So continuing the Book Cover Challenge, my choice for Day 2 was Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. To be honest, regardless of my in-depth study of English Literature throughout my academic years, I always found Shakespeare a bit hard to swallow. Until I was introduced to this play. And once I truly appreciated it, I had a eureka moment – if you want to enjoy Shakespeare, you have to be taught by a really good teacher who loves Shakespeare themselves. Otherwise it is a wasted effort. And if you have a bad teacher, you’re basically a lost cause!

So anyway, my English teacher was brilliant at making the play come alive. All the wit, the subtle nuances, the political intrigue, the moral dilemma, the heavy sarcasm, and downright drama leapt off the pages and became real to me. When I read about Caesar, I no longer thought of him as a great Roman general. Of course he was that, but he also became this flesh and blood human being who was superstitious and fixated about the infamous “Ides of March”. Then I read about Brutus – and as much as I admired him for his love for his countrymen and the desire for a just and free society, I also bemoaned his slow descent into a mutinous conspiracy that ultimately led him to murder one of his closest friends. Shakespeare was a master at his trade for no mean reason. His skill at bringing the moral dilemma to life – weighing the pros and cons, considering what is best for the greater good, and then choosing something that goes completely against the grain to achieve that end is nothing short of brilliant. And finally when Caesar cries in bewilderment – “Et tu Brute!” you’re as flabbergasted as he!

Out of all the speeches in the play, I absolutely love Marcus Antonius’ in Act III Scene 2 – “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears…” It isn’t a long speech by Shakespeare’s standards but the brilliance with which Antonius turns the tide of public opinion away from Brutus towards himself makes it one of understated mastery.  Heavily sarcastic, Antonius repeatedly refers to Brutus as an “honourable man” – initially as a compliment, and subsequently more derogatorily. Now, you have to understand that the entire reason Brutus joined the conspirators was because of “honour”; in Act I Scene 2 he says of himself, “I love the name of honour, more than I fear death.” So for Marcus Antonius to refer to him as an honourable man is actually the truth, but as you read the speech, you see the subtle play on words—a nuance here, an emphasis there—and suddenly the phrase “honourable man” is like a slap in the face!

Don’t just take my word for it; go read it yourself!