Julius Caesar (Folger Shakespeare Library)

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This play by William Shakespeare, is a fascinating study of human drama composed of a group of Romans who wish to assassinate the would be king, Julius Caeser.

Each character is significantly drawn, and each has flaws, and is quite interesting. Brutus is the hero of the play, even though it's named Caesar, Caeser is not the main character, more like the unifying force. Anyway, Brutus is a hertofore honorable soldier brought into the assassination plot by the more sinister Cassius. Caeser has a god complex, and his right hand man is Mark Antony, who is a party boy turned avenging angel. These are the main characters, rounded out by Octavius Caeser who joins the cast near the end.

Clever dialogue, and thought provoking story make a fascinating read. This has made a Shakespeare fan out of me.

Rating:
Summary: Not a Casual Read.
Review: Before I begin, I would like to point out three things. One, I am only a middle-school student (this was an honours class project); two, this is my first review; three, I am reviewing the unabridged, original dialogue version. Thank you.

William Shakespeare is hailed as the greatest writer ever, yet (based on people I've met) very few people have read even a single one of his works. I expected it to be required reading in high school or, at the very least, college. Alas, it is not. This is a disappointment, as I truly enjoyed reading this play, my first encounter with Shakespeare.

Julius Caesar is a tale of honor and betrayal. Pompey, a beloved Roman leader, is defeated in civil war with Caesar. A small brotherhood, let by Marcus Brutus, is still devoted to him after his death, and wants nothing less than the assassination of their new leader. I had expected Caesar's death ("Et tu, Bruté? Then fall Caesar.") to be near the end of the book. However, it turned out to be within the third of five acts. The rest of the book is devoted to the attempts by Brutus's followers and Marc Antony (a dear friend of Caesar, and Brutus's enemy) to get the populace to believe in and follow that person's views, and turn them against the other people's ideals. Marc Antony, an orator with the ability to, in essence, brainwash an entire city with a short speech ("Friends, Romans, Countrymen, / Lend me your ears!"), convinces Rome to turn on Brutus's brotherhood. How their conflict is settled is, by far, the most captivating and entrancing parts of the play.

With the plot discussed, I will move on to what makes this a challenging read: dialogue. Being a work from the Elizabethan Era, I (naively) expected words such as "forsooth" and manye more wordse endinge ine "e". As it turned out, this was not the case. There were archaic words that would elicit cocked heads of confusion from the average person. My saviour from the confusion turned out to be the footnotes in one of the versions I read. The phrase "They fall their crests, and like deceitful jades / Sink in the trial" becomes "They let their necks droop and, like weary nags, fail the test" (Brutus, A4 S2, L26/27). One is forced to scrutinise every single word, in order to receive a complete understanding of the goings-on.

The unabridged version of Julius Caesar is definitely not a piece one reads in one's free time; rather, it should be considered a serious task. Once you put the book down, you transform from reader to philosopher. You will instinctively begin to ponder the issues in whatever part of the book that you have just completed. I, personally, read one act at a time, then closed my eyes (or reread the act) to mull over what had just transpired. I was left with a better understanding of that portion, and a greater respect for the genius of Shakespeare.

Though this and the following sentences have nothing to do with the above review, I am obliged to put them in. My crusade in life is to get as many people as possible to read Congo, by Michael Crichton, and this is as good as any other place to post my propaganda. Please take the time to at least try the book.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good for a history
Review: Usually I think Shakespeare's histories are extremely boring. This was pretty interesting, I enjoyed the speeches (it has some really great monologues) and the contrasting of Octavius with Brutus. Brutus is the best, of course; Octavius screwed him!