a lower kitchen cupboard door.
Look how quickly old Brutus went from being the banner waving, top cheerleader of the "Go Caesar Go, we love you so!" fan club to just another mook in the "Let's polish him off" gang.
He sort of hits me as that kid in school who tried to do everything to please everyone and just ends up utterly miserable and crying into his pillowus caseious.
Brutus, if you don't make your mind up, there are plenty out there happy to make it up for you.
And Cassius? You have to admit he did stay true to form! One lean and hungry snake that got the rat in the end, he reminds me a bit of Scar in the Lion King. I wish he'd had a musical number...
But murder most foul, wrangling with consciousness, doubts, second guessing, suicide!
It really is a Shakespearean DRAMA BOMB!
Honestly recommend it for all fans of the bard and for folk that just want to watch Brutus come unhinged like a lower kitchen cupboard door.