Julius Caesar
A story of honor and integrity and power and ambition and who is right, what is the best leadership? “Alas, thou hast misconstrued everything."
Check Wikipedia for a detailed synopsis and other relevant material.
For those of you who provide parts a scene at a time, this Character Chart shows all the characters' lines in each scene: Julius Caesar
If your group reads the plays straight through in one sitting and you want to divide up the parts, we have a number of “cast” lists already divided up for you. These are text files that you can edit to suit your group. We always recommend in a straight-through read that each participant take a moment beforehand to mark their parts—then everything proceeds so smoothly.
• Cast for 7, plus a reader for Stage Directions
• Cast for 8, plus a reader for Stage Directions
• Cast for 9, plus a reader for Stage Directions
• Cast for 10, plus a reader for Stage Directions
• Cast for 11 (Brutus's lines are split between two different people), plus a reader for Stage Directions
Julius Caesar free downloadable handout: This is a handy two-page piece for Readers that includes a timeline of the Roman Monarchy, Republic, and Empire; a map of the enlargement of the empire by Octavius Caesar; images of the main characters; and a few other things. Feel free to copy it for your reading group members.
The Internet Shakespeare from the University of Victoria web site provides a wealth of information on Julius Caesar, including the relevant chapters from Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans (apparently written in the late first century) from which Shakespeare sourced much of the play, as well as links to information about life and times of the Romans, performance history and materials, and even facsimiles of the First Folio text.
If your child is home-schooled, Julius Caesar is a terrific way to integrate Shakespeare into your curriculum along with your regular units on Roman history.
Back to the Readers' Editions and readers' support page.
Our Readers' Edition $9.75
This is an audio recording of the play by professional actors with sound effects:
