Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

 After finishing Gravity's Rainbow earlier this month, I needed a little bit of a break from reading. This is a very unusual feeling for me, but I was really drained after making my way through that one. As August started winding down, I decided that I should try to read at least one more thing before September, so I went ahead and started Julius Caesar. This was the last Shakespeare play on my Classics Club list and I knew it would be a quick read. I wasn't overly excited for it as I'm not as interested in the plays that include history elements, but this is probably the last of Shakespeare's most famous works that I haven't read, so I wanted to give it a shot.

The plot is set in Ancient Rome and follows a politician named Brutus as he joins in a plot led by the senator Cassius to murder Julius Caesar. Caesar, who is well-liked by the public and fresh off a major military victory as the story begins, is about the be offered the crown of Rome. Brutus, an upright and honorable man, fears that the Roman people will lose their republic if they appoint a king. He comes to the conclusion that the only way to preserve the freedom of his country is to eliminate Caesar, even though he admires him and considers him a friend.  

Brutus and the rest of the conspirators execute the plan successfully and Caesar falls. At first, he is able to persuade the public of the righteousness of his views and they support his actions. However, Caesar's friend, Mark Antony, speaks eloquently on Caesar's behalf at his funeral and manages to bring many of the citizens back around to his point of view. The country is then plunged into civil war, with the people that support Caesar on one side and those who support the conspirators on the other. Ultimately, Brutus is forced to reckon with his murderous actions, his own sense of honor, and the strife he brings down on the country he loves so fiercely.

I was surprised to find while reading that this actually wasn't too bad. I especially enjoyed the first few acts of the play, where Brutus is grappling with taking part in the conspiracy and Cassius is pushing him hard in that direction. It is eventually heavily implied that the vast majority of the conspirators were motivated by greed or jealousy to kill Caesar, but Brutus was truly just concerned with preserving the democratic government of Rome. His morals conflict with his personal friendships, and his morals eventually win out. He kills his friend out of principle even though he loved him. What drama! 

This scene happens about halfway through the play though, and my interest started to wane a little bit after that. As is usual in a Shakespearean tragedy, things fall apart rapidly with lots of fighting, deaths, and suicides piling up until the conclusion is reached. I wish a bit more time had been spent in the end on the characters' emotions and internal struggles; things happened so quickly that the end felt a bit hollow. 

I think Julius Caesar ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack out of the works by Shakespeare I have read. I liked it more than I thought I would and, of course, there were lots of famous lines and speeches sprinkled throughout that I enjoyed discovering as I went along. I don't have a ton to say about it, but it was pretty good. I'm a bit sad now that I've finished the Shakespeare section on my Classics Club list, but I'm excited to be so close to finishing the whole thing! Just two books left to go before the end of the year. 

Challenge Tally

Classics Club (#2 on my list): 98/100 books completed

Total Books Read in 2021: 39