Teaching Julius Caesar: Pre-Activities

Part I

When students read about these characters, they get a better sense of what it means to be human, no matter when or where they live. The first time I taught Julius Caesar, I learned so much. I read through the play and watched the movie. Then, I started lesson planning.

One reason I enjoy this play is that it delves into political corruption, showcases masterful rhetoric, and confronts timeless moral dilemmas. The play’s focus on ambition, ego, and judgment still hits home for students today. The story proves that the struggles and choices people faced back then aren’t so different from those we face now.

• Power of Persuasion: The contrasting funeral speeches of Brutus and Mark Antony provide students a direct look at how language can be used to manipulate, inspire, and influence others.
• Political Ethics: The narrative forces students to weigh whether “the end justifies the means” when citizens confront perceived tyranny.
• Historical and Human Insight: The play’s themes resonate with students today. Imagine a student who always wants to be the leader in group projects and refuses to listen to anyone else’s ideas because they think their way is always best. Their ego gets in the way of teamwork, causing tension and making it harder for the group to succeed, similar to how the characters in Julius Caesar let their pride and self-importance lead to conflict and downfall.

The Results of Violence

• This play is about the assassination of a Roman general and dictator who lived and died (an extremely violent death) more than 2000 years ago.
• The murder of a public figure is an act that can take place in a split second, yet change the course of history.
• Shakespeare drew his material from an ancient biographical text called The Parallel Lives, which first appeared in England in 1579. This work was written by Plutarch (c. 46 – c. 120).
  

Rome In Caesar’s Day

• Today the generals of the U.S. Army are ultimately responsible to the president, who is the commander in chief, but two thousand years ago in Rome, the generals had enormous individual power. Generals, like Caesar, plundered over the entire Mediterranean world.
• After these “private armies” subdued the weaker countries, the territories were then ruled by Roman governors who exacted cruel taxes.
• Generals turned on Generals: This is what happened when the Generals Caesar and Pompey clashed in the civil war that began in 49 B.C.
  

Shakespeare’s Caesar

In Shakespeare’s day, people believed the universe was essentially good and orderly. All order stemmed from the authority of God, the Supreme ruler. The monarch’s right to rule came from God too, and so opposition to the anointed ruler was considered opposition to God.

In all of Shakespeare’s plays, the characters (no matter what historical period they live in) inhabit a world that is run by a just God who ultimately rewards good and punishes evil.

When Shakespeare wrote this play, Queen Elizabeth was old and in failing health. She had no children. When she died, what would become of the country she had ruled so peacefully for nearly forty years? Would there be a bloody struggle for the throne? Would the country slip back into the violence that had preceded Elizabeth’s reign?

These questions show that the story of Julius Caesar had immediate connections for the Elizabethans–it tapped into their own desire for stability in government and dread of a civil war.

Group Activity

I’d start with an activity for my 10th-graders to help them understand the material and get interested right away. Group Questions:

What would a President of the United States have to do that would make you believe that he/she held too much power? (Pop Culture: Hunger Games)

Suppose you had learned that there was an extremely popular movement to abolish the House of Representatives and the Senate and to make the current President of the United States King of America. What actions would you be willing to take even though others might consider it treason?   

Adding the pop culture ideas and references helps students have some great conversations about the questions.

Pre-Reading About Shakespeare and the Globe Theater

Even though most students have been introduced to Shakespeare, it is always a good idea to reintroduce a few facts or even folklore about the bard.

I create groups, and each group goes to the board when I have written:
What I know about Shakespeare…
What I want to know about Shakespeare…

A Short Intro

• More material has been written about Shakespeare and his words than about any other writer in the world.
• What we know about Shakespeare comes mainly from public records.
• He was baptized on April 26, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon.
• He was one of eight children.
• His father, John Shakespeare, was a merchant and a man of some importance in the town, serving at various times as alderman and high bailiff, which is the equivalent of a mayor today.
• William went to grammar school, where he learned Latin grammar and literature, including Ovid’s retelling of the Greek and Roman myths.
• He married Anne Hathaway in 1582, and she gave birth to twins, Hamnet and Judith. Then, from 1585 until 1592, Shakespeare’s history goes blank.
• We know he went to London and became a playwright. His rival playwright, Robert Greene warned other playwrights against the actor who had become a writer:
  • “There is an upstart crow, beautiful with our feathers…that supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you…”
• Actors were held in disrepute at the time.
• Shakespeare wrote 37 plays (comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances).
• Julius Caesar is generally believed to have been written in 1599, based on an account by a Swiss traveler who visited the Globe Theatre while in England in September of that year. He was impressed: “After dinner on the 25th of September, at about two o’clock, I went with my companions over the water, and in the strewn-roof house [the playhouse with the thatched roof] saw the tragedy of the first Emperor Julius with at least fifteen characters every well acted.”
• Shakespeare dies on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52.

The Elizabethan Stage

I liked to introduce the Elizabethan Stage because it is unique and interesting to students. There are quite a few good YouTube videos that describe The Globe, but I also had a poster of The Globe in my classroom.

The Globe – The “Wooden O”

James Burbage built the first permanent theater just outside the city of London. In 1599, the owner of the land where the theater was built decided to raise the rent. The theater was somewhat behind in rent payments, so the landlord threatened to take it over. So, on the night of January 20, 1599, James Burbage’s son Cuthbert and others in the company stealthily took the theater apart, timber by timber, and rowed the pieces across the river, where they later reconstructed the theater and called it the Globe.

• The Globe consisted of an open space surrounded by a more or less circular building and consisting of three tiers of seats for spectators.
• Pillars held up a narrow roof over the rear part of the stage, which was called the Heavens.
• The front part of the stage had a trapdoor, which could be used for burial scenes, surprise entrances, and mysterious exits.
• A replica of the Globe Theater has been constructed very near its former location in London.
• The actors were all male. It was not until the 1600s that women played in professional theaters.

Hooking the Audience’s Attention

• The Elizabethan theater was a lively place where people arrived early, visited with friends and new acquaintances, moved around freely, and ate and drank before and during the performance.
• Playwrights wrote scenes to catch the audience’s attention through vigorous, flamboyant acting.

Get The Students Excited!

Mainly, as a teacher, if you are enthusiastic about what you are teaching, your enthusiasm spills over. On the first day of any unit, I make sure that my students are moving around the classroom with short, engaging, and interesting activities. Part II of Julius Caesar will be coming soon.