P6 Introduction to Julius Caesar
 The play is a tragedy, not a history.
 The point is for you to help you identify with the
characters involved in the assassination of one of the
greatest characters ever to live, and to point out the
unpredictable ramifications of assassination.
 The concept of Caesar as one of the greatest characters
ever to live.
 His downfall preceded the fall of the Roman Empire into
the middle ages.
 Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar to comment upon the
reign of Queen Elizabeth the 1st
 Queen Elizabeth reigned during the golden era of the
English Empire.
 She became queen after the fall of Bloody Mary, Queen of
Scotts.
 Mary had declared all of England Catholic, and murdered
anyone who didn’t conform to Catholicism.
 When Elizabeth took over, she declared England
protestant again.
 Additionally, she refused to marry King Phillip of Spain,
and thus angered the entire European continent.
 Her motto was, “Better a beggar woman and single than
queen and married.” She meant that upon her marriage,
she would lose all power to take care of her country.
 She was incredibly patriotic, she loved her country, and
her service to England was in memory to her father.
 When she refused to marry a Catholic king, the Pope
excommunicated her. This effectively authorized her
assassination.
 Her father was King Henry the 8th
 Upon her excommunication, mainland Europe declared
open season on Queen Elizabeth
 This put London in a state of extreme paranoia. The gates
of London were locked every night at sundown, and any
utterance of treason was brutally rebuked.
 This is the circumstance in which Shakespeare is writing
Julius Caesar.
 The parallels between the two amazing leaders: they are
both leaders during times of unprecedented expansion of
their countries. They both rule over an incredibly powerful
military, they are also both the subject of assassination
plots.
 The people plotting these assassinations in the respected
kingdoms or countries already have power, wealth, and
property.
 They failed to realize you cannot foresee the outcomes of
assassination.
 In a sense, the tragedy of Julius Caesar was to warn
Elizabethan England not to assassinate their queen in the
name of stability.
Pg. 893
 Flavius
 Marulles
 Tribunes- wealthy, power. We are going to see them in
conflict, with the common people of Rome, as represented
as the cobbler and the carpenter.
 The poor celebrated Caesar because
 “Hence home you idle creatures, get ye home.” The
plebeians yelling at their leaders.
 Caesar, Pompey, and Cassus, were the triumverate. The
administrators of Rome. They were supposed to do what
the senate told them.
 Cassus dies of natural causes. This creates an unbalance in
power.
 Pompey declares himself emperor. When Julius Caesar
comes back, he kills Pompey. While Pompey broke the
law by declaring himself Emperor, the senators are
comfortable with this because they know he is easily
bribed and manipulated.
 Caesar on the other hand, is the head of the most
powerful military of all time. He and men like him were
able to walk to England and conquer.
 For the senate, Caesar is terrifying because he elevates the
poor, and has the greatest army
 To kill Pompey, Caesar defies the senate by crossing the
Tiber River. He crosses with his soldiers and Pompey dies,
either by falling on his sword aided or un-aided.
 The feast of the Lupercal, February 15th, celebrating the
founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus, the two
brothers raised by the wolf mother.
 Flavius and Marullus are incredibly disrespectful to the
common people.
 When people have a limited amount of power and are
disrespectful to those with less power or authority, the
weaker party in this encounter is going to fight back.
 Flavius and Marullus tell all the people to go home, and
plan to celebrate by taking the decorations off of Caesar’s
statues.

Bellwork
 Frame the contents of your poem into shorter, slower
segments, so that when you mess up, it seems natural
 Say it about twice as slow as you usually would, because
you’re the only one who knows the poem
 Holding your pinky for your posture
 Little things can go a long way, like little accents to your
words, and little body gestures.
 Adjusting the microphone, breathing in and out.
 Title of the poem, breath in and out.