William Shakespeare
English poet, playwright, and actor, widely
regarded as the greatest writer in the English
Language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.
He is often called England's national poet.
1564 - 1616
- Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire.
- He married Anne Hathaway, and had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.
- Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began his career as an actor, writer, and part-owner of
a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s men.
- He retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, where he died three years later.
Julius Caesar
Roman statesman, general and notable
author of Latin prose. He played a critical
role in the events that led to the downfall of
100 BCE – 44 BCE
the Roman Republic and the rise of
the Roman Empire.
- In 78 he became a legal prosecutor.
- He became governor of Spain in 61.
- In 60, he returns to Rome to form the first Triumvirate. (three important Roman rulers).
- He had a love affair with Queen Cleopatra of Egypt.
- He was stabbed 23 times by his own Friends on March 44.
Julius Caesar.
A play by W. Shakespeare
Julius Caesar is a tragedy, believed to have been
written in 1599. It is one of several plays written by
Shakespeare based on true events from Roman History.
100 BCE – 44 BCE
Although the title is Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar is not the most visible character in its
action; he appears alive in only three scenes. Marcus Brutus speaks more than four
times as many lines and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the
conflicting demands of honor, patriotism and friendship.
Julius Caesar.
A play by W. Shakespeare
Characters:
- Julius Caesar
- Calpurnia (Caesar’s wife)
- Marcus Antonius (Triumvir after death of Caesar)
- Marcus Brutus (Conspirator)
- Portia (Brutus’s wife)
- Cassius (Conspirator)
Julius Caesar.
A play by W. Shakespeare
- Independent Reading
(Homework/Classwork)
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Answer questions
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Complete exercises from book
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Listen to Audio CD
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Independent study/review (Homework)
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Unannounced quizzes
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It will be read in two weeks
Hadrian's Wall also called the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or Vallum
Hadriani in Latin, was a defensive fortification in the
Roman province of Britannia, begun in 122 CE during the reign of the
emperor Hadrian.
It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea and the Irish
Sea. It had a stone base and a stone wall. There were milecastles with
two turrets in between.
There was a fort about every five miles.
It is thought that the milecastles were staffed with static garrisons, whereas
the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry.
In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its
gates may have been used as customs posts.
A significant portion of the wall still stands and can be
followed on foot along the adjoining Hadrian’s Wall Path. It is
the most popular tourist attraction in Northern
When in use it was effectively the northern limit of
the Roman Empire.
Motifs in Drama
A motif is an element or concept that appears throughout a
play and helps develop the plot and theme.
In this play, one motif is the appearance of omens
foreshadowing doom for Caesar and confusion for Rome.
Omen
It is something believed to be a sign of future, good or
evil.
Example of omen
A soothsayer warns Caesar to beware the Ides of
March.
This omen adds tension to the play (at that point)
for both Caesar and the audience.
Blank Verse
It is a category of poetry based on unrhymed lines and a definite meter,
usually of iambic pentameter, examples of which can be found in
Shakespeare, William Cullen Bryant, and Robert Frost.
You're still not sure what blank verse is? Well, to really understand blank
verse, we need to look at meter, or the number of stressed and
unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. This pattern usually takes a 'DADUM' effect when we read them. Take this example from John Berryman's
'The Ball Poem':
What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
Can you hear the pattern of the unstressed and stressed syllables?
With blank verse, we typically find iambic pentameter, which is five
sets of unstressed/stressed iambs, for a total of ten syllables. So, if
we look again at
'What is the boy now, who has lost his ball',
We can see that we have a set of five iambs for a total of ten
syllables.
But what makes something blank verse is both the use of meter and
unrhymed lines in the verse.
Sometimes we see the iambic pentameter used to rhyme, like in
Shakespeare's
'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day.'
A soliloquy is a popular literary device often
used in drama to reveal the innermost
thoughts of a character.
It is a great technique used to convey the
progress of action of the play by means of
expressing a character’s thoughts about a
certain character or past, present or
upcoming event while talking to himself
without acknowledging the presence of any
other person.
Why would Cassius not want Brutus to hear
the thoughts he expresses?
Cassius explains that he is going to leave
forged letters at Brutus’s house. Letters that
compliment Brutus and subtly critique
Caesar’s ambition.
If Brutus knew that Cassius was trying to
manipulate him, Brutus would be more
cautious about listening to him.
A tragedy is kind of drama that presents a
serious subject matter about human suffering
and corresponding terrible events in a
dignified manner.
How does Casca’s speech in lines 15-32 help
build suspense?
It helps build suspense because the details that he
recounts establish a threatening mood and suggest
that some violent event will occur soon.
What kind of support does Cassius use to
defend his opinion of Caesar? How
effective is his argument?
Cassius appears to support his view with emotions, not
facts. He uses dramatic and exaggerated language to
insult both, the Romans and Caesar.
His argument seems quite effective, however, Casca
immediately promises to keep quiet about what Cassius
has said and to help Cassius form a group to deal with
these “wrongs”.
1.- How son does Cassius plan to meet with
Brutus? Why is he in a hurry?
2.- What does Cassius expect to be the result of
this meeting? Why is he so optimistic?
3.- Why do the conspirators have “great need”
of Brutus?
Vocabulary
idle
cobbler
thou
knave
nay
beseech
awl
meddle
saucy
trod
wherefore
thy
oft
stream
servile
Intermit
strew
cull
attire