JULIUS C/ESAR. This play was first pro duced about 1601, though not printed until 1623 with the publication of the first Folio. It is in a sense a continuation of the historical plays, the background of Rome being substituted for that of England. At the same time it is the first in the series of great tragedies. Based upon the lives of Brutus, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony in North's translation of Plutarch's 'Lives,' it is a striking illustration of the way in which Shakespeare closely fol lowed his original in spirit and sometimes in language, while at the same time he organized this material into a dramatic whole. If one compares Plutarch's text with the play itself, he can best see the dramatist in the very act of dramatic construction.
In the play we find ourselves in Rome about 44 'Lc.: we see the Roman populace running here and there through the streets; we hear the voices of Brutus and Antony in the forum or catch glimpses of Cicero and Cassius on a stormy night; when the scene shifts from Rome, we see the battlefield of Philippi—and along with all these men and guiding the destiny of events, we see and feel the presence of the mighty Julius. The question inevitably arises as to why Shakespeare named the play after Caesar, who disappears in the middle of the play. Unquestionably the impression gained from what he says as well as from what others say about him would not indicate that the dramatist thought of him as highly as passages in other plays, notably 'Hamlet,' 'Antony and Cleopatra' and 'Richard the Third,' would in dicate. He is rather presented as one whose bodily presence is weak and whose mind is de clining in strength and in sure-footed energy. Emphasis is placed upon the weakness rather than strength of this character. But that is not all of Caesar. There may be a sort of irony in the presentation of him; for after his murder the speech of Antony serves to set him before the imagination of the reader as a mighty spirit whose power was to be sought, not only in the days of his earlier conquests, but in the drift toward imperialism which the conspirators tried in vain to resist. Brutus realizes the
futility of his efforts when he cries out on the battlefield of Philippi, Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet!' Whatever may be said of Shakespeare's con ception of Caesar, there can be no doubt that Brutus is the tragic figure of the play—a fore runner of that group of tragic heroes so soon to be created. A student of philosophy, a lover of books and fond of the quiet domestic scenes which had connected him with one of the noblest of women, and above all, a devoted citizen with an instinctive •love of the old re public, he is totally unfitted for the stirring scenes into which he is drawn. His lack of knowledge of human nature makes him an easy prey for a more calculating man, while his fail ing to understand the drift of history brought upon him and his country tragic consequences. He is caught in the tangled web of things. The rare nobility of his soul combined with his tragic end raises the question of the burden of the mystery, the heavy and the weary weight of all this unintelligible world. Of the other characters of the play Mark Antony, Cassius and Portia are drawn with consummate art. Their words have by frequent quotation be come so hackneyed that the reader is apt to miss their greatness. Charles Lamb's remark about the frequent acting and reciting of Shakespeare's plays applies with special force to 'Julius Caesar' ; °The very custom of hear ing anything 'spouted' withers many a fine passage.* Brutus' speech to the Roman citi zens justifying the murder of Caesar, Antony's funeral oration, the appeal of Cassius to Brutus, the dialogue between Portia and Brutus and Antony's tribute to Brutus are among the glories of human speech.