Caesar's famous masterpiece "Brutus, you too?" Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" Synopsis
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)Wikipedia.
Julius Caesar" was written by Shakespeare around 1600 or 1601.
I read "Julius Caesar" translated by Tsunen Fukuda, Shinchosha.
Let's take a quick look at the synopsis.
Brutus, a noble and brave general, in an attempt to stay true to his political ideals, stabs the Roman despot Caesar to death in the Senate Hall. The people applauded Brutus, but Antony's impeachment speech, which skillfully led the people, turned the tables and Brutus was banished from Rome. ...... A political tragedy that lives on today in a concise, clear style.
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Many of you may read this synopsis and think, "Huh?" You may be thinking, "What?
I was the same way when I first read it.
The title is "Julius Caesar" but the main character is Brutus or something along those lines. In fact, in this work, Caesar does not appear so much in the story, and Brutus becomes the main character.
To tell you the truth, I have failed this work once.
I could not get into the story because I could not see the plot at all and could not understand what was going on.
At that time, I read the book by Atouda Takashi, whom I introduced earlier.To Enjoy Shakespeare."The book was called.
After reading this book, I read "Julius Caesar" again and found it interesting! This book explains the historical background of this work and the flow of the story in an easy-to-understand manner.
This was so wonderful that I will now introduce it at some length.
If one were asked to name the most famous heroes in European history, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, and Caesar would surely be at the top of the list. They are well-known big names in Japan as well.
All three men have words of wisdom.
Napoleon said, "Nothing is impossible in my dictionary," and during his expedition to Egypt, he inspired the morale of his soldiers by saying, "Four thousand years are watching us from the top of the pyramids. When Alexander's staff advised him to launch a night raid, he stylishly refused, saying, "I will not steal victory." On his deathbed, when asked who would succeed him, he muttered, "To the strongest," and died.
In this respect, however, Julius Caesar is, after all, outstandingly superior. He crossed the Rubicon River with the determination that "the die has been cast," and he was assassinated with a brief letter from the Asian Minor Front saying, "I came, I saw, I won," and a final lament, "Brutus, you too? He was an eloquent speaker and a first-rate writer.
Shinchosha, Atouda Takashi, To Enjoy Shakespeare, p. 200
The die is cast, Crossing the Rubicon, I came, I saw, I won, Brutus, you too?
Some of these may ring a bell.
I myself did not think of the name Julius Caesar, but the Romanized real name of this man is Gaius Julius Caesar. In Romanized form, it is JULIUS CAESAR, and the difference in reading is the difference between Julius Caesar and Julius Caesar.
Okay, many people may hear "Caesar" and go, "Oh, that's what that means.
Let's continue to look at the explanations.
Julius Caesar (or Gaius Julius Caesar if that is his real name in Roman style) was born in 102 AD. His origins are said to have been prestigious, but little is known about his early life.
This was the era of the great leap forward of ancient Rome. Rome, which was founded in the Italian peninsula around the 7th century AD, was a republic from early on and extended its power in all directions. It destroyed Carthage, seized control of the Mediterranean Sea, and began to invade the interior. The mighty Roman Empire, the most powerful in history, was about to be established and was on the verge of prosperity. It was a time that was truly awaiting the emergence of a historical hero.
Caesar had shown his abundance of talent and wisdom to those around him even as a young man. He must have been quite ambitious. Throughout his life, Caesar was always publicly oriented and popularly minded, relying on the support and popularity of the masses. This is not to say that he did not play tricks. He has played with power, and his position has always been that of a man who is always ready to take the lead. And while it is true that his position was always that of the powerful, he never forgot the power of the masses. Whether this was his natural disposition or his reading of politics, I do not know. However, I believe that behind his many outstanding judgments lay a certainty of his eye for the masses. (Omitted).
He consolidated his political base through his own marriages and those of his daughters. He built a series of public facilities to gain public support, and supported entertainment shows to gain popularity. He was generous in every way. He was always mindful of what would benefit the masses. The distribution of war profits was no exception.
In ancient times, wars were lucrative. Of course, if they lost, they were worthless, but if they won, they led to enormous profits. It often did. Caesar won often. He won often, made a lot of money, and distributed it well.
Shinchosha, Atouda Takashi, To Enjoy Shakespeare, p203-205.
Caesar appeared at the very time when the Roman Empire was at its peak. No wonder the times produce heroes.
Caesar's position in the empire becomes more solid, but with it comes an increase in political enemies. Let's continue to look at the explanations.
As Caesar's popularity grew and his power increased, his relationship with Pompeius became strained and hostile. The Senate became increasingly wary of Caesar, and finally, in 49 B.C., it issued a summons to Caesar, who was stationed on the outskirts of Rome, to disband his army and report to the Senate. He was likely to be executed as a criminal.
Caesar crossed the Rubicon River with his famous words, "The die is cast. With his army, he marched on Rome and seized the initiative. Pompeius flees to Egypt, where he is assassinated. Caesar also invaded Egypt, where he met Cleopatra and appointed her king under Roman protection. He further invaded Asia Minor. On his return to Rome, he killed one prominent political opponent after another, seized full power, and became dictator for life.
It was a crisis of republicanism.
In ancient times, republics were the exception. It was more normal for a king with absolute power to rule the nation. In fact, ancient Rome itself was soon to be transformed into an empire, so it is not surprising that the supporters of the republican system, especially the Senate, felt uneasy at this time. It was against this background that Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" opens its first act.
Shinchosha, Atouda Takashi, To Enjoy Shakespeare, p. 206-207
Once you understand this background, this work becomes all the more interesting.
Now that we have some background, let's look again at the synopsis presented at the beginning of this article.
Brutus, a noble and brave general, in an attempt to stay true to his political ideals, stabs the Roman despot Caesar to death in the Senate Hall. The people applauded Brutus, but Antony's impeachment speech, which skillfully led the people, turned the tables and Brutus was banished from Rome. ...... A political tragedy that lives on today in a concise, clear style.
Shinchosha, back cover of Julius Caesar, translated by Tsunenobu Fukuda
Brutus is an honorable warlord.
Brutus could not approve of Caesar's abolition of the republic and his becoming a dictator. For Brutus, Caesar's actions were perceived as a betrayal of his beloved Rome. Caesar had ambitions to be a dictator. That is why he decided to assassinate him.
The virtuous Brutus has no personal grudge against Caesar. That is why he says, "I do not love Caesar, but I love Rome.
And after the assassination of Caesar, he had to explain the murder to the Roman crowds. Caesar was overwhelmingly popular. The people would not be satisfied unless the killing was for a good cause.
He delivers a well-reasoned and sincere speech. The people seemed to be convinced by his well-reasoned speech.
But all this is overturned by Antony's speech, who is assigned to deliver the speech that follows.
Antony was Caesar's confidant and respected him wholeheartedly. Naturally, he could not approve of his assassination.
Antony emotionally addresses the people. His ability to incite the people is evident in his speeches, which begin to move people's hearts.
There is a type of person who is a great orator, a person who drives people to a frenzy. Antony was just such a person.
People mourn the slain Caesar and explode with grief at the loss of him. When this happens, the bad guy no longer moves on to the underdog, Brutus.
The sheer cleverness of this speech has not faded at all in modern times.
We would very much like to share some of them with you here.
Friends, citizens of Rome, fellow citizens, lend me your ears. I am here now to bury Caesar, not to glorify him. A man's evil deeds remain with him until his death, and his good deeds are often buried with his bones in the earth, so let it be with Caesar: ......
Brutus, a man of integrity, said before you that Caesar was ambitious. If so, that was a grievous fault. And, alas, Caesar was rewarded for it. ......
It is only with the approval of Brutus and others, and because Brutus was a man of integrity, as are all others, that I am now able to offer these words of remembrance for Caesar. ......
Caesar was my friend and was always faithful and fair to me. But, says Brutus, Caesar was ambitious. And Brutus, a man of honor, ...... said that during his lifetime Caesar had taken many prisoners of war back to Rome, and that he had paid the ransom for every one of them to the treasury. Does such an attitude of Caesar's show even a hint of ambition?
Caesar wept also when he saw the poor weeping with hunger. Ambition should be made of something more ruthless. But, Brutus says, Caesar had ambition in his heart.
And Brutus is a man of justice. You all know that on the day of the festival of Lupercalia, I offered the crown to Caesar three times, and he offered it to me three times.卻The first thing he did was to make a decision. Was this ambition? But, says Brutus, Caesar was ambitious.
And, of course, Brutus is a man of integrity. I am not here to deny what Brutus said, but only to say what I know.
We all used to love Caesar, of course, and for good reason. If so, what reason do we have now to suppress our hearts in mourning for Caesar? Oh, now that sense has run to the beast, have people lost their reason? ...... Forgive me, all, my heart is with Caesar in that hearse, and I cannot go on until it returns. (crying)
Shinchosha, translation by Tsunen Fukuda, Julius Caesar, p. 92-93
Some line breaks have been made.
How about. But, says Brutus, Caesar was ambitious." The repetition of this phrase was so exquisite that I couldn't help but let out an exclamation of "Wow..." when I read it.
He has managed to reverse Brutus's well-reasoned and sincere speech and make it so emotionally charged.
The speech continues and the crowd goes into a frenzy.
In this situation, Brutus has no chance to win. Antony wins outright, having swayed the emotions of the crowd.
It was such a brilliant speech.
I was somewhat disturbed by the speech, however.
Indeed, Antony won with this speech.
But Brutus was not necessarily wrong. He did have a good cause. And even after his banishment, he did not lose his integrity until his death.
Antony won because he delivered an emotional speech and successfully incited the crowd.
And without any solid examination of whether Caesar actually had ambitions or whether Brutus' actions were truly justified, the people became enthusiastic and began to accuse him of guilt, even though they had been convinced by Brutus' speech just a few moments earlier.
This is a history that has been repeated many times in the history of mankind.
People are enthused by the speeches of the emotionally charged agitators, and they push forward without verifying the facts. And then the madness leads to tragedy...
This is a terrible fact, as history has proven. And it may still be true today.
Shakespeare may have been mindful of such a human condition.
Julius Caesar" was a work that left a strong impression on me. It was most interesting to read after knowing the synopsis and background. I highly recommend it.
And if you read this "Julius Caesar", I also recommend "Antony and Cleopatra".
This is a sequel to "Julius Caesar" and describes what happened to Antony after his famous speech. I highly recommend this book as well.
The above is a synopsis of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" - a masterpiece famous for Caesar's famous quote "Brutus, you too?
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