...William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the character Marc Antony is given emotional and intellectual depth for the first time during his soliloquy with Caesar’s body in act three scene one. This is the first time the audience’s opinion of Julius Caesar is softened. Before Caesar’s death, the audience only knows the conspirators’ opinion on the ruler of Rome. “think him a serpent’s egg which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, and kill him in the shell.” Those who killed Caesar did not stab him for something he had done, but rather, for what he had the potential to do given enough power and opportunity. Marc Antony does not share this sentiment. He loved Caesar as much as Brutus did, but without doubting what Caesar would do with the power he is given. “Thou art the ruin of the noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times” Depending on who is playing the role of Antony, this can be a very moving scene. The emotional depth of Marc Antony plants a seed of doubt in the audience’s mind as to whether Caesar should have died or not. Marc Antony believes this assassination to be...
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...they are governing and how they could use their powers for the general good of the city and the people. This is particularly relevant to the character of Brutus during the play. During the scenes of William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, characters are able to rise to power through their particular strengths. These characters, Cassius, Brutus, and Antony all have different characteristics that helped them gain power within the city of Rome. However, these people also showed that they were human by having weaknesses that led to their down fall. Within a leader, it is important to look at their trustworthiness, honorability, reputation, and their use of empathy. These three characters all displayed differences within these traits which made them unique in their own ways. Within the scenes of Julius Caesar, Cassius, the leader of the conspiracy against Caesar, displays many strengths that guide him to the rise to power, and weaknesses which direct him to his eventual fall. Cassius believes that the people of Rome are responsible for the government of Rome. They have allowed a man to gain excessive power; therefore, they have the responsibility to stop him, and with a man of Caesar's well-known ambition, that can only mean assassination. Clearly, the most significant characteristic of Cassius is his ability to perceive the true motives of men; in other words, the ability to read or see through other people, which is called empathy. Caesar...
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...Julius Caesar full title · The Tragedy of Julius Caesar author · William Shakespeare type of work · Play genre · Tragic drama, historical drama language · English time and place written · 1599, in London date of first publication · Published in the First Folio of 1623, probably from the theater company’s official promptbook rather than from Shakespeare’s manuscript publisher · Edward Blount and William Jaggard headed the group of five men who undertook the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio narrator · None climax · Cassius’s death (V.iii), upon ordering his servant, Pindarus, to stab him, marks the point at which it becomes clear that the murdered Caesar has been avenged, and that Cassius, Brutus, and the other conspirators have lost in their attempt to keep Rome a republic rather than an empire. Ironically, the conspirators’ defeat is not yet as certain as Cassius believes, but his death helps bring about defeat for his side. protagonists · Brutus and Cassius antagonists · Antony and Octavius setting (time) · 44 b.c. setting (place) · Ancient Rome, toward the end of the Roman republic point of view · The play sustains no single point of view; however, the audience acquires the most insight into Brutus’s mind over the course of the action falling action · Titinius’ realization that Cassius has died wrongly assuming defeat; Titinius’ suicide; Brutus’s discovery of the two corpses; the final struggle between Brutus’s men and the troops...
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...audience. This is especially true for the tragedy of Julius Caesar. Soon after the assassination of Caesar two Speaker, Brutus and Antony, present a side to the argument of whether or not the assassination was justified or not. With Brutus for the assassination and Antony...
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...Rhetoric is the art of using language effectively for the purpose of persuasion. Rhetoric is an important part of society and is often used in elections and speeches to essentially win over the crowd. In the famous play “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare A character by the name of Marc Antony uses ethos, indirect suggestion and socratic irony to manipulate a crowd to avenge the death of Caesar. Antony first begins by calling the listeners friends, romans and countrymen to establish trust with the crowd, Antony creates the image that he is a trustworthy man when he shows respect towards those who are on the conspirators side, he even introduces Brutus’s argument that Caesar might have been too ambitious for his own good. However Antony...
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...Caesar Summary Option K Rome: Julius Caesar Principal Focus: Students gain an understanding of Julius Caesar in the context of his time. Students learn about: 1 Historical context – geography, topography and resources of Rome and provinces – overview of Roman political and social structures – overview of significant political and military developments 2 Background and rise to prominence – his family background and position – his education, early life and ambitions – paths to power: priesthoods; Marian connections; political alliances and marriages – early political career to 60 BC 3 Career – role in First Triumvirate – Gallic Wars: campaigns and tactics, siege of Alesia – relationship with his army – relationship with the Senate – role in the Civil War – political supporters and enemies – personal relationships: Julia, Cleopatra VII, Brutus, Mark Antony, Cicero – impact of personality on career; significance of his writings – dictatorship: policies and reforms – assassination: motives, manner and impact of his death 4 Evaluation – impact and influence on his time – assessment of his life and career – legacy – ancient and modern images and interpretations of Julius Caesar. 1. Historical Context Geography, topography and resources of Rome and provinces Geography and topography • Most of Italy is...
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...Introduction Creating an effective scheme of work, less than a term into a teaching career, was certainly daunting. Given the complexities of planning for a single lesson – taking into account a long and growing list of factors ‘from provision to pupils with SEN’ to the ‘literacy objective’ that considerably lengthen every written plan – the hurdles to overcome when planning for an 8-week scheme would surely but multiply. While the freedom at my fingertips was invigorating, there was the gnawing sense that failure to grasp the key issues involved would lead to the teacher’s greatest fear – wasted lessons; wasted lessons after which the class would struggle to maintain a respect for the teacher. Furthermore, it would be the waste of an outstanding opportunity. As commentators to the publication Teaching History have repeatedly stressed, the new History National Curriculum for Key Stage 3 offers teachers a ‘glorious flexibility’ to throw out the straight-jacket of centralised requirements beholden to political overlords (Dawson 2008, 18). Instead, led by a relit passion for their discipline, teachers are able to respond to the very specific needs of their school and construct personalised routes towards a variety of objectives. For some commentators, the National Curriculum Key Concepts and their accompanying levels represent the vestiges of an ancien regime of central control that prevent true pupil ownership developing (see Knight 2008). However, a determination to facilitate...
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...The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge Prince Hamlet exacts on his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet, Claudius's brother and Prince Hamlet's father, and then succeeding to the throne and taking as his wife Gertrude, the old king's widow and Prince Hamlet's mother. The play vividly portrays both true and feigned madness – from overwhelming grief to seething rage – and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption. Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language, with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others." The play was one of Shakespeare's most popular works during his lifetime It has inspired writers from Goethe and Dickens to Joyce and Murdoch, and has been described as "the world's most filmed story after Cinderella". Shakespeare based Hamlet on the legend of Amleth, preserved by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum as subsequently retold by 16th-century scholar François de Belleforest. He may also have drawn on or perhaps written an earlier Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet. He almost certainly created the title role for Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeare's time. In the 400 years since, the role has been performed by highly acclaimed actors and actresses from each successive age. Three...
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...Asconius and Appian suggest? These contrasting accounts in the ancient sources warrant further investigation. This thesis seeks to explore the nature of Fulvia’s role in history to the extent that the evidence permits. Fulvia is most famous for her activities during Antony’s consulship (44 BC) and his brother Lucius Antonius’ struggle against C. Octavian in the Perusine War (41-40 BC). But there is a discrepancy among the authors as to what extent she was actually involved. Cicero, Octavian and Antony, who were all key players in events, provide their own particular versions of what occurred. Later authors, such as Appian and Dio, may have been influenced by these earlier, hostile accounts of Fulvia. This is the first study in English to make use of all the available evidence, both literary and material, pertaining to Fulvia. Modern scholarship has a tendency to concentrate almost exclusively on events towards the end of Fulvia’s life, in particular the Perusine War, about which the evidence is much more abundant in later sources such as Appian and Dio. However, to do this ignores the importance of her earlier activities which, if studied more fully, can help to explain her later actions in the 40’s BC. This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first provides an introduction to the topic and a biography of Fulvia. The second is a review of the modern scholarship ii on Fulvia. The third focuses on the contemporary sources,...
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...The Use of Irony in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: “The most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an Authoress” Irony serves as a fundamental literary tool for authors. It enables them to express their themes and views through characters whose words are often inconsistent with their actions, and in situations where the intended result differs from the actual result. Irony works in a clever manner by showing the reader what the author wants to express by making these inconsistencies apparent to the reader, if not to the characters themselves, and exposing it, more often than not, in a satiric fashion. Yet, while irony works with satire, the power it holds for those who wield it well is no laughing matter. Famous writers such as the sardonic H.L. Mencken and Jonathan Swift, a true satiric master, have used irony to promote real, legitimate change. In Swift’s case, his famous piece, “A Modest Proposal,” used extreme satire and irony to promote change in Irish policy. Perhaps the greatest satirist of all time, William Shakespeare used irony in almost every piece he created. In his play Julius Caesar, the speech he has Mark Antony give in which he repeats the phrase “but Brutus is an honorable man” when he is trying to convey the exact opposite serves as a truly timeless example of this literary tool. It is unique in that it does not simply throw the author’s point of view directly in the reader’s face, but rather enables the reader to discover the author’s...
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...Chapter Fifteen The Roman Empire at its Zenith (to 235 CE) In retrospect we can see that a decline of the Roman empire began in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180), when the Germanic barbarians along the Rhine and especially the Danube discovered that the Romans were not well equipped to fight wars on two fronts. When the emperor, that is, was preoccupied with a war against the Parthians in Mesopotamia, the Roman frontier along and beyond the Danube was poorly defended, and the barbarians could make raids deep into the Roman provinces. Despite the danger of wars on two fronts, the Roman empire was able to manage well enough from the 160s until 235, when the decline became precipitous, and brought with it radical economic, cultural and religious changes. This chapter, therefore, will look at the empire in its relatively golden period, from the first century until the death of Alexander Severus, the last of the Severi, in 235. The classes This was a stratified, hierarchical society in all ways. In civic status the top of the pyramid was the emperor, followed by Roman provincial governors, senators and other officials, then by the local gentry, and next by the rank and file of Roman citizens. Of all the free men in the empire, only about a third ranked as Roman citizens. Right behind the Romans were the Hellenes (in the Greek-speaking eastern provinces the Hellenes were enrolled as such in the municipal census), then came Judaeans, and finally the other barbarians. So in...
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...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...
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...1 CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER IX CHAPTER X CHAPTER XI CHAPTER XII CHAPTER XIII CHAPTER XIV CHAPTER XV CHAPTER XVI Chapter XVIII CHAPTER XVII CHAPTER XVIII CHAPTER XIX CHAPTER XX CHAPTER XXI CHAPTER XXII CHAPTER XXIII CHAPTER XXIV CHAPTER XXV CHAPTER XXVI CHAPTER XXVII CHAPTER XXVIII CHAPTER XXIX CHAPTER XXX CHAPTER XXXI The Art of Public Speaking BY 2 The Art of Public Speaking BY J. BERG ESENWEIN AUTHOR OF "HOW TO ATTRACT AND HOLD AN AUDIENCE," "WRITING THE SHORT-STORY," "WRITING THE PHOTOPLAY," ETC., ETC., AND DALE CARNAGEY PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING, BALTIMORE SCHOOL OF COMMERCE AND FINANCE; INSTRUCTOR IN PUBLIC SPEAKING, Y.M.C.A. SCHOOLS, NEW YORK, BROOKLYN, BALTIMORE, AND PHILADELPHIA, AND THE NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF BANKING THE WRITER'S LIBRARY EDITED BY J. BERG ESENWEIN THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL SPRINGFIELD, MASS. PUBLISHERS Copyright 1915 THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO F. ARTHUR METCALF FELLOW-WORKER AND FRIEND Table of Contents THINGS TO THINK OF FIRST--A FOREWORD * CHAPTER I--ACQUIRING CONFIDENCE BEFORE AN AUDIENCE * CHAPTER II--THE SIN OF MONOTONY DALE CARNAGEY * CHAPTER III--EFFICIENCY THROUGH EMPHASIS AND SUBORDINATION * CHAPTER IV--EFFICIENCY THROUGH CHANGE OF PITCH * CHAPTER V--EFFICIENCY THROUGH CHANGE OF PACE * CHAPTER VI--PAUSE AND POWER * CHAPTER VII--EFFICIENCY THROUGH INFLECTION * CHAPTER VIII--CONCENTRATION IN DELIVERY...
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...II. 2, 2.] Essays The Project Gutenberg EBook of Essays, by Ralph Waldo Emerson This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Essays Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson Editor: Edna H. L. Turpin Release Date: September 4, 2005 [EBook #16643] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAYS *** 1 Essays Produced by Curtis A. Weyant , Sankar Viswanathan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net ESSAYS BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON Merrill's English Texts SELECTED AND EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY EDNA H.L. TURPIN, AUTHOR OF "STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY," "CLASSIC FABLES," "FAMOUS PAINTERS," ETC. NEW YORK CHARLES E. MERRILL CO. 1907 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION LIFE OF EMERSON CRITICAL OPINIONS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR COMPENSATION SELF RELIANCE FRIENDSHIP HEROISM MANNERS GIFTS NATURE SHAKESPEARE; OR, THE POET PRUDENCE CIRCLES NOTES PUBLISHERS' NOTE Merrill's English Texts 2 Essays 3 This series of books will include in complete editions those masterpieces of English Literature that are best adapted for the use of schools and colleges. The editors of the several volumes will be chosen for their special qualifications...
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...1575 ESSAYS by Michel de Montaigne translated by Charles Cotton I. OF CUSTOM, AND THAT WE SHOULD NOT EASILY CHANGE A LAW RECEIVED. HE seems to have had a right and true apprehension of the power of custom, who first invented the story of a countrywoman who, having accustomed herself to play with and carry, a young calf in her arms, and daily continuing to do so as it grew up, obtained this by custom, that, when grown to be a great ox, she was still able to bear it. For, in truth, custom is a violent and treacherous schoolmistress. She, by little and little, slily and unperceived, slips in the foot of her authority, but having by this gentle and humble beginning, with the benefit of time, fixed and established it, she then unmasks a furious and tyrannic countenance, against which we have no more the courage or the power so much as to lift up our eyes. We see her, at every turn, forcing and violating the rules of nature: "Usus efficacissimus rerum omnium magister." I refer to her Plato's cave in his Republic, and the physicians, who so often submit the reasons of their art to her authority; as the story of that king, who by custom brought his stomach to that pass, as to live by poison, and the maid that Albertus reports to have lived upon spiders. In that new world of the Indies, there...
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