Julius Caesar Funeral Orations, Part Three: Antony (sections 1-3 in detail)

Yesterday, we looked at Antony’s funeral oration in Act Three, Scene Two of Julius Caesar, presenting the text and a brief overview of what I see as the six sections of the oration (the ten speeches of more than a single line in the sequence, with most speeches comprising their own section, but two sections made up of three short consecutive speeches).

Today, let’s follow up with a deeper dive into the first half of the oration (sections one through three–speeches one through five)…

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Julius Caesar Funeral Orations, Part Two: Antony (the overview)

Yesterday, we started to look at the funeral orations that come hot on the heels of the assassination in Julius Caesar, beginning with Brutus.

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Julius Caesar Funeral Orations, Part One: Brutus

In the aftermath of the assassination of the titular Julius Caesar, there are back-to-back funeral speeches by Brutus and Antony. Over the next few entries, we’ll take a look at them both.

First up, Brutus.

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Julius Caesar: Miscalculation + Mistakes = Tragedy

In the two tragedies we’ve covered thus far, the downfalls come from outside forces: Titus has to deal with the machinations of Tamora and Aaron; Romeo and Juliet are victims of circumstance (at least to the point where the choices they have are limited to bad ones). In Julius Caesar, though, most of the wounds feel self-inflicted.

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Podcast 89: Julius Caesar: Video Reviews (plus one)

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This week’s podcast continues our two month-long discussion of Julius Caesar, with reviews of some of the video productions available, plus a live theater (though non-Cesarean) review as well.

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The Comedy of Julius Caesar (wait, what — oh, you get the picture)

Yesterday, we discussed the very limited uses of bawdy in Julius Caesar. It was a short entry. I don’t expect today’s to be much longer, as we’re discussing comedy in the play.

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The Bawdy of Julius Caesar (wait, what bawdy?)

Eric Partridge, in his (pretty much indispensable) work on the racy bits of the Bard, Shakespeare’s Bawdy, says of our current play under discussion, Julius Caesar:

After Richard II, the cleanest historical play; and cleaner even than A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest
  • Shakespeare’s Bawdy, Partridge, Eric. New York: Routledge, 2008; pages 55

No lie, Mr. Partridge.

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Julius Caesar: History vs. Drama

Shakespeare is notorious for pliable history, that which he can bend, stretch, mold and work into any shape which pleases him and helps him make a dramatic (and–if you’re inclined–political) point. Remember Hotspur-as-contemporary-of-Hal (when he was actually older than Henry IV)? Or the ridiculous Tudor-centric retelling of the War of the Roses stuff in the Henry VI plays? Well, there’s nothing that bad in Julius Caesar, but there is some fudging of facts…

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