Analysis Of Shakespeare's Play 'Julius Caesar' By William Shakespeare

I will show understanding of the plot, character and themes and Shakesperes use of language and dramatic devices within the play.

Their training method is usually working on the text and putting emphasis on the dialogue before drafting the physical element because that’s how they get their inspiration from. All the devising aspect is broken down into bite-sized tasks so they can fully develop and expand on it as much as possible. These small bite-sized tasks are merely building blocks to support more blocks. Doing these helps the performers have a creative input in the process as they feel shaping theatre and choreography requires different perspectives and an outside eye of the director so it’s still new and fresh and risks are taken. Directors simplify, improvise and use any sort of imaginative tool to avoid being empty handed in a rehearsal room. This is why they never teach steps/choreography from the front of the room, because it comes down to what the performance feel capable of doing and learning it in their own pace and time instead of it being on a strict time.

Michael Gow’s Away is a stage play about three socioeconomically varied families and their different holiday experiences. Throughout the play, Gow alludes to many of Shakespeare’s texts to deepen the audiences’ understanding of the performance. Distinct connections are shown between Gow’s Away and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest and King Lear. These references feature through direct use of lines, characters, theatrical conventions and themes. This essay will explore each of these methods of allusion and explain how this use of intertextuality heightens audience comprehension.

Tony Robbins said, “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others”. Shakespeare’s writing has had many different ways of being presented because people perceive it in different ways. Whether it is a literal representation or a spin, directors like to show viewers the way they perceive the text. In the movie version of Hamlet the director, Kenneth Branagh, wanted the viewers to find Shakespeare interesting and full of action and drama. Kenneth chose the right direction to go in to keep the audience’s attention but it

The topic of leadership in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar has been discussed and argued ever since the play was written. The most prevalent discussion of leadership in the play revolves around Shakespeare’s tragic hero, Marcus Brutus, and the cause of his downfall. According to Shakespeare critic James Bundy, “Brutus... is a man whose affections sway more than his reason, in whom there is this tragic confederacy of passion and imagination against reason” (qtd. in Palmer 402). Ernest Shanzer, however, says that Brutus is “by no means devoid of political shrewdness and practical wisdom”, but he is a “bad judge of character” (Shanzer 1). Although both critics’ descriptions of Brutus have merit, Brutus’ shortcoming, as well as the success of the opposing leader, Mark Antony, is more accurately explained using the observations of Niccolo Machiavelli in The Prince. In this book Machiavelli outlines the characteristics of a successful leader. When using The Prince as a lens to read Julius Caesar, the correlation between a leader’s Machiavellianism and their success becomes very apparent. Marcus Brutus is undoubtedly an honorable and respectable man, but his morality prevents him from adhering to Machiavelli’s principles. Due to his lack of princely virtues, Brutus is doomed to fail, while Antony, a much more Machiavellian prince, successfully seizes power.

The first chapter, “The Art of Staging” claims “Staging in fiction involves putting characters in specific strategic positions in the scene so that some unvoiced nuance is revealed.” (Baxter 13) This includes the character’s standing positions, their proximity to each other, specific gestures and facial expressions, which give the reader more insight to the scene and the characters without explicitly saying so. This goes hand in hand with the setting of the atmosphere where atmosphere sets the dominant tone or the mood of a story. The atmosphere can be in reference to the setting or the characters themselves. Here, the reader is to read between the lines. The key to this is using a lot of detail which is crucial to providing the information.

There have been many rulers in history who have been betrayed by those they trust, but The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare,1959) still holds a special place in Western literature as one of the most enigmatic human beings to ever exist. Powerful men like Julius Caesar shaped the life and times of the late Roman Republic, just before Rome would officially become the Roman Empire on the crowning of Augustus as the first Roman emperor. Julius Caesar was a powerful general who expanded Rome's power and who was beloved by the people for his generous charity after his successful conquests. Despite knowing the story of Julius Caesar to some extent, most 16th/17th century English would not have ever visited Rome, nor would know what the Roman Republic was like, which presented a unique opportunity to William Shakespeare to create a play unlike any other he had created before. (Shakespeare Julius Caesar, 1599) Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a reimagining of Rome from a Elizabethan point of view, and despite some inaccuracies, the play depicts an enlightening view on Roman life, and the life of the Roman general, Julius Caesar.

Have you ever read something that didn't make any sense to you? Well that happens to almost everybody when they read Shakespeare. While Michael Mack gave a speech to incoming college freshmen telling them that Shakespeare is remarkably difficult to read he makes his point stand out even better. Mack develops an effective argument that explains to the readers that just because you may not understand something at first doesn't mean you shouldn't try again. He learned this through his use of past experience of working with Shakespeare’s work, and appeal to audience.

In Act One Scene 1, Cassius had created a secret club of people to over-run Julius Caesar. Cassius did this because he wasn’t fond of Caesar’s actions. Cassius, Cinna, and Casca want Brutus to join because he is very popular and wealthy. Many people look up to Brutus. It’s possible that if Brutus joins the club, his followers would support him and help over-run Caesar, they’re going to need as much support as they can get. “Three parts of him ours already, and the man entire upon the next encounter, yield him ours.” Act 1, Scene 3, PG.30)

One of William Shakespeare’s many attributes as a playwright of the late 16th century was his character development. Shakespeare’s seamless use of indirect characterization sets his works apart from the other playwrights and authors of his time. In Othello, the Shakespearian tragedy about the newlywed Othello and Desdemona, Shakespeare uses character foils to emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of the characters. By making inwardly similar characters seem like polar opposites, Shakespeare truly shows how dynamic each of the characters is.

Take for example the dinner scene with King Duncan and company. Though Shakespeare does not have much to say as to the events of

H. S. Wilson in his book of literary criticism, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, addresses the arbitrariness and inconsistency in the play:

Shakespeare's first tragedy has been a topic of discussion since the day it was written. Titus Andronicus "was staged on 24 January 1594 by the Earl of Sussex's Men at the Rose Theatre" (Welsh 1). Though this tidbit of information seems somewhat irrelevant to Titus, we must note that there are certain standards and practices established by a play from its first performance. It is also important to establish the general attributes that audiences attribute to Shakespearean performance.

William Shakespeare's tragic play portraying the life in ancient Rome is one that closely follows many elements that make a drama interesting. The murders and the conspiracies behind the killings add to the plot of jealousy and patriotism. Within Julius Caesar also

Some of the divisions in the chapter 9 is ‘How to give feedback to actors about their work’ (127) and ‘how to sit in the rehearsal room’ (131). These divisions might make the readers feel rather over-detailed, but for a first director, it would be helpful when he/she encounters any trouble during the first few rehearsals. Also the chapter 10 and 11 discusses “how to divide up” rehearsal schedules by time and how to deliver the detailed table work “materials” that a director have prepared before the rehearsal (142). The researched given circumstances that happens before the play begins such as “back history facts and questions” should be well discussed with the crew and actors (143). These given informations that the director researched ahead of rehearsals should be read together with the actors and the production team, and they are encouraged to to the research works on their own perspective for a proper and deep understanding on the play. At this stage of the production, actors are more encouraged not to determine their characteristics until they have thoroughly investigate and deepen their understanding of their characters’ world (146). When the research process is done, the actors are invigorated to shape their world and the specific blocking and action as to clarify their ideas toward