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2.1 Dramatic Reading of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

October 4, 2006

This scene focuses on Brutus. We first find him awake in the middle of the night, troubled by the thought of plotting the political murder of his friend and a great Roman. The important term here is general, a word that appears throughout Shakespeare's works, especially those focused on the nature of politics, government, and leadership. General here means the general good. What is good for all of Rome versus what is good for one man (recall Cassius' words), is a central question at the heart of this play.

One thing I hope students notice about Shakespeare studies is the rhythm of action within scenes as well as the rhythm of the whole play (movement from one scene to the next).

The scene, in a sense is broken down into four basic phases:

1. Brutus alone, thinking about the horrific thought of killing Caesar
2. Brutus joined by Casca, Cassius, and several other conspirators (here they discuss both killing Caesar, as well as some conspirators' desire to kill Antony, too)
3. Brutus and Portia (is this a personal scene? Portia wants to know Brutus' thoughts. What o you make of her stabbing her own thigh? What does she say about the nature of women?)
4. Brutus joined by Caius Ligarius, another potential conspirator.

Notice how the scene sort of breathes in (Brutus thinking), breathes out (Brutus deciding to join the conspirators but deminading they not kill Antony), breathes in (Brutus meeting with Portia), breathes out (Brutus convincing Caius Ligarius to join them).

Another question: has anyone wondered why Julius Caesar is nearly absent from this play so far?

Stayed tuned for the answer!!

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