Julius Caesar (Oxford School Shakespeare) - Softcover

Shakespeare, William

3.7

204,462 ratings by Goodreads

9780198320265: Julius Caesar (Oxford School Shakespeare)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198320264 ISBN 13: 9780198320265

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2001

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The "Oxford School Shakespeare" series aims to help students understand and enjoy Shakespeare's plays. As well as the complete and unabridged text, each play in this series has an extensive range of students' notes. These include detailed and clear explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters. Also included is a wide range of questions and activities for work in class, together with the historical background to Shakespeare's England, a brief biography of Shakespeare, and a complete list of his plays. For this new edition, the text of the play, the notes, and the introductory matter have all been revised so as to make them clearer and more accessible. In addition, the entire text of the book has been redesigned and reset to make it easier to read. The illustrations have been completely redrawn, and photographs of recent stage production have been included.

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Review:

One of Shakespeare's most political plays, Julius Caesar continued Shakespeare's interest in Roman history, first developed in Titus Andronicus. Drawing on Plutarch, the great historian of Rome, Shakespeare dramatises one of the most crucial moments in Roman history--the assassination of Julius Caesar. Loved by the Roman crowd but increasingly feared by the Senators, Caesar increasingly shows signs of his desire to abolish the Republic and crown himself emperor. A conspiracy is hatched, led by Cassius and Brutus, who murder Caesar on the steps of the Capitol. Mourning over his dead friend's body, Mark Antony gives one of the famous rhetorical speeches in literature, asking "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" to lament Caesar's death, privately vowing to "let slip the dogs of war" against those who have shed Caesar's blood. Antony joins forces with Caesar's son Octavius to defeat Cassius and Brutus in battle, and establish an uneasy alliance whose collapse is dramatised in Shakespeare's later play Antony and Cleopatra. Written at the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, Julius Caesar has been seen by many as a radically pro-Republican play which sailed close to the political wind of the time. --Jerry Brotton

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Praise for "William Shakespeare: Complete Works"
Remarkable . . .makes Shakespeare s extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever. James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University, bestselling author of "A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599"
A feast of literary and historical information. "The Wall Street Journal
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