THE KILLING OF JULIUS CAESAR- William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), one of the world's greatest poets and dramatists, was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He became a leading member of an acting company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which later became the King's Men. He wrote plays for his group and also played small roles in those performed by it. The range of his plays is vast. Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Julius Caesar, Henry V. Measure for Measure, The Tempest are some of his most well-known plays. His poetical works include the narrative poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, and the much-admired sequence of 154 sonnets (1609). Julius Caesar, a history play by William Shakespeare, was probably written and performed in 1599.
The main source use by Shakespeare was Sir Thomas North's translation of Lived by the Roman author Plutarch. The piece is an extract from a simplified prose version of the play. The incident describe in the extract take place in 42 B.C. Here Brutus, the 'noblest of the Romans' is won over to the side of the conspirators against Julius Caesar. Brutus was a trusted friend of Julius Caesar, but he came to share the fears of the other conspirators, Cassius and Casca, that after his victory in Spain, Caesar had ambitions of being crowned king of Rome. Rome was a republic and Brutus was an ardent republican. He join the conspirators only to save Rome from the tyrannical ambitions of Caesar. Caesar, who had been warned by different people about the impending danger, decided none-the-less to go to the Senate House on the 'Ides of March'. There the conspirators, including Brutus, gathered round him under the pretext of presenting petitions and then stabbed him to death. It is mainly through a series of dialogues and conversations, as in a drama, that the story is narrate to us. Some of the conversations come from the original play.
Brutus' thoughts
Brutus was the noblest of all the Romans and he could not bear the thought of tyranny and the slavery that comes with tyranny. The thought of Caesar's ambition had long troubled him. Now he realized that the time for action had come. He must act to save Rome. He must kill Caesar. He was Caesar's friend. He loved Cacsar but he loved Rome more. He was ready to sacrifice his dearest friend for Rome. Such were Brutus' thoughts. He did not speak them aloud to Cassius, but when Cassius asked him what was to be done, he answered him, "I must think the matter over." For some time, Brutus and Cassius talk together. Now and then, they catch the sounds of shouts and wild applause from the Field of Mars. Were the people offering to Caesar the crown of king? Was he accepting it? At last they saw the triumphal procession leaving the Field of Mars. A friend of Cassius' named Casca, left the procession to join Brutus and Cassius. He was bringing them the news of what had happened at the games.
Cassius aims at enlisting Brutus's help
Casca reporte that Caesar had been offere the crown of king by Mark Antony. Three times had Mark Antony offered it and three times had Caesar refused it. "But," said Casca. "Caesar refused it only because he was not certain that the crowd really wishe it. He will accept it when it's offered to him again." These words made Brutus more anxious than ever. He left Cassius. Cassius went home to write some anonymous "letters to Brutus. In these letters, he said that Rome was expecting Brutus to save the republic. When Casca came to visit Cassius, Cassius telk him what he had dune. He also told him that he was arranging a plot to kill Caesar. Casca readily agreed to join the plot. But, as both men knew, the plot could only succeed if Brutus joined it. Brutus was well-known for his honesty, and was respect by all men for his uprightness. character. If he joined, many men would follow. All men would agree that their cause was just and honorable. Accordingly. Casca and Cassius decide to pay a visit to Brutus that very night. They would persuade him to join the plot. That was the night before the Ides of March."
Brutus is Persuaded
That night. Brutus could not sleep. One thing was clear in his tormente mind. The life of the republic meant the death of Caesar. He felt he must put an end to Caesar before Caesar put an end to the republic. And yet, it was hard for him to kill his friend. A servant brought in some anonymous letters which he had found in the window of his master's study. Brutus, high-minded Brutus, was easily deceived. He thought that different citizens had write the letters. All of them seeme to prove that the people of Rome were expecting him to save them from tyranny. Soon after midnight. Cassius, Casca and other conspirators came to see Brutus. Cunning "Cassius argued that it was Brutus' duty to save the republic. By such an argument he easily persuad Brutus to join the plot.
The details of the plot were then arrange. Caesar, they all agreed, was to be murder in the Senate. House that very morning. The conspirators want to kill Mark Antony as well but Brutus was against this." Antony. "he told them" is but a limb of Caesar. "Cassius warned Brutus that Mark Antony would be dangerous but Brutus refused to believe this. Unwillingly, the conspirators consentet to let Mark Antony live. Brutus's loving and loyal wife Portia had watched her husband anxiously all that evening. She saw that something was weighing heavily on his mind. After midnight she heard her husband talking with several men. Who were those visitors who came so late and so secretly? When the visitors had left, she went to her husband. "Tell me. I beg you, what is on your mind. " She said to him. "I am your wife and I have the right to know what is troubling you. "Brutus would have told her of the plot if another visitor had not arrived then. His wife's love and loyalty made Brutus all the more determine to kill Caesar. By doing so, he thought, he would become all the more worthy of her devotion."
Caesar Ignores Calpurnia's Warnings
In Caesar's house too, the night had been a trouble one. Caesar's wife Calpurnia had had terrible dreams. These, she said, were meant as a warning. Something dreadful was going to happen to Caesar.
She begge him not to go out to the Senate-House that day. The omens were all against it, she told him. "I dreamed of a fierce battle in the sky." she said. "The noise of it shook the earth and drops of blood fell on the Senate-House. I heard horses neighing, dying men groaning, and ghosts shrieking in the streets. Something fearful is going to happen." Caesar would not listen to his wife's fear Nor would he listen to the augurs who sent him word that the day was not favorable "for Caesar to meet the Senate. At this, Calpurnia begged him yet again not to go out.
Caesar was about to obey her when Decius, one of the conspirators, came to accompany Caesar to the Senate-House. Caesar told Decius about one of Calpurnia's dreams. "She dream," he said, "that she saw my statue spouting blood and that hundreds of smiling Romans came to wash their hands in it." . "To Calpurnia this foretold Caesar's death. Decius, however, said that it foretold the opposite that Rome would get fresh life from Caesar. The Senate, he said, had decided to offer Caesar the crown that day. It would be folly to be absent. because of a woman's 'dream. Attracte by the thought of being made a king, Caesar then set out for the Capitol, as the Senate-House was called. His escort" were the men who were going to murder him when he reached it !
In the meantime, some rumors of the plot were spreading. Artemidorus, a philosopher who saw that anarchy would follow Caesar's death, did his best to warn Caesar. He wrote a letter of warning and he even named the chief conspirators. He was waiting in the street to present his letter to Caesar as he passed by on his way to the Capitol. As Caesar passed, Artemidorus held out his letter for him to take. Then Decius quickly pushed another letter in front of it, and so Caesar had no chance to re ad Artemidorus's warning.
When Caesar reached the Capitol, one of the conspirators drew Mark Antony to one side as if to ask him something in private. A second conspirator present Caesar with a petition in which pardon was ask for a banishe senator. The other conspirators draw closer as if they were anxious to speak in favor of the petition. Then, at a sign from Casca, they rushed forward and one by one they stabbed Cacsar. Caesar staggered but stood upright till Brutus stabbed him. Then he fell dead, crying with his last breath. "Oh, Brutus! You too!"
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