Though a staple in high school English classes, Julius Caesar is not a simple play. Seemingly irreconcilable forces are at work: fate and free will, the changeableness and stubbornness of ambitious men, the demands of public service and the desire for private gain. Drawn from history as recorded by Plutarch, the major characters – Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony – are complex, as are the twists and turns of their fortunes. What kind of man rises to power? What price does he pay when he becomes a politician? These questions raised by Shakespeare are relevant in every age, whether ancient Rome, Elizabethan England, or even our own day.
 
Shakespeare probably wrote Julius Caesar in the latter half of 1599, at the end of one of the most turbulent centuries in English history. It says as much or more about Shakespeare’s own time than about the time in which it is set. It is a play about power. It’s also about those who possess it and those who want to. It is a reflection of Lord Acton’s adage: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” Julius Caesar is about four great men who are corrupted by power or the desire for power: Caesar himself, Cassius, Brutus, and Mark Antony are classically tragic heroes. They might not always be bad men but they are certainly not good men.