‘Julius Caesar’ tells of the events leading up to Caesar’s assassination and the aftermath following it, focusing primarily on the conspirators Brutus and Cassius. It is a very violent play, full of battle, murder and suicide but consequently very fast paced and engaging, three years of Roman history condensed by Shakespeare into five days.

Brutus was a fascinating character. He was almost an anti-hero in a way, a lot more sympathetic than Cassius due to his conflicting mindset between a loyalty to Caesar and a loyalty to Rome. Hence Cassius in his influence over Brutus is a clearer antagonist despite his motives too lying in acting for the good of the country. In some ways Brutus reminded me of ‘Othello’s’ Iago, a villain that the reader desires to align themselves with, however the conflicting opinions of the reader are much more successful in ‘Othello’ as Iago is much more endearing. 

Many deaths in Julius Caesar occur quite unprovoked and almost unnecessarily, the motives behind much killing and death being shaky and absent at times, however to fit so much bloodshed into one play I suppose such has to be the case. I do however believe Cassius and Brutus were missing some closure.