Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar bored to tears me with the conventional Shakespearean plot and writing style. I at least expected a little diversity from a person considered the greatest writer of all time. I suppose that the play would be at least decent when preformed.

Shakespeare liked putting the supernatural in his dramas, or at least the dramas I have read of his. Maybe the supernatural embellishes the plot and appealed to the audience during the Renaissance. Maybe placing supernatural events in stories happens to be Shakespeare's signature style. Either way, the style lacks variety in the point of view of a modern reader. Shakespeare also used iambic pentameter in a majority --if not, all-- of his plays. Sure, Shakespeare can be considered a genius by using iambic pentameter, but he uses that too much for me to consider him very artistic.

When I look at just the story line alone, the drama does not appear to be so annoying. A powerful man is assassinated by men that he put his trust into (I am sure we all know about the tragedy off, so no surprises given away here). The story line had the ability to catch my attention in the first place; with out William Shakespeare's play. The play opens with two tribunes, Marullus and Flavius nagging Roman citizens for exalting Caesar. The two worry about Caesar perhaps becoming too powerful. Strange, supernatural happenings occur that night, which Cassius, Casca, and Cinna meet and come to the conclusion that they will overthrow Caesar by killing him. They recruit a few men: Decius Brutus, Trebonios Ligarus, and Metellus Cimber. Brutus just so happens to be a close friend of Caesar's. Caesar was previously warned by a soothsayer and his own wife that he would be murdered. Caesar's ignorance did not turn out to be so bliss, because he was stabbed multiple times by different people. The last one being his close friend, Brutus. The last words that left Caesar's mouth were, "Et tu, Brute?"(You to, Brutus?). The rest, I do not want to risk giving away to people who do not know about the tragedy.

Though I am not very fond of this play, I did pick up a life lesson from it: One cannot escape fate. Of course, most people's fates are not as brutal as Caesar's (thank goodness for that). Infact, fate can be a good happening, such as falling in love.

I enjoyed the storyline, but overall, this play did not appeal to me. The play could possibly appeal to those who do not get sick of Shakespeare's use of the supernatural.