Julius caesar

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Julius Caesar by W. Shakespeare The basis of nearly all the incidents in Julius Caesar is to be found in the lives of Julius Caesar, Brutus, and Mark Antony as given in Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch´s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes.

Most intersting in shakespeare's books is the fact that he does not content himself with one view of any given problem. In Romeo and Juliet, for instance, he does not settle for a simple look at the evils of those who engage in feuding, but he factors in many variations on the theme: people who actively engage in feuding die, people who condone feuding suffer, and people who claim that they do not approve of feuding but who lack the courage or strength to actively oppose or stop it also pay the price for their folly. Romeo and Juliet die for their rashness. The Montagues lose two family members for their feuding, as do the Capulets.

Even the Prince suffers the loss of family members because, he says, he ignored the wrong-doing. All are punished. Similarly, in Julius Caesar, an even-handed justice is meted out to a number of people who fail to live up to an appropriate standard of loyalty to others.

Julius Caesar takes place in ancient Rome in 44 BC, a time when Rome was the center of an enormous empire. While the empire grew stronger, Rome was in Danger of collapse due to infighting between military leaders and senators. Rome was sharply divided into those who were citizens and represented in the senate, and the growing underrepresented population. A succession of men aspired to become absolut rulers of Rome, but only Julius Caesar seemed like he could succeed. Citizens who favored more democratic rule feared Caesar´s power would let to the...