Happy Battle Of Actium Day! On this day in 31BC, Marc Antony and his Egyptian army faced off against the might of Octavius Caesar! Here’s a documentary to explain more:
Battle of Actium (31 BC) – Final War of the Roman Republic DOCUMENTARY
stories
Review: Tim Curry as William Shakespeare
On August 25th, 2026, the world lost an incredible performer. Notable for his film roles in Clue,Muppet Treasuren Island It, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, as well as countless voice-over roles in film, TV, and audiobooks, Mr Curry had an incredible onstage personality and a versitile, commanding voice that landed itself well to slimy villains, megalomaniacal tyrants, and delicate fey characters.
If you’re familiar with his work, you probably won’t be surprised that Curry was a classically trained stage actor with equally impressive credits onstage. He originated the role of Mozart in Amedeus, played Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirate King to great acclaim, and won numerous theater awards on both sides of the Atlantic.
For a while, I’ve wanted to honor this great performer, but I couldn’t find a way to do it on this platform. That is until I found this:
This was a 1978 British TV mini series about the life of Shakespeare, with Mr Curry as the title character. This is why I will provide a series of summaries of these episodes and discuss how Mr Curry adds to the mythos and historiography of Shakespeare
Episode 1: Dead Shepherd
We’re all dying, for poets it just comes earlier
Christopher Marlowe
We begin with Hamnet, no not Shakespeare’s ill-fated son, but Hamnet Sadler, Shakespeare’s friend from Stratford (and his son’s godfather). The fish-out-of water from Stratford has come to pass along messages (and a roasted chicken) to Shakespeare. As he delivers it, Shakespeare boasts about his success as an actor, performing in Doctor Faustus and winning the acclaim of both his fellow actors and the public. The problem is… this tale is a lie; Shakespeare is just a horse valet for the theater, while the brash and flamboyant Christopher Marlowe (Ian McShane), is the greatest playwright in London…for now.
Dead shepherd, now I see thy saw of might;
Whoever loved, that loved not at first sight?
William Shakespeare- As You Like It
The title refers to how Shakespeare falls in love with theater at first sight, and how London immediately falls in love with his talents.
Tim Curry on Playing Shakespeare
He’s a kind of ambitious country boy who learns fast” driven by the intense, fast-paced survival energy of the Elizabethan age.
Curry’s Shakespeare is full of energy and bravado. This is best demonstrated in the scene where he gets out of a cart full of straw, jumps up to the rafters of the Globe, jumps onstage, recites Faustus, and sings! He has a fiery energy and you can see how this Shakespeare is a man of ambitious energy, yet still possessed of an idealistic soul.
Ian McShane by contrast, is witty and world-weary with a dangerous edge. He has fallen out of love with theater; more interested in court intrigue. This leads him to spy for the Queen like an Elizabethan James Bond. Unlike Bond however, Marlowe is brutally murdered by agents from his own government! While all the London theater mourns his loss, his death also sets the stage for Shakespeare’s meteoric rise as the premier poet of England.
I’ll continue reviewing each subsequent episode on this page and also my podcast. Stay tuned!
Tim Curry Starred In A Forgotten Series About Shakespeare With An Impressive Cast https://share.google/skBs5Kd5NgtOnMPrO
https://share.google/skBs5Kd5NgtOnMPrO
Period Documents
Document-specific information
Creator: Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Title: Parish Register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Date: 1558-1776
Repository: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Call number and opening: DR243/1: Baptismal register, fol. 22v
View online bibliographic record
Web
King Edward Grammar School History: https://www.kes.net/about-us/history-of-the-school/
Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust- The Second Best Bed: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/second-best-bed/
Coffin Archive.org- The Evolution of the English Shroud: From Single Sheet To Draw-Strings and Sleeves: http://www.archive.coffinworks.org/uncategorised/the-evolution-of-the-english-shroud-from-single-sheet-to-draw-strings-and-sleeves/
How Accurate is Hamnet Part III: The Movie
On August 11th, 1596, Shakespeare lost his only son.
This very day, 2026. I sat down to watch the movie about him. I will compile my thoughts into a complete review in a while, but for now, let’s just say, it was absolutely incredible.
Biography of Hamnet
Just like his famous father, we know very little about the life of Hamnet Shakespeare. Since infant mortality rates were high, we don’t know his exact birthday, only that he was baptized on February 2nd, 1582. Like most 11-year old boys, he probably had started going to school at the King Edward Grammer School, the same as his father. This means he spent long hours away from his parents learning to read and write in Latin and Greek. When he was home, he lived with his mother, his two sisters, and his grandparents in the house of Henley Street.
https://www.kes.net/about-us/history-of-the-school/
O’Farrel portrays the boy Hamnet as sensitive and somewhat lonely. The movie captures this
1589-1596
Never mind what I know. You must go.” She pushes at his chest, putting air and space between them, feeling his arms slide off her, disentangling them. His face is crumpled, tense, uncertain. She smiles at him, drawing in breath. “I won’t say goodbye,” she says, keeping her voice steady. “Neither will I.” “I won’t watch you walk away.” “I’ll walk backwards,” he says, backing away, “so I can keep you in my sights.” “All the way to London?” “If I have to.” She laughs. “You’ll fall into a ditch. You’ll crash into a cart.” “So be it.
O’Farrell
The novel portrays Anne Shakespeare realizing that her husband is stifled and unhappy living with his parents in Stratford, and so she suggests to his father that he go to London to ‘expand the family business,’ though in reality, she wants him to go to make his fortune and find more fulfilling work.
Gloves
A glover will only ever want the skin, the surface, the outer layer. Everything else is useless, an inconvenience, an unnecessary mess. She thinks of the private cruelty behind something as beautiful and perfect as a glove.
Hamnet
The Plague
He wants to tear down the sky, he wants to rip every blossom from that tree, he wishes to take a burning branch and drive that pink-clad girl and her nag over a cliff, just to be rid of them, to clear them all out of his way. So many miles, so much road stands between him and his child, and so few hours left.
Hamnet
In the book, the plague germs that infect Judith and later Hamnet, lie inside a box with some glass beads that the Shakespeare’s ordered from Italy to decorate a pair of fancy gloves.
Hamnet’s Death
He can feel Death in the room, hovering in the shadows, over there beside the door, head averted, but watching all the same, always watching. It is waiting, biding its time. It will slide forward on skinless feet, with breath of damp ashes, to take her, to clasp her in its cold embrace, and he, Hamnet, will not be able to wrest her free.
Hamnet
In the novel, Hamnet somehow takes the plague away from his sister and dies in her place. Though it is hardly conclusive, I do find it interesting that Shakespeare stopped writing comedies about twins for another four years after Hamnet’s death, until he wrote Twelfth Night, which unlike earlier comedies like The Comedy of Errors, has a pair of twins mourning each other’s apparent death. They seem to share one soul, and one tries to resurrect the other, like Viola mourning her brother by, (in a sense), becoming her brother.
What should I do in Ilyria? My brother is in Elysium
Viola- “Twelfth Night”, Act I, Scene ii.
ELIZABETHAN FUNERAL CUSTOMS
In the book, Anne makes a winding sheet for her son. This was a cloth of linen or wool that was wrapped around dead bodies, since at the time, coffins were re-used. This must have been a somber and deeply upsetting activity for Anne.
The act of making a winding sheet was a sort of sad family responsibility, a way of ensuring that your loved ones die with dignity, and Anne clearly takes the task of making one very seriously.
The Aftermath Of Hamnet’s Death (Spoilers)
The Women of Hamnet
The most unique thing about this novel is how it shows the interdependence of women in Elizabethan society. Since Shakespeare spends most of the novel away from Anne, her support system mostly comes from Will’s mother Mary, as well as Anne’s daughters, her sister, and all the other women of the town. Nowadays we do most of our socialization online and barely know our own neighbors, but in the 1590s, especially for women, community was a way of building strength where women got through things like childbirth, loss, the managing of households, and many other difficulties through their relationships with other women. This video below shows the kinds of home remedies that women would share and later write down during the Tudor period:
Other Mysteries Solved
Once Hamnet dies, Will buys her a new house, New Place so she isn’t forced to live with his parents and no longer has to live in the house where her son died. But Will’s success comes with a price- he still has to leave for London. he offers to move them there but Agnes won’t hear of it. This solves the riddle of why Shakespeare commuted between town and country for his entire career- she knows the plague that took her son literally came from London, and she won’t risk losing her daughter as well. She probably also sees London like another woman that took her husband away as well, and therefore refuses to look it in the face.
It is no matter,” she pants, as they struggle there, beside the guzzling swine. “I know. You are caught by that place, like a hooked fish.” “What place? You mean London?” “No, the place in your head. I saw it once, a long time ago, a whole country in there, a landscape. You have gone to that place and it is now more real to you than anywhere else. Nothing can keep you from it. Not even the death of your own child. I see this,” she says to him, as he binds her wrists together with one of his hands, reaching down for the bag at his feet with the other. “Don’t think I don’t.”
O’Farrell, Hamnet.
The Shakespeares’ Marriage after Hamnet
The ugly truth that O’Farrell highlights in Hamnet is that it must have been very hard for the Shakespeares to endure Hamnet’s death, especially since Will was probably not there when it happened, and probably didn’t stay around long after burying his son.
Hamnet and Shakespeare
Raising the Dead
Hamlet, here, on this stage, is two people, the young man, alive, and the father, dead. He is both alive and dead. Her husband has brought him back to life, in the only way he can. As the ghost talks, she sees that her husband, in writing this, in taking the role of the ghost, has changed places with his son. He has taken his son’s death and made it his own; he has put himself in death’s clutches, resurrecting the boy in his place. “O horrible! O horrible! Most horrible!” murmurs her husband’s ghoulish voice, recalling the agony of his death.
O’Farrell, “Hamnet”
References
Journals
Bray, Peter. “Men, loss and spiritual emergency: Shakespeare, the death of Hamnet and the making of Hamlet.” Journal of Men, Masculinities and Spirituality, vol. 2, no. 2, June 2008, pp. 95+. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A189052376/LitRC?u=pl9286&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=ea79f235. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.
Period Documents
Document-specific information
Creator: Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Title: Parish Register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Date: 1558-1776
Repository: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Call number and opening: DR243/1: Baptismal register, fol. 22v
View online bibliographic record
Web
King Edward Grammar School History: https://www.kes.net/about-us/history-of-the-school/
Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust- The Second Best Bed: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/second-best-bed/
Coffin Archive.org- The Evolution of the English Shroud: From Single Sheet To Draw-Strings and Sleeves: http://www.archive.coffinworks.org/uncategorised/the-evolution-of-the-english-shroud-from-single-sheet-to-draw-strings-and-sleeves/
Special Discount on my Star Wars Class for May the Fourth!
Get $10 off my class “Shakespeare and Star Wars” with coupon code HTHESFQWUI10 until May 22, 2026. Get started at https://outschool.com/classes/shakespeare-and-star-wars-MA83xDoK and enter the coupon code at checkout.
Enjoy this video trailer and a podcast episode to see some of the ways I’ve traveled to a Galaxy Far Far Away, with Shakespeare’s ghost as my Jedi Master:
Shakespeare’s Fools
This clip from Mel Brooks’ comic masterpiece History of the World, Part I, has the writer/director perform as Comicus, a ‘stand-up philosopher’ from Ancient Rome- a philosopher who is basically a stand-up comic. As you’ll see, unlike clowns, most of Shakespeare’s fools basically fulfill this role- to satirize and make fun of people and institutions.
What Is A Fool?
Fools Vs. Clowns
A fool is the renaissance version of a minstrel- an official royal entertainer who worked at royal courts. A clown is a comic part in a play. They often danced, sang, and did improv comedy. To illustrate the difference, here’s a short video about the life of Henry VIII’s favorite fool- Will Sommers
Foolish Founding Fathers
All of Shakespeare’s fools and clowns are based on ancient Italian sources-from the Roman comedies of Plautus and Terrence to the improvised comedy known as Commedia Del ‘ Arte
Commedia is based on stock character types that Shakespeare adapted and fleshed out- Arlequinno became the constantly hungry Dromio, (among others), while Capitano became Falstaff and Pistol. Even Shylock has remnants of Brighella in his DNA. According to Dario Fo in his book: Manuale Minimodell’Attore, Shakespeare adapted stock characters from commedia to be his clowns, and sarcastic characters called sots, who commented on the action to become his fools (Fo, 107)
Will Kempe- Shakespeare’s First Great Clown
Despite his strength and skill as a dancer, Kempe specialized in playing oafish buffoons like Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, Falstaff in the Henry IV plays, and Peter in Romeo and Juliet. In the Second Quarto edition of Romeo and Juliet, you can see in the stage directions “Enter Will Kempe,” right before Peter speaks:
According to Will In the World by Steven Greenblatt, Kempe and Shakespeare had a falling out in the late 1590s, which many scholars have assumed might have been due to Shakespeare’s distaste for clowns wasting time with jokes that bogged down the play:
Hamlet:
Let those that play your
clowns speak no more than is set down for them. For there
be of them will themselves laugh, to set on some
quantity of barren spectators to laugh too. Though in the
meantime, some necessary question of the play be then
to be considered. That's villainous, and shows a most pitiful
ambition in the fool that uses it. Hamlet, Act III, Scene ii.
Kempe, for his part, seemed a little big for his britches; he and his fellow clowns seemed to think that Shakespeare's scripts were just vehicles for his own jokes and songs (Reynolds, 247). He then sold his share in the Chamberlain's Men, derriding them in print as "My notable Shake-rags," and then staged a publicity stunt where he danced across England!
1600-1613: The Golden Age Of Foolery
Kempe’s replacement was Robert Armin, an accomplished writer and singer, who specialized in playing satirical Fool roles. Armin appeared in several Shakespearean plays after 1599.
Unlike Kempe, Armin’s characters are essential to the plot of the play, and his jokes support the themes and ideas of the plays themselves. As Feste in Twelfth Night, Armin makes jokes that make fun of the overly-serious Orsino and Countess Olivia:
Feste. Good madonna, why mournest thou?
Olivia. Good fool, for my brother's death.
Feste. I think his soul is in hell, madonna.
Olivia. I know his soul is in heaven, fool.
Feste. The more fool, madonna, to mourn for your brother's
soul being in heaven. Take away the fool, gentlemen. Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene v.
Sometimes Armin’s characters are satirical mirrors of Elizabethan society; in As You Like It, Touchstone the Fool mocks the culture of dueling; implying that there are hundreds of loopholes that a gentleman may use to challenge a man to a duel, without actually fighting.
- Touchstone. I did dislike the cut of a certain
courtier’s beard; he sent me word, if I said his beard was not
cut well, he was in the mind it was. This is call’d the Retort
Courteous. If I sent him word again it was not well cut, he would
send me word he cut it to please himself. This is call’d the Quip
Modest. If again it was not well cut, he disabled my judgment.
This is call’d the Reply Churlish. If again it was not well cut,
he would answer I spake not true. This is call’d the Reproof
Valiant. If again it was not well cut, he would say I lie. This
is call’d the Countercheck Quarrelsome. And so to the Lie
Circumstantial and the Lie Direct. - Jaques (lord). And how oft did you say his beard was not well cut?
- Touchstone. I durst go no further than the Lie Circumstantial, nor
he durst not give me the Lie Direct; and so we measur’d swords
and parted.
The Fool in “King Lear”
Perhaps Armin’s greatest comic creation was The Fool in King Lear; the ultimate satirist who makes fun of the king’s foolish choices. He tries to talk sense to the increasingly mad king, until he vanishes entirely, and Lear himself starts making fool-like cracks at the audience:
Lear Thou hast seen a
farmer's dog bark at a beggar?
Earl of Gloucester. Ay, sir.
Lear. And the creature run from the cur? There thou mightst behold
the great image of authority: a dog's obeyed in office.
The usurer hangs the cozener.
Through tatter'd clothes small vices do appear;
Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks;
Arm it in rags, a pygmy's straw does pierce it.
None does offend, none- I say none! Get thee glass eyes
And, like a scurvy politician, seem
To see the things thou dost not. King Lear, Act IV, Scene vi.
Through realizing his own foolishness, Lear recovers his sanity, and makes peace with his daughter, which beautifully shows the importance of fools, clowns, and satirists; to question ourselves, to sharpen our critical thinking, and to endure hardships with good humor. Therefore on this April Fools Day, I say,
“Here’s to the fools, to folly, to farce. Let them push the wealthy on the ar— APRIL FOOLS!”
References
Best, Michael. “Shakespeare’s Actors: Will Kempe” Internet Shakespeare Editions, University of Victoria, 28 Sept. 2016, ise.uvic.ca/Foyer/citing. Accessed 30 Sept. 2023.
Fo, Dario. Manuale Minimodell’Attore (English: “The Tricks Of the Trade” Translated by Joe Farrell, 1991. Accessed online at Google Books: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Tricks_of_the_Trade/akEJ9Ew9GaoC?hl=en&gbpv=1. 29 March. 2023.
For more tomfoolery
I teach a class specifically on Shakespeare’s comedies where I’ll talk a lot about the way Shakespeare writes clowns. I’ll also delve into the history of Commedia Del’Arte and how it influenced Shakespeare’s characters! For more information, visit http://www.outschool.com
New Outschool Class: Shakespeare For Kids
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve created a fully online, interactive Shakespeare class for kids ages 6-11 to start them on a lifelong journey of Shakespeare! The course will include games, videos, webquest activities, and puppet shows!
Title: Shakespeare for Kids!
Purpose:
The goal of this class is to introduce Shakespeare to young children in a fun and interactive way. For example, each lesson starts with a fun and funny introduction to a Shakespearean topic by our friend Puppet Shakespeare. Each class will also feature interactive games and quizzes that break down the poetry, language, characters, and plots of Shakespeare to help kids lose their “Shakes-fear” and begin engaging with classic literature
Each class builds from learning about Shakespeare to learning about the language and poetry of his plays, to finally an in-depth analysis of one play: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” After watching videos, playing games, and filling out handouts about these topics, the student will go on a “webquest,” that is, a series of webpages that feature activities, outside websites, and a short- puppet show retelling of “Midsummer” for the student. The goal is that by the end of the course, the student will be able to understand the dialogue of the play, summarize the story, know the characters, and enjoy the poetry.
Format: Nearpod with video and web links.
Ages 6-10
Description:
2 week course, $10 per week.
Part I: Who Is Shakespeare?
Learn about Shakespeare’s life and career with an interactive timeline, handouts, and an engaging puppet show! This section will include me reading from the excellent children’s book: William Shakespeare and the Globe by Aliki.
Part II: Words, Words, Words
WIlliam Shakespeare (Or Bill as I like to call him), wrote in a very special way. Back then playwrights were called poets, so not only did he have to make plays, he had to write them so they would sound like lines of poetry.
Part III: Shakespeak
Figure out how to translate all the “thees” and “thous” that make reading Shakespeare a challenge nowadays
Part IV The Play’s the Thing!
What kinds of plays did Shakespeare write? This handy lesson will teach you about the basic types of plays Shakespeare wrote, and give you a quick summary of each!
Part V: Disney vs. Shakespeare
Lost for 400 Years: Researcher Discover Hidden Copy of Shakespeare Sonnet
New Class: The Violent Rhetoric Of “Julius Caesar” (Flex Schedule Edition)
Course Description
- Concept: To explore the plot, characters, and themes of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar while also gaining an insight into Ancient Roman history and culture.
- Student Description: Delve into the passionate speeches of Brutus and Antony in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, which led a whole country to revolution.
- Parent Description Using self-paced online activities, and a helpful handout, your child(ren) will analyze the rhetoric and persuasive power in two speeches from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” The course will also cover the culture of Ancient Rome, and the circumstances that led to Julius Caesar’s assasination, which inadvertently led to the birth of the Roman Empire.
- Course Organizaiton (the class is divided into 4 parts that students can complete at their own pace over a week-long period
- Each lesson will have:
- “That Is the Question” (Essential Question)
- Lesson Objectives
- Set the Scene (Background and context)- 1-3 slides
- The Players (biography) 1-3 slides
- Go Deeper (Webquest)
- Explore military life and the lives of women in Rome using my blog and other websites as a guide.
- Post 3 things you learned to the Outschool page or send a photo of your completed handout.
- Words, Words Words (Vocabulary, famous lines)
- A Taste of Your Quality (Independant Project)
- Show us your mettle (Test)
- So each class should be 14-15 slides long.
- Each lesson will have:
Outline
Class I- Background on Caesar and Roman Culture
- That is the Question:
Why did Brutus feel Julius Caesar had to die?What was the aftermath?Can one person’s speech effect an entire nation?
- Lesson Objectives
To provide historical and political context to explain why Julius Caesar was assassinated, and how his death inadvertantly created the Roman Empire.To explain the Rhetorical Triangle, the building blocks of persuasive speech.To go through the story of Julius Caesar focusing on the effect of the speeches.To study the famous “Friends, Romans Countrymen” speech.To contrast this speech with some more recent political speeches and you think critically about:What does the speaker want?What tactics does he use?How effective is it?
- Set the Scene
- History
- Government
- Horrible History
- Military
- Government
- Culture
- Fashion: https://shakespeareanstudent.com/2022/03/11/the-fashion-is-the-fashion-ancient-roman-fashion-and-beauty/
- Role of Women: https://shakespeareanstudent.com/2021/03/29/i-lift-the-veil-on-shakespeares-celebrated-roman-female-characters-and-discuss-the-social-norms-they-embodied-and-challenged/
- The Lupercal- https://wordpress.com/post/shakespeareanstudent.com/4545
- History
- The Players (slides)
- Julius Caesar Julius Caesar – Greatest Conqueror Ever?
- Cassius Longinus
- Marcus Brutus
- Marc Antony
- Go Deeper-
- Go to Google Arts and Culture and find 3 facts and 3 pictures of Caesar
- Answer the following Questions:
- Name 3 jobs Caesar had in the Roman Republic
- Was Caesar Deaf? Was he epileptic?
- Name 3 things Caesar accomplished during his career.
Go to opensourceshakespeare.com and look at Caesar’s lines- how does Caesar view himself? Write 3 examples.
- Words Words Words
- Republic
- Dictator
- Lupercal
- Assassinate
- Senate
- A Taste Of Your Quality
- Make a news headline about Caesar’s triumph. How would you report on it? Would you be allowed to say anything bad about Caesar?
- Show Us Your Mettle
- Quizlet for the terms
Class 2- Cassius Manipulates Brutus
That Is the Question-
How does Cassius convince his brother-in-law Brutus to betray and assassinate Caesar, his friend and colleague?
Learning Objectives-
- To give historical context as to why the Senate in general, (and Cassius in particular), feared and hated Caesar.
- To examine Brutus’ character
- To demonstrate how Cassius uses persuasive speech
Setting the Scene- The Plot
The Players-
Cassius- slide/ https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeare-learning-zone/julius-caesar/character/whos-who
Write 3 facts we learn about Cassius at the start of the play:
Brutus:
https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeare-learning-zone/julius-caesar/character/whos-who
Go Deeper-
Brutus- Podcast episode. I posit in this episode that Brutus is
Words, Words, Words-
- Traitor
- Republic
- Dictator
- Revolution
- Ethos
- Pathos
- Logos
- Rhetoric
- Colossus
- Aeneus
A Taste Of Your Quality:
(Independent work): We’ll examine a painting of Brutus’ ancestor Lucius and learn why Brutus values Rome more than even family.
Show Us Your Mettle:
Quizzes on Brutus
Class 3- Antony and Brutus’ Dueling Speeches
That Is the Question
- After Caesar’s Death, his friend Marc Antony held a funeral for him where he gives the famous “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” speech. How did Antony’s speech affect the crowd?
- Brutus has a speech where he explains why he killed Caesar. What does he say, and how effectively does he say it?
- Antony was secretly plotting to take power for himself, and get Brutus and Cassius killed. How did he do it?
- Do speeches have the power to change a nation?
Learning Objectives
- To explain the Rhetorical Triangle, the building blocks of persuasive speech.
- To study the famous “Friends, Romans Countrymen” speech, as well
- To look at these speeches and get you to think critically about:
- What does the speaker want?
- What tactics does he use?
- How effective is it?
Setting the Scene
RSC Learning Zone- Act III, Scene 2 https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeare-learning-zone/julius-caesar/story/scene-by-scene
The Players (use the videos from the RSC)
Brutus- Man of Honour VS Man of Action | Julius Caesar | Royal Shakespeare Company
Antony Julius Caesar, Act 3 Scene 2 | 2012 | Royal Shakespeare Company
Go Deeper
- Go to my blog post and learn about the terms for rhetorical devices:
- https://shakespeareanstudent.com/2018/04/21/close-reading-friends-romans-countrymen/
Words, Words, Words
- Irony
- Antimetabole
- Rhetoric
- Countrymen
- Lend
- Interred
- Noble
- Hath
- Grievous
- Coffer
- Honorable
- Lupercal
- Cause
- Mourn
A Taste Of Your Quality
- Watch the video of Antony’s speech:
- fill out the handout:
- Write 2-3 sentences about Marc Antony’s speech about what he was trying to
- get the crowd to do and how he used rhetoric to do it.
- Use at least 2 quotes and identify whether they use Ethos, Pathos, or Logos
- https://myshakespeare.com/julius-caesar/act-3-scene-2
- https://www.bardweb.net/content/readings/caesar/lines.html
Quizzes
Class 4- After Caesar-
We’ll talk about the consequences of violent revolutions and how Julius Caesar has inspired some of the greatest speeches in political history.
-Patrick Henry
– Gettysburg Address
– Mean Girls
That Is the Question
- How have people interpreted the play “Julius Caesar” in America?
- Does this play promote violence?
- What kind of violent speech do we deal with in politics today?
Learning Objectives
- To show the link between American History and Julius Caesar
- To address the controversy and the misconception that the play promotes violent assassination.
- To end on a cautionary note people must think critically about what they hear in politics and not make rash decisions based on appeals to fear.
Setting the Scene- US History
- America was founded using the principles of republican government that Ancient Rome used- with a senate, and a series of checks and balances to ensure no one has too much power.
- America was founded in a violent revolution, and some of our country’s early leaders used Brutus as an inspiration- to overcome a tyrannical king.
- In later years, however, some people have forgotten what happened to Brutus
- Today, we are often bombarded with speech that encourages fear and anger and we must think critically when we hear such speech in whatever forum- Roman, or Reddit.
The Players (use my JC lecture?)
- Patrick Henry
- Abraham Lincoln
- John Wilkes Booth
- Donald Trump
Go Deeper
-Watch the Caesar Video
– How does the play promote nonviolence?
– How did Brutus’ assassination fail to save the Roman Republic?
Words, Words, Words
Four-score
Dedicate
proposition
Civil War
Endure
Consecrate
Devotion
A Taste Of Your Quality (Night Cafe)
- Use AI to create your own image for Julius Caesar
- What time and place would you set the play in?
- how do you see him- is he a hero, or a tyrant?
Happy International Women’s Day
Happy International Women’s Day! I would like to dedicate my posts today to my daughter, a wonderful strong girl, a Shakespeare fan, and a lifelong lover of the musical “Six”.
Some of Shakespeare’s Best Female Characters
I’ve discussed Shakespeare’s best Mother characters before, and his Roman characters as well, but I thought I should include some of the ones who are not mothers and/or unmarried (at least for most of the play). I don’t want to rank these characters since I detest ranking women in general, so here are some of Shakespeare’s best characters, and some of their immortal speeches:
CleoPatra
Katherine Of Aragon
Even though “Henry the Eighth” is my least favorite Shakespeare play, I love how strong Katherine is and how well she fights against the machinations of Cardinal Woosey and her husband. She is a courageous, virtuous, and strong-minded woman, who when Henry demands that she consent to a divorce, Katherine simply says: “No Way!”
Lady Macbeth
A fascinating and electrifying character. She seduces her husband and makes him fully commit to murdering the king. If you look at the post above, you can see the multiple potential readings for why she courts evil spirits to convince her husband to murder the king. Her strength and energy is highly attractive and it was easy for me to see how a man might do anything to make her happy.
Isabella From “Measure For Measure”
I think Elizabethans would have seen the connection between the Virgin Queen who fought off assassination from the Pope, and Isabella, a virgin who fights off the advances of Angello, who seems pious, but who secretly is degenerate and cruel. Isabella even becomes a princess at the end of the play, (assuming she marries the Duke), which means she could literally become a Queen Elizabeth to English eyes.
https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeare-learning-zone/measure-for-measure/character/analysis
Portia Catonis (Wife of Brutus)
One of the best female characters in the Roman plays, Portia demands to be taken seriously as a wife and as a Roman citizen. In her one great scene we see her demand that Brutus tell her why he has been so distant and cold:
Some have speculated that in real life Portia helped Brutus with the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar, after all, she was the daughter of Caesar's great rival senator Cato, who was willing to die when he realized the Roman republic was finished.
Not only was the real Portia a great woman, she also inspired some great art. Below is the great masterpiece: Portia Wounding her Thigh, by Elisabetta Sirani (1664). According to Dr. DR. MAURA GLEESON, the painting was commissioned by a fabric merchant, which explains Portia's sumptuous outfit. Portia remains totally calm, yet focused and determined as the other women in the background idly spin clothes in the background. For more information on this masterpiece, click the link below:
If you’d like to learn more about Portia and Julius Caesar, sign up for my online class on the play via Outschool.com. Get a $5 discout with coupon code HTHES6Q5XA5 until Apr 2, 2024. Get started at https://outschool.com/classes/the-violent-rhetoric-of-julius-caesar-flex-schedule-edition-fwB3cwQM and enter the coupon code at checkout.
So happy International Women’s Day ladies! Hope you get some of the love and appreciation you deserve today! More posts coming soon!
The Shakespearean Student 