What is the play really about?
Tragedy, history, problem play - what is its genre?
Who, if anyone, is the play's hero?
Is the murder of Caesar justified?
Is Brutus a hypocritical Stoic?
How does posthumous characterisation work?
What makes the play so topical?
"Julius Caesar" has long been regarded as one of Shakespeare's greatest dramas. Some of its phrases live on famously: "Beware the Ides of March"; "Et tu, Brute?"; and "Friends, Romans, countrymen: lend me your ears!".
When Cassius says, "How many ages hence / Shall this our lofty scene be acted over, / In states unborn and accents yet unknown?", his question is indeed prophetic: history's answer has transformed the question into a boast. This concise, clear introduction explains just why.
Professor Cedric Watts, M.A, Ph.D., is the editor of the Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series.
