Julius Caesar

Set at the birth of the Roman Empire, William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a taut historical drama exploring the violent consequences of betrayal and murder. This Penguin Shakespeare edition is edited by Norman Sanders with an introduction by Martin Wiggins.

'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him'

When it seems that Julius Caesar may assume supreme power, a plot to destroy him is hatched by the senators Brutus and Cassius, who are determined to preserve the threatened Republic. But the different motives of the conspirators soon become apparent when high principles clash with malice and political realism. Seizing his opportunity, the ambitious young Mark Antony turns public opinion against the conspirators, plunging the nation into a bloody civil war.

This book includes a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to Julius Caesar, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love-poetry in English.

If you enjoyed Julius Caesar, you might like Richard III, also available in Penguin Shakespeare.

'If we wish to know the force of human genius we should read Shakespeare'
William Hazlitt