Plot and Falling Action. The plot is a series of events related to a central conflict, or struggle. The falling action is all the events that follow the climax. During the falling action of a tragedy, the fortunes of the main character decline. As you read act 4, determine whether or not the fortunes of Brutus have begun to decline and if so, how.
Foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is the act of presenting materials that hint at events to occur later in a plot. In acts 1, 2 and 3, the mysterious occurrences of disorder in the natural world forshadowed the disorder in the political state. In act 4, you will note other instances of foreshadowing.
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Background: Theater in Shakespeare’s Day. The Globe Theater, in which The Tragedy of Julius Cæsar was first performed, is described in one of Shakespeare’s plays as a “wooden O.” The theater, which had eight sides and was open in the middle, was nearly circular. The stage jutted into the center of this open area. Some members of the audience stood or sat in the three tiers of seats inside the walls of the theater. Most, however, paid a penny for admittance and stood around the stage on three sides. These audience members were the “groundlings.” Part of the stage was covered by a canopy supported by two pillars. Doors on the sides of the stage allowed for entrances and exits. Trap doors in the floor of the stage made it possible for actors to appear or disappear. Backstage center was an area known as the “tiring house,” in which actors could change. This area could be opened for interior scenes. Above the tiring house was a second-story balcony, which could be used to represent a hilltop, a lookout, an upper room, or, of course, a balcony. A third level above the balcony provided a space for musicians and sound-effects technicians.
The theater in Shakespeare’s day used little in the way of scenery. The audience had to imagine the setting based on characters’ descriptions and properties (small objects, such as swords or crowns, that could be carried on and off stage). In a modern performance of a historical play like Julius Cæsar, the actors would most likely be dressed in period costumes such as togas. However, in Shakespeare’s day, actors wore standard contemporary Elizabethan dress. As you read Julius Cæsar, you may notice that there are other elements of the play that are historically inaccurate. For example, in the play Shakespeare refers to clocks striking, despite the fact that such clocks did not exist in Roman times. Another unrealistic element that you would notice if you were to go back to the Globe to view this play is that the actors were all men or boys. In Shakespeare’s time it was considered improper for women to act in plays.
Technique. Most of Julius Cæsar is written in blank verse. Blank verse is unrhymed iambic pentameter. Each line consists of five feet, each made up of a weakly stressed syllable followed by a strongly stressed one. The following are some typical lines:
Blank verse has a noble, heroic quality appropriate to this play about the fall of a great leader.
The Kingdom and Republic of Rome. Roman legend held that the city was founded on the banks of the river Tiber by two brothers, Romulus and Remus, sons of the war god Mars. According to the legend, when the boys were still babies, they were thrown into the river by their mother’s brother. A she-wolf discovered the nearly drowned babies on the riverbank and nursed them back to health. Later adopted by a shepherd who raised them, the boys grew up to found a city, named for Romulus, that would come to rule the Western world.
Traditionally, the belief is that Rome was founded in 753 bc and was ruled in the ensuing centuries by a succession of seven kings. In about 509 bc, the last of these kings was overthrown and a republic was established, ruled by a senate and by elected officials, the consuls and tribunes. During the four centuries of the existence of the republic, Rome grew to become a great power, first by subduing its immediate neighbors, then by defeating the mighty empire of Carthage, located across the Mediterranean Sea on the coast of northern Africa. At the time of the death of Julius Cæsar in 44 bc, Rome controlled most of Europe, northern Africa, and Asia.
Julius Cæsar. Gaius Julius Cæsar was born on the twelfth or thirteenth of July, sometime around the year 100 bc, into a noble Roman family. One of the ablest leaders the world has known, Cæsar bore a name that became forever synonymous with power and leadership. The Russian word czar, the German kaiser, and the Arabic qaysar, meaning “king” or “ruler,” are all variations on his name. The month of July is also named after him.
As a young man, Cæsar left Rome to travel to the Greek city of Rhodes, where he intended to study oratory, or public speaking. On the way, he was captured by pirates, who released him after he raised a large ransom. Cæsar retaliated by gathering a private naval force, capturing the pirates, and crucifying them. Over succeeding years, Cæsar moved steadily up the political ladder in Rome, holding a number of important posts, culminating in his election to the post of consul in 59 bc, a position which made him one of two chief rulers of the Roman Empire.
Between 58 bc and 50 bc, Cæsar conducted a series of brilliant military campaigns that won for Rome all of Gaul (modern-day France) and that extended Roman power as far north as Britain. Members of the nobility, or patricians, in Rome came to fear Cæsar because he commanded a large army made up of fiercely loyal troops and because he was much loved by the common people, or plebeians, of the city. Fearing that Cæsar would make himself king and overthrow the republic, the patricians of the senate voted on January 1, 49 bc, to have Cæsar lay down his command. Cæsar refused and instead led his troops across the Rubicon, a small river between Gaul and Italy, initiating a civil war that lasted from 49 bc to 45 bc. In the civil war, Cæsar defeated the forces of his former ally, the Roman general Pompey. After returning to Rome and assuming the title of dictator, he left in 45 bc for the province of Farther Spain to put down a revolt led by Pompey’s sons. Shakespeare’s play begins with Cæsar’s return to Rome after his campaign in Spain. Basing his play on material taken from Sir Thomas North’s translation of Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, by the ancient Greek writer Plutarch, Shakespeare heightens the drama of the events that followed Cæsar’s return by compressing three years of action into five acts.
On Reading Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Julius Cæsar was written about four hundred years ago. Since that time, the English language has changed considerably, and you will therefore find that reading Shakespeare presents some special challenges. The editors of this text have provided footnotes to help you understand words and phrases that have changed in meaning since Shakespeare’s day. However, try not to get bogged down in these footnotes. Remember that a play is a dramatic action and should move quickly. First read through each scene without looking at the footnotes, so that you can get a general sense of what is happening. Then reread the scene, referring to the footnotes to discern details. In addition to reading the play, you may want to listen to a recording of it or watch a production on film, videotape, or CD. All drama comes alive when performed by actors and is best experienced in that way.
Write about a time when you lost admiration for someone in a leadership position who disappointed you greatly.
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