Thursday, December 17, 2009

"Julius Caesar" Book Review

Julius Caesar is a tragedy written about Julius Caesar and the events around his death. This play was very different than anything I have ever read.

Shakespeare has a unique writing style. I find Shakespeare's writing style difficult to read because he used many words that are not used today. I often had to read the side notes or look up what words meant. Also, he uses iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter makes the speaker sound more formal. Because this is a play, iambic pentameter is a good choice of style.

The main characters in Julius Caesar are Caesar, Brutus, and Mark Antony. These characters are actually people that lived a long time ago. Shakespeare used these people and important events in their life to produce this drama.

Julius Caesar tells the story of Julius Caesar's murder and his killers actions after Caesar's death. Many people, including Brutus, plotted against Caesar and killed him. This backfired on them because a civil war broke out and many of Caesar's killers ended up killing themselves in the end.

The theme of the play is "think before you act." Brutus, and the others that plotted to kill Caesar, thought they would kill him and everything would be okay. They did not think Mark Antony would turn everyone against them.

I did not enjoy this play, so I do not recommend Julius Caesar to anyone that enjoys an easy read. I would recommend this play to anyone that likes Shakespeare's work or enjoys a difficult read.

209 pages

2 comments:

  1. these blogs are expressive of your point of view.

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  2. I agree with you when you say iambic pentameter fits the play. It does make it sound more formal and professional, even though it is no fun to read.

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