Anistasia Perry
Ms. Renk
English 2B
16 March 2017
Julius Caesar New Historicism
In the world of Elizabethan England, there was a man known as William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was known for writing various plays that have various connections to his society at the time. One of these plays was known as Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar, although being written about a Caesar, common name for the Roman emperor, who was assassinated; shares many parallels to the society and events going on during Shakespeare’s lifetime in the Elizabethan Era. In the Elizabethan Era, society had vast contrasts between the working classes, the noble classes, men, and women. In act 1 of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare wrote, “Hence! Home, you idle creatures, get …show more content…
During the ruling of Queen Elizabeth I, around 1586, Arthur Babington created a plot to assassinate the Queen of England, much like the conspirators of Rome planned to assassinate Caesar. The Babington Plot consisted of some letters written between Arthur Babington and Queen Mary of Scots, Elizabeth I’s half-sister. These letters were soon decoded and read by the guards at the Tower of London, where Queen Mary of Scots was held after her short ruling of England. The current Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth I, was told of this plan and promptly executed her half-sister. This parallels to Julius Caesar with the lines, “Let Caesar seat him sure,/ for we will shake him, or worse days endure” (1.2.33-34). This moment from scene one illustrates the moment to when Cassius is talking to Brutus about how they will assassinate Caesar. In this scenario, one could easily replace Brutus with Queen Mary and Cassius with Arthur Babington with the parallel to the Babington Plot …show more content…
This is most likely due to his thinking of what the country of England would become if the Queen were to be assassinated through the many plans to kill her; the Babington Plot, the Thockmorton Plot and the Ridolfi Plot. “It is no matter. His name’s Cinna. Pluck but his name out of his heart and turn him going” (3.3.31-32). This quote from scene three shows that the people of Rome were blinded by avenging their dead leader that they murdered a poor poet because he shared the name of one of the conspirators who killed Caesar. Back in England during Shakespeare’s lifetime, many people in England happened to have very similar names, and if the people of Elizabethan England were to riot, they would proceed to kill or torture anyone whose names shared a resemblance to those who killed their beloved
Ms. Renk
English 2B
16 March 2017
Julius Caesar New Historicism
In the world of Elizabethan England, there was a man known as William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was known for writing various plays that have various connections to his society at the time. One of these plays was known as Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar, although being written about a Caesar, common name for the Roman emperor, who was assassinated; shares many parallels to the society and events going on during Shakespeare’s lifetime in the Elizabethan Era. In the Elizabethan Era, society had vast contrasts between the working classes, the noble classes, men, and women. In act 1 of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare wrote, “Hence! Home, you idle creatures, get …show more content…
During the ruling of Queen Elizabeth I, around 1586, Arthur Babington created a plot to assassinate the Queen of England, much like the conspirators of Rome planned to assassinate Caesar. The Babington Plot consisted of some letters written between Arthur Babington and Queen Mary of Scots, Elizabeth I’s half-sister. These letters were soon decoded and read by the guards at the Tower of London, where Queen Mary of Scots was held after her short ruling of England. The current Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth I, was told of this plan and promptly executed her half-sister. This parallels to Julius Caesar with the lines, “Let Caesar seat him sure,/ for we will shake him, or worse days endure” (1.2.33-34). This moment from scene one illustrates the moment to when Cassius is talking to Brutus about how they will assassinate Caesar. In this scenario, one could easily replace Brutus with Queen Mary and Cassius with Arthur Babington with the parallel to the Babington Plot …show more content…
This is most likely due to his thinking of what the country of England would become if the Queen were to be assassinated through the many plans to kill her; the Babington Plot, the Thockmorton Plot and the Ridolfi Plot. “It is no matter. His name’s Cinna. Pluck but his name out of his heart and turn him going” (3.3.31-32). This quote from scene three shows that the people of Rome were blinded by avenging their dead leader that they murdered a poor poet because he shared the name of one of the conspirators who killed Caesar. Back in England during Shakespeare’s lifetime, many people in England happened to have very similar names, and if the people of Elizabethan England were to riot, they would proceed to kill or torture anyone whose names shared a resemblance to those who killed their beloved