Julius Caesar

Nothing gets our attention quite like good ol' fashioned political intrigue. Betrayal. Lies. Politics. Sounds like the latest episode of Scandal, doesn't it? Ah, but we're talking Julius Caesar, folks. You know, that old dude who lived in Rome? Yeah, that one.

We know ancient history doesn't always get you rabidly reading tabloid rags. But Shakespeare's Julius Caesar should definitely satisfy your penchant for sordid gossip and shocking corruption. It's got all the makings of a TV drama, and yet it's a dusty old play from 400 years ago. Oh, Shakey, you were always so ahead of the curve. 

We know what you're thinking: Which Shakespeare play isn't about these things? Fair enough. Shakespeare was a fan of writing about men in power and the ways it destroyed them. But Caesar's power is in a class of its own, and in this course, we'll focus on the havoc that power—you might even call it tyranny—can wreak.

By the end of this course, you should be able to

• identify dramatic irony and foreshadowing, and their significance in Julius Caesar.
• discuss the use of male friendships to provide tension and characterization in the play. 
• compare and contrast the role of men and women in Julius Caesar, and the function of creating wives for the characters.
• define and explain the rationale behind the assassination of Julius Caesar. 
• use textual evidence from Julius Caesar to support original arguments about the play's themes, characters, and literary techniques.

Just stay away on the ides of March, yeah?

Unit Breakdown