Julius Caesar (Vol. 74) | Krystyna Kujawinska-Courtney (essay date 1993)
Krystyna Kujawinska-Courtney (essay date 1993)
SOURCE: Kujawinska-Courtney, Krystyna. “Julius Caesar: Two Visions of the Past.” In “Th' Interpretation of the Time”: The Dramaturgy of Shakespeare's Roman Plays, pp. 26-58. Victoria, B.C., Canada: University of Victoria, 1993.
[In the following essay, Kujawinska-Courtney argues that the play's treatment of Julius Caesar's character is focused on whether Caesar should be viewed as insolent, impious, and imperfect, or as sacred and idolized. Kujawinska-Courtney contends that Shakespeare's manipulation of his character “shakes the audience's confidence that either Caesar is the correct one.”]
How Caesar should be seen, how his past (shadowy in the play but often invoked) can or should be a contributor to his charisma—these are the focus of Shakespeare's play about his assassination. Is Caesar profane and flawed as Cassius sees him (I.ii), or sacred and iconic as Antony...
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