JULIUS CAESAR(WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE) Shakespeare composed Julius Caesar in about 1599, using as his source Sir Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives, which had been published about twenty years earlier. He constructed the plot as a familiar peg n. 钉；桩；借口；琴栓on which to hang the dramatic interest which arises from the interplay相互影响 of the three main characters, Brutus, Cassius and Antony.   After nearly a century of bloody civil war, Rome’s most successful general, Julius Caesar, has been appointed dictator to restore order to the Republic. When he returns in triumph from a campaign in Spain, the pomp of his reception makes two leading senators, Caesar’s friend Brutus and the envious Cassius,

fear that Caesar will have himself proclaimed king fear that Caesar will have himself proclaimed king. Brutus is descended from the Brutus who was instrumental in ejecting vt. 喷射；驱逐，逐出the kings of Rome five centuries earlier, and the prospect of the overthrow of the Republic is anathema. n诅咒；革出教门；被诅咒者；令人厌恶的人to him, so he reluctantly joins Cassius and other conspirators in a plot to murder Caesar when he attends the Senate. The assassination is successfully accomplished, and Brutus brilliantly justifies this savage act to the Roman mob. But Mark

Antony, who has been allowed to deliver the funeral oration to the same mob, surpasses Brutus’s eloquence<雄辩> with a speech of fiery oratory, combining such demagoguery<煽动>,irony and mock humility that the plebs<平民> turn against the conspirators<共谋者>, who flee Rome. They raise an army, but are defeated at Philippi by the combined forces of Antony and Caesar’s heir Octavian, afterwards Augustus. Brutus and Cassius subsequently commit suicide.

Structure analysis Parallelism<page134> Large-scale parallelism & small-parallelism <page135> As Caesar…as….as…as… Function: the emotional feeling expressed gets stronger after each juxtaposed(并置的) unit, reach its climax in the final parallel unit.

repetition 2.Repetition<page131> “If any speak, for him have I offended..” Immediate repetition &intermittent repetition <page131-133> Function: the repetition here vividly captures the emotional state of the speaker: his love to his county

conclusion From Brutus’ laconic<简明的> speech, We can feel that his true love to Rome is credible. Brutus says, “ As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honor him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.” This parallelism represents the justice of killing Caesar. Brutus also presents his deep love to Rome along with the fear of tyranny, dictatorship and slavery under Caesar’s regime. That is to say, only the common good for people does Brutus concern about. He weighs nothing personal. Brutus is a character destined to a tragic ending, and he knew it. However, he is still trepid不安 enough to complete this route, to fight to the end. Maybe some of the conspirators have personal hatred toward Caesar, but Brutus’ pure love for the country only