Discuss Julius Caesar as a historical play.
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How does Shakespeare handle historical material in Julius Caesar?
The source, from which Shakespeare derived the story of his play Julius Caesar, was Sir Thomas North's translation of a work called The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans written by an ancient Greek writer whose name was Plutarch. Shakespeare did not know the Greek language. He had, therefore, to consult the English translation of the original Greek work. The special lives upon which Shakespeare drew for the material of Julius Caesar were those of Caesar, Brutus, and Antony. However, he did not stick closely to the material which he got from that source. He changed, altered, or modified the historical material to suit his own purposes.
Shakespeare has considerably deviated from history. His portrayal of Caesar differs greatly from the historical Caesar. The historical Caesar as portrayed by Plutarch, was a great conqueror and a heroic personality. Plutarch shows Caesar as being intellectually brilliant, high-minded and exceptionally intelligent. But Shakespeare represents Caesar as suffering from several physical infirmities. In Shakespeare's play Caesar is deaf of one ear; he suffers from the falling sickness (or epilepsy); he seems to be a man of wavering mind, superstitious and highly prone to flattery.
Shakespeare has made a selection and ordering of his material by some deviation from history. These deviations are as follows:
a) Shakespeare makes Caesar's "triumph" take place on the day of the Lupercalia, instead of six months before.
b) He places the murder of Caesar in the Capitol, not in the Curia Pompeiana as in Plutarch.
c) He assigns the murder, the reading of the will, the funeral and Antonys oration, and Octavius's arrival at Rome, to the same day. Historically these incidents take place on different dates.
d) He makes the Triumvirs meet at Rome. instead of near Bononia.
e) He combines the two battles of Philippi. Really there was an interval between them of 20 days; Cassius fell in the first battle, and Brutus after the second. Octavius was too ill to take part in the first.
Most of these deviations from history come under the device of compression and condensation. A dramatist dealing with events that extend over a long period, must be permitted a certain license in curtailing the time and compressing the facts; Otherwise his work will be broken up and lack concentration. Further, Shakespeare has his addition to the historical material. For examples, Antony’s oratory and the fickleness of the Roman mob and its passions are entirely his own invention.
Thus Shakespeare has made a stirring drama out of the dry bones of history. He has been able to preserve the historical spirit of the times. The play depicts the conflict between imperialism as represented by Caesar, Antony, Octavius, and republicanism as represented by Brutus, Cassius, and the others, and the play depicts the triumph of the former because the people were not yet fit to achieve a democratic political system in the country. Shakespeare's play represents the truth of history very ably, and with great dramatic effect.
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