Julius Caesar – Interesting Literature

A Short Analysis of Brutus’ ‘There Is a Tide in the Affairs of Men’ Speech

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘There is a tide in the affairs of men’ is a line from one of Brutus’ most famous speeches in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. This speech is worthy of closer analysis for a number of reasons; it actually relates to the locality around the Globe Theatre, where Julius Caesar was first performed in 1599, so although the play takes us back to ancient Rome, there is a curious geographical origin to Brutus’ talk of a ‘tide in the affairs of men’ which is ‘taken at the flood’. But we’ll come to that later …

A Short Analysis of Mark Antony’s ‘O Pardon Me, Thou Bleeding Piece of Earth’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth’ is one of a number of famous speeches made by Mark Antony in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The speech, which occurs in Act 3 Scene 1, is essentially a soliloquy since Mark Antony is alone on stage – the only other ‘person’ with him is the body of the assassinated Julius Caesar.

The Curious Meaning and Origin of ‘Et Tu, Brute?’

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle explores the curious meanings of Julius Caesar’s ‘dying words’

Let’s kick off this week’s Secret Library column with a short quiz about those three famous words: ‘Et tu, Brute?’ Okay, if you’re ready …

Question 1): Which famous Roman emperor uttered these words when he was stabbed by conspirators? Question 2): In which 1590s play does the utterance ‘Et tu, Brute?’ make its debut in drama? And Question 3): What was the definite meaning of Julius Caesar’s utterance, ‘Et tu, Brute?’

If you answered ‘Julius Caesar’ to either 1) or 2), sorry: you’re wrong.

A Short Analysis of Mark Antony’s ‘If You Have Tears, Prepare to Shed Them Now’ Speech from Julius Caesar

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘If you have tears, prepare to shed them now’: so begins one of Mark Antony’s most famous speeches from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. That line is well-known, but it’s a testament to how many great speeches we find in this play that this isn’t even Mark Antony’s most famous speech from Julius Caesar: that mantle must go to his ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen’ address (which we have analysed here).

A Short Analysis of Cassius’ ‘The Fault, Dear Brutus’ Speech from Julius Caesar

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves’; ‘Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world / Like a Colossus’. In just over half a dozen lines, Cassius gives us two of the most famous lines from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. His ‘bestride the narrow world like a Colossus’ speech – or, if you prefer, his ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars’ speech – is a crucial one in the play.