![]() ![]() Regardless, the production is, as one reviewer put it, “a deeply democratic offering, befitting both the Public and the public – and the times.”Īs a researcher and teacher of Renaissance drama, I’ve studied Shakespeare’s role as a cultural icon across different societies, cultures and eras. It may be true – as some have suggested – that the analogy between Julius Caesar and Donald Trump is a bit forced. Even seemingly traditional, period productions, such as the current Royal Shakespeare Company’s version in Britain, resonate with topical relevance, enabling the audience to deduce connections to today’s political climate. Productions of “Julius Caesar” have typically evoked topical political analogies. Yet, the ideals of democracy – in Rome and in our own times – have to be constantly guarded against demagogues, who also may be idealists, of all political stripes. Various interpretations and performances of ‘Julius Caesar’ are constantly in production, like the Royal Shakespeare Company’s version of the play. From the shifting perspectives on competing ambitions we learn that all rigid value judgments of “good” and “evil” politicians can be relative – and problematic – in our contingent world. Overall, this picture of a divided Rome – a mix of power politics, of stoic ideals giving way to ego – should give pause to modern audiences. Importantly, then, the Republican, democratic ideal is defeated, both in the play and in the Western world (until the American Revolution). Toward the close of Shakespeare’s next Roman play, “Antony and Cleopatra,” we see Octavius Caesar emerge as the singular ruler of Rome. Brutus commits suicide, but Mark Antony and Octavius, Julius Caesar’s grandnephew, victorious at the end, acknowledge Brutus’s nobility and wish to bury him with honor. It ends in civil war and the defeat of the conspirators, following their internal dissensions and accusations of betrayal. “Julius Caesar” offers a complicated, even poignant vision at the end. It’s evident in the many discussions Brutus has with his fellow conspirators, and it’s summed up when he describes his motivation for killing Caesar: “If then friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, then my answer: Not that I loved Caesar less but that I loved Rome more.” Shakespeare also gives Brutus, the leader of the assassination plot, a refined conscience throughout the play. And we also learn he bequeaths to his people, on his death, his personal possessions: To every Roman citizen he gives “seventy-five drachmas” and “all his walks, His private arbours and new-planted orchards” for public use. Yet he seems to love and trust his fellow Romans, warmly inviting Brutus and other conspirators to share wine. ![]() When he returns triumphant from wars, the conspirators fear he will become a tyrant, a “Colossus” whereby the “wide walls” of Republican Rome “encompass’d but one man.” Shakespeare’s Caesar is clearly a leader and politician with power – including some vanity and propensity to flattery – but also with wide popular appeal. Caesar is either a heroic, benevolent ruler or tyrant Brutus is either a patriot or assassin. He incorporated these debates into his play, offering his viewers multiple perspectives on the characters. The assassination of Caesar is one of the most important events in Roman history, and Shakespeare had inherited over 1,600 years of ambiguity, with little consensus over whether Caesar’s killing was justified. Shakespeare’s Rome is a place of brutal struggles between democratic ideals and human ambition. These anxieties were also exacerbated by historical memories of the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil conflicts that took place between 14. The power struggles depicted in “Julius Caesar” mirrored ongoing concerns in England with legitimacy, tyranny and potential threats of rebellion and deposition against Queen Elizabeth I, who did not have an heir. But he was also commenting on the political conflicts of the era. Caesar in Shakespeare’s timesĪs Shakespeare wrote the play, he drew on Roman history, a popular topic in 16th-century England. They articulate the richness and urgency of our own democratic struggles – similar to the rich political complexity reflected in Shakespeare’s text itself. In some ways, the contention – even rancor – of these debates about the Public Theater production would have delighted, and perhaps bemused, Shakespeare. ![]()
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