pauraque_bk | julius caesar (again)

julius caesar (again)

GIP! That's John Gielgud as Cassius in the 1953 film. Yes, I am a fanboy.

I recently had a chance to chat over dinner with the chronically AFK Malograntum about Julius Caesar. We'd coincidentally seen the same recent production, so we largely talked about the specifics of that, but we did also spend a lot of time on the play in general. The following covers most of what we discussed; I wanted to write it all out so that I could think a bit more carefully about it. Comments/disagreements are quite welcome.

EDIT: I've added a paragraph on Cassius' forged letters. I thought I'd mentioned them, but apparently I forgot.

Junia

In the production Mal and I saw, it gradually became clear that Cassius (played brilliantly by James Carpenter) was in love with Brutus. This could have been a mistake, but in this case, it worked beautifully. It played into the text in a way that seemed completely natural, adding layers to Cassius' intensity and Brutus' naivete, and to the ticklish tension between them.

Shakespeare only mentions indirectly that they are brothers-in-law, but Plutarch tells us that Cassius was married to Brutus' sister Junia.

For some reason, Mal had to hit me over the head with this one before the significance dawned on me: He *married* Brutus' *sister*. Bwah. :)

Portia & Cassius

They have no scenes together, but they surely would have known each other. And they share a goal: They each want Brutus to let his guard down and allow them into his private world. They both want this because they genuinely love Brutus, and are frustrated by his carefully muted demeanor, but Portia's motives are the more noble - Cassius, of course, also wants to spur Brutus to commit a murder. But, as is the case throughout the play, noble motives count for nothing in the end. It's Cassius who finally succeeds at getting Brutus' control to break down.

To this, Mal said, "Yeah, and Cassius didn't have to stab himself to do it. -- Well, on second thought, maybe he did."

I thought this was a great connection: Portia's "voluntary wound, here in the thigh" to Cassius' suicide by stabbing.

Brutus makes promises of intimacy to both Portia and Cassius. "[B]y and by thy bosom shall partake / The secrets of my heart," he says to Portia, but then immediately sends her away. There is no time allotted in the play for Brutus to actually tell her anything - Mal and I decided that whatever she knows, she figures out for herself. Portia never gets the intimacy with her husband that she wants and needs - "impatient of [his] absence", she kills herself.

Cassius also threatens suicide because he fears Brutus doesn't love him (and it's later in this very scene that we hear of Portia's death). But Brutus does love Cassius, and Portia too - what he fails to do is *connect* with them. Even at the point where Brutus reveals Portia's death to Cassius, and the reason for it (which is rather remarkable behavior for him), Brutus doesn't really understand Cassius' feelings.

Cassius: Give me your hand.
Brutus: And my heart, too.
Cassius: O Brutus!
Brutus: What's the matter?

"What's the matter". Unbelievable. In that line, there's a level of naivete that struck me dumb even the first time I read the play as a young teenager. This is an already intense moment, after they've fought, made peace, and Brutus has finally opened up a little (not to mention that it's an intimate shared pentameter). How can Brutus be surprised that this rare, tender admission of love affects Cassius to the point where words fail him? But Brutus *is* surprised. It's charming, and maddening, and on a deeper level really *creepy* that he's so blind to the feelings of people he knows and loves.

This is surely not the only reason Cassius actually does kill himself, but we're reminded of it in what Brutus says over Cassius' body: "Friends, I owe more tears / To this dead man than you shall see me pay. / I shall find time, Cassius: I shall find time." But again, there *is* no time - Brutus has a battle to fight, and afterwards will shortly commit suicide himself. Not to mention that any emotion he spares for Cassius now is, of course, too late to forge any actual connection.

Of course, this echoes Brutus' larger downfall -- he doesn't understand, as Cassius does, that the people will be enraged by Caesar's death, and that a simple explanation will not satisfy them. Like a small child, he thinks everyone around him will have the same feelings he does.

Seduction

Cassius: Shall I entreat a word?

Cassius takes Brutus aside and speaks to him in private for eleven lines while the other conspirators talk among themselves. When they return, Brutus has agreed to the assassination. We're left wondering what Cassius said that was so convincing, and why we didn't get to hear it. At the production we saw, Brutus and Cassius actually went completely offstage, so that there was no hint at all of what might have been said.

But the question may be larger than this: What does Cassius *ever* say to Brutus that is so convincing? Analyses I've read talk a lot about Cassius' "seduction" of Brutus, but I'm not convinced this is what's taking place.

Cassius tells Brutus two unflattering stories about Caesar. One describes his weakness when he was ill, which, if it's meant to impugn Caesar's good character, is a pretty lame attempt. The other describes Caesar nearly drowning, and needing Cassius to save him. This is obviously a lie - Caesar was well-known for being a strong swimmer, and in any case, why would Caesar ever invite Cassius, a man he distrusts, to go swimming with him?

Brutus is a great friend of Caesar's; he already knows Caesar is prone to illness, and he must know that Cassius is making up the story about the near-drowning. But he never interrupts, never argues, never insists Cassius be fair in his judgments, as he does with Caska ("'Tis very like. He hath the falling sickness.") - as, indeed, it would seem more characteristic of Brutus to do. But all he says is that what Cassius would lead him to, he "has some aim". In Brutus' later soliloquy, he begins with a conclusion - "It must be by his death" - and reasons backwards to arrive at it.

Also, while Shakespeare is quite true to Plutarch in much of the play, there's one point where he differs for no obvious reason. Plutarch explains that many citizens had written letters to Brutus warning him of Caesar's ambition. Shakespeare has Cassius forging those letters himself and throwing them in at Brutus' window. These letters are very vague, and indeed leave a sentence unfinished: Cassius writes "Shall Rome etc.". Brutus finishes the sentence himself: "Shall Rome stand under one man's awe?" The emphasis is on Brutus drawing his own conclusions with as little outside help as possible.

Now we see a reason Shakespeare might not have let us hear Cassius' clinching words. What we hear at that point is the same thing we've heard Cassius tell Brutus so far: *Nothing*. When we first meet Brutus, he's already mired in inner turmoil. When Cassius suggests that Caesar is too powerful, he's only echoing Brutus' own thoughts.

Yet Brutus blames Cassius for it: "Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar..." He makes himself out to be nothing more than Cassius' tool. But Cassius could never have convinced Brutus to do something he truly didn't want to do. Does he ever? Does he convince Brutus to include Cicero in the conspiracy? To kill Antony? To pardon Lucius Pella? To lie in wait for Antony's army? No.

But perhaps Cassius does convince Brutus to do one thing. In their last conversation together, Brutus says he will never kill himself, as Cato did. Cassius suggests, then, that perhaps Brutus would prefer to be taken prisoner. There's some of Cassius' old slyness from the first half here. Cassius himself threatens suicide on a regular basis - it could be that Brutus emends his statement because he sees that he may have hurt Cassius' feelings (which, at this point, he is anxious not to do). Brutus backpedals - no, he would never allow himself to be taken prisoner, implying that if that were the alternative, suicide would be acceptable. Suicide to avoid dishonor is all right, but suicide due to fear is not. He's drawing a distinction that is so fine as to be practically nonexistent, but that ultimately grants Cassius permission to kill himself without dishonor.

It's not a dramatic statement in the moment, but it's the only point on which Brutus ever yields to Cassius - and so completely that he actually yields his own life. Brutus doesn't mention Cassius during his own death scene - it would almost seem he's put Cassius out of his mind, as at "his funerals will not be in our camp, lest it discomfort us". But it's certain that Cassius was in his thoughts; he takes his life the same way Cassius did, by having a friend stab him (!). And their dying words are similar: "Caesar, thou art revenged," says Cassius. "Caesar, now be still," echoes Brutus.

I have to say, Mal and I have the best conversations ever. I don't even *know* what's bouncing around in my brain until we start hashing it out. For those of you to whom this means something, it was directly because of conversations like this that "Void Sale" got written.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I feel like I ought to comment, but I'm brain dead. Sorry.

Except that I really like the point about Brutus' emotional blindness.

Heh, no need to apologize -- I've been following your entries, so I know you've got a hell of a lot on your plate.

I really like the point about Brutus' emotional blindness.

Thanks. You know, I saw the play with my brother, who's high-functioning autistic. He's usually bored at plays, but he said he liked this one. I wonder if he identified at all with Brutus, as autism is emotional blindness in the extreme -- my brother has the experience of being genuinely baffled by other people's emotions on a daily basis.

I've been following your entries, so I know you've got a hell of a lot on your plate.

Yeah. When I start to curse my grandmother for leaving me her jewelery? It's probably a sign that I'm a little stressed out.

Gah! You blow me away, Eo. That entire part about their suicides, especially. I can't really say anything more eloquent than *damn*.

I really like that icon, too. :-)

Hey, I got your beta, and I'm working on it. I have a couple of questions and comments that I'll send tomorrow or the next day. Thank you for your baldness - I really needed it, and everything you said is immensely helpful.

Hee, thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

I'm glad, too, that you're finding my beta helpful. I wondered if I was being *too* bald, so this is a relief. I look forward to hearing your comments.

In the production Mal and I saw, it gradually became clear that Cassius (played brilliantly by James Carpenter) was in love with Brutus.

Sadly, my familiarity with the play is currently limited to the 1980s BBC production. And I didn't even see all of it. I had no right whatever to make an LJ post quoting it. ;-) But I did, and while I was watching the production -- in the first conversation scene between Cassius and Brutus -- I thought that the language was the very passionate language of love.

I even wondered what it would be like to stage a production in which the two men are explicitly lovers; having part of that scene take place when they are rising from bed, for example. But again, I would have to know more about the play as a whole; from your comments here, I don't know that Brutus would be open enough to Cassius to allow such an interpretation, unless you staged them as being casual bed-buddies, and that might not work either.

So, in other words, that might be the stupidest idea ever. But it *did* leap to mind, just in those few minutes of watching.

in the first conversation scene between Cassius and Brutus -- I thought that the language was the very passionate language of love.

Yes, I agree, and we're not the first to think so. I've read scholarly analyses that remark on how very often the characters use the words "love" and "lover" (i.e. friend), discuss love and loyalty, and express their love for one another. In fact, it's one of the first things Cassius says to Brutus: "You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand over your friend that loves you." And these are politicians!

I even wondered what it would be like to stage a production in which the two men are explicitly lovers; having part of that scene take place when they are rising from bed, for example. But again, I would have to know more about the play as a whole; from your comments here, I don't know that Brutus would be open enough to Cassius to allow such an interpretation, unless you staged them as being casual bed-buddies, and that might not work either.

The idea did come up as my friend and I were discussing the play. One way it could work is if you started out with some clear sexual tension in the first half (rising along with the general tension level of the play), and cut some dialogue from the end of the Quarrel scene (after they've made up, and they're at just about their most intimate point), so that Cassius doesn't go back to his own tent.

Cassius: Oh my dear brother,
This was an ill beginning of the night.
Never come such division 'tween our souls.
Let it not, Brutus.

Brutus: Everything is well.

If you have the other characters exit before this, I can imagine this bit of dialogue being very quiet and affectionate -- but still tense -- and trailing off into a kiss, and more kisses, and they'd go to bed together. I'm not sure how you'd stage this, but the idea would be that Cassius falls asleep afterwards, perhaps picking up the end of the dialogue from the previous scene:

Cassius: [falling asleep] Good night, my lord.

Brutus: Good night, good brother.

But Brutus (characteristically sleepless) gets up again and goes looking for Lucius, setting up the scene where Caesar's ghost makes its appearance. At the end of that scene, Brutus would not be going to wake up his guardsmen, but rather Cassius, to ask if he heard anything. (In fact, in the play as written, as soon as Brutus has established that the guards heard nothing, the next person he sends for is Cassius.)

This sort of interpretation would be easier done on film than on the stage, I think. I'd have to think about what other characterization choices it would entail. In that recent production we saw, at the point where Cassius says goodbye to Brutus ("Forever and forever farewell..."), Cassius seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, and then seized Brutus and hugged him desperately. (Brutus' reaction of affection, puzzlement, and strange sadness as he hugged him back was just... wow.) I'd never seen anything like that done before. Something like that could work.

Man, I think I'm working up to actually writing some Shakespeare slash here. I'm a bad, bad boy. ;)

I hope you do read the whole play; I'd be very interested to hear any other thoughts you have on it.

I've long thought that many of Cassius's actions in Julius Caesar (his too-easy concessions of important points to Brutus, his numerous attempts at emotional manipulation, his depressive fatalism) could only be explicable through Cassius having an overwhelming, unrequited crush on Brutus and attempting to possess him in any way he can, even to the extent of embroiling him on this doomed republican crusade. By this logic, Brutus's anger and uncharacteristic viciousness in the Quarrel scene may be due to the realization that Cassius's motivations were not 100% to do with the government of Rome, and trying to sever that emotional bond as brutally as possible.

I remember trying to discuss the Quarrel scene with my tutor at university and failing to get over my gut reaction that Cassius crumples so shockingly because Brutus's opinion means so much to him. It's there though, isn't it? My stomach knots for poor old Cassius in that scene: he may be a manipulative bastard, he may even have been guilty of embezzlement, but what he feels for Brutus is all encapsulated in that one pathetic speech:

My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge.
Fill, Lucius, till the wine o'erswell the cup;
I cannot drink too much of Brutus' love.

I can't be the only one who hears Please say you feel the same underlying these words. But of course Brutus doesn't. And in the end it's not Brutus who kills himself for love of Cassius, it's Titinius. The whole play is Slash Paradise and I'm planning a short story on the JC theme myself, but would love to read your Cassius slash - write it, dammit, and please give me a shout once it's up and posted! :-)

Yay! In-depth Cassius slash discussion!

You should know that directly upon reading this subject line, I fell hopelessly in love with you. ;)

his too-easy concessions of important points to Brutus

Yes, exactly. In each case where Brutus gets his way, Cassius does know better, and he *knows* he knows better ("Be thou my witness that against my will / As Pompey was, am I compelled to set/ Upon one battle all our liberties."), but he just can't bring himself to say no to Brutus. I think Brutus' naivete is what makes Cassius love him -- as I said somewhere above, it *is* charming, and it's something Cassius himself completely lacks. Cassius is far too worldly to believe in a Rome where everyone acts for the good of the people, but I think he wishes he weren't so jaded -- he wishes he could trust in things the way Brutus does.

But at the same time, it drives him up the wall to hear Brutus' idealistic prattle when he's not in the mood for it, as when he quickly changes the subject during the conspiracy scene: "But what of Cicero?"

attempting to possess him in any way he can

Yes! Look at the end of the Quarrel scene: "Hath Cassius lived / To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus"..? And then, just a few lines later: "Yes, Cassius, and from henceforth / When you are over-earnest with your Brutus"... Cassius first makes the suggestion that Brutus is *his*, and Brutus picks up on it, accepts it. At some point I underlined these phrases in my copy of the play, and wrote in the margin, "possession!".

Cassius crumples so shockingly because Brutus's opinion means so much to him

Oh, absolutely. And it's a reflection, too, of how he adores Brutus, but is driven crazy by him for the exact same reasons. It's a double-edged sword: When Brutus is the gentle naif, Cassius can't stand it ("This sober form of yours hides wrongs"). But when Brutus shows himself capable of a little harsh realism too, he can stand it even less! (Perhaps because Cassius doesn't want to see any of his own jadedness in Brutus.)

[cont'd due to comment length limit]

I cannot drink too much of Brutus' love.

I can't be the only one who hears Please say you feel the same underlying these words.

No, I definitely hear it. You would have loved the production my friend and I saw. Here's part of an email I wrote to her, shortly after I saw it:

But really, it was all about Brutus and Cassius. [...] Cassius is so
painfully in love with Brutus, and it bubbles out in this rage
and manipulation-- "I cannot drink too much of Brutus' love"
comes over with a second meaning, that he can't because it's
filling him to bursting, ripping him to pieces. And after that
line they're looking at each other, and Cassius just starts to
reach out his hand-- and Brutus turns away. That had me _wrecked_.

And in that, they were overtly staging exactly the observation you just made: Cassius is indeed asking Brutus to say he feels the same thing -- and, as always, Brutus isn't quite able to make the connection.

I thought it was brilliantly done, overall. Brutus didn't seem *completely* blind to Cassius' feelings, which just wouldn't have worked. He was played as loving Cassius too, just not as intensely as Cassius loved him, and probably not in the same way. From my email again:

And Brutus has a few moments of being very tender with Cassius --
beginning with "or if you will, come home to me", and culminating,
of course, with "I will find time", and a kiss -- that were just
agonizing.

Brutus' very tentative expressions of affection made it painfully obvious how Cassius was feeling -- that he was holding out hope that his love just *might* be requited. And so similar to Brutus' dynamic with Portia -- it was the same expression of sad, puzzled affection in "As dear to me as are the ruddy drops that visit my sad heart". And oh man, when Brutus gave Cassius that brief kiss after his suicide -- far too late of course, but so, so moving.

The whole play is Slash Paradise and I'm planning a short story on the JC theme myself, but would love to read your Cassius slash - write it, dammit, and please give me a shout once it's up and posted! :-)

And here I thought I was the only one! I'll be sure to keep you updated, if you promise to do the same. Maybe we can use each other as beta-readers. :)

MARVELLOUS post. The revealed double-meaning in "I cannot drink too much of Brutus's love" sounds like one of those moments that justify the whole existence of theatre. HOW I wish I'd seen that production of Julius Caesar! Many thanks for your in-depth descriptions, those observations play out wonderfully well in my mental staging.

Since you've said everything so beautifully I haven't much else to add, except of course that so many people (present company excepted, of course!) misread Cassius's character from the lines

Caesar doth bear me hard; but he loves Brutus:
If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius,
He should not humour me.

Too many interpret this as "If I were in Brutus's favoured position, you wouldn't catch me listening to plots to overthrow Caesar!" when in fact it's "If I were in Brutus's favoured position, HE [meaning Caesar] still wouldn't be able to force me to comply". Of course *you* know this, but I wonder how many English teachers bother to correct the initial impression of enviousness. *hugs Cassius protectively* Come to think of it, I wonder if TY could bring out a Cassius Beanie Baby, dressed in a toga and clutching a bloodstained dagger? (Well, I'd buy one...)

And I would love to beta for you; my writing's not great, but I will gladly take you up on your offer to beta for me once I'm finished. Good luck!

all right i should really learn to read all the replies to a post before replying myself... >:}

but i'd like to take this moment to plug Othello as another delectably slashable work by The Bard and also say that i'm beginning to realize why people like theatre. I think the problem with me is that I've just never seen a good play... :-/

I think the problem with me is that I've just never seen a good play...

If you live anywhere near San Francisco, I can give you some recommendations. If not, there are probably theater reviews in your local paper. I feel your pain -- I've seen many a bad play myself -- but there *is* good stuff out there.

but i'd like to take this moment to plug Othello as another delectably slashable work by The Bard

Oh yes!! Though I don't think Iago loves Othello and destroys the thing he loves. The scene where Iago muses on the "daily beauty" of Cassio, however, and the whole business described "I lay with Cassio lately"... That's where I think Iago's attentions are engaged.

And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand,
Cry 'O sweet creature!' and then kiss me hard,
As if he pluck'd up kisses by the roots
That grew upon my lips: then laid his leg
Over my thigh, and sigh'd, and kiss'd...

You wish, Iago. You wish.

and also say that i'm beginning to realize why people like theatre. I think the problem with me is that I've just never seen a good play... :-/

Or you have, but the actors had an off-day! If it helps, I haven't yet seen a decent production of Macbeth - looks great on the page, but always seems to drag on the stage. My Beloved isn't into theatre much, but we saw a very modern-dress version of Hamlet that blew away his preconceived notions of Shakespeare being irrelevant - I hope you get similarly lucky soon!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was gearing up to write this giant treatise on Iago and how he's Not in love with Othello, just jealous of other people's emotions in general and Completely In Lust With Cassio!!! HA HA HAAAAH vidication. >:}

I'm just too lazy and cheap to seek out and pay for enough plays to see good ones... BUT, I'm hoping to change my ways soon... Maybe... We'll see. I'm about to spend a year in England and, if nothing else, the accents will count for something, right?

Probably still going to have my Iago rant... Watch out!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was gearing up to write this giant treatise on Iago and how he's Not in love with Othello, just jealous of other people's emotions in general and Completely In Lust With Cassio!!! HA HA HAAAAH vidication. >:}

Excellent! PLEASE write said Iago rant, I really want to read it ;-)

I'm about to spend a year in England and, if nothing else, the accents will count for something, right?

Actually *blush* I'm a bit of an accents snob, if I see Shakespeare delivered in anything other than cut-glass Received Pronunciation I always have to work hard to get over my instinctive feeling that something's not right. Which is ridiculous, as Shakespeare's English accent would have been pretty close to thick Yorkshire (the accent the Tweedys use in CHICKEN RUN). Once heard the actor John Barton deliver a speech from HENRY V in said accent, it was strange.

Here's a post from the SHAKSPER discussion group about John Barton's work, and how we have to get over our accent barriers ;-)

http://www.shaksper.net/archives/1997/1086.html

if I see Shakespeare delivered in anything other than cut-glass Received Pronunciation I always have to work hard to get over my instinctive feeling that something's not right.

I prefer that actors use their own accent rather than putting one on, unless there's a reason in the text of the play for them to do otherwise. And as someone remarked in that thread you pointed me to, it makes very little sense for an actor playing a Roman to put on a British! I enjoy hearing Shakespeare in an American accent, actually -- I like what it does to the rhythms.

In the production of Julius Caesar we've been discussing, most of the actors were Americans, and they used their own accents, which worked fine for me. The actor playing Antony, however, was British, and he used his own accent too -- not RP, but something more "common" sounding. (Sorry, I don't know how else to describe it.) Now that I think about it, that may have contributed to my impression that he wasn't quite gelling with the other actors.

I am completely ignorant about Shakespearean accents, so just about thing would be an improvement over the Americans-trying-to-sound-English that I would most likely experience were I do attend a play here. >< ...Again, I really don't see enough plays to make a judgement. But my experience has been the the medium of theatre usually encourages a tendency toward overacting. Projecting one's voice, making one's facial expression visible to all in the audience... I'm completely addicted to the subtlety that can be achieved in a close-up shot on camera.

promised iago rant here. Be warned, there is much rambling and random topic-shifts. I did at one point have a nice, coherent essay I wrote for college saying much the same thing, but I did not save it from my old computer. Alas.

I've always been of the opinion that it requires perverse stubbornness *not* to interpret Iago as a gay character. I certainly agree with you about Cassio.

I do like the idea that Iago was in love with Othello, for several reasons, the primary one being 3.3. Othello is kneeling and swearing a "sacred vow". He's about to get up, but Iago says, "Do not rise yet", and kneels with him:

Witness, you ever-burning lights above,
You elements that clip us round about,
Witness that here Iago doth give up
The execution of his wit, hands, heart,
To wronged Othello's service. Let him command
And to obey shall be in me remorse
What bloody business ever.
[...]
I am your own for ever.

Here's the thing: These are wedding vows.

When I realized that, it became by far the most frightening scene in the play.

Here's the thing: These are wedding vows.

When I realized that, it became by far the most frightening scene in the play.

*speechless*

Thank you so very much *rushes off to find copy of Othello to re-peruse*

Yes, that scene has been pointed out to me in the past and I do agree with its interpretation... But I find that applying that emotion to the play as a whole is too limiting and fails to account for all of Iago's actions. I mean, it is really creepy and does suggest that he's completely obsessed with Othello... But going along with my own interpretation of the play, I would have to say that Iago is seizing on the first meaningful relationship he can allow himself. And of course, it's too perfect in his mind; he's destroying Othello's marriage with Desdemona who loves him and forging a marriage between Othello and himself, who contemns the Moor. Because Iago is racist, he does respect Othello's power, but he hates the man's emotional weakness and punishes him for it. Not that there isn't some jealousy involved, some wishing to be close... But I just don't think there's any... chemistry.

*hugs Cassius protectively*

Heheh. It's vindicating to find that I'm not the only one with strong fannish feelings about the character. When I first picked up the play I was just flipping through it out of boredom, and didn't even expect to understand it. Imagine my surprise when I found such a vivid character, as immediate and interesting as any in modern literature! Even through the Elizabethan language, I felt as though I knew Cassius instantly. It's not an exaggeration to say that Cassius singlehandedly convinced me that Shakespeare was worthwhile.

I really want to reread the play now.

The funny thing about Shakespeare... It really lends itself to interpretation in surprising ways. I rarely like a Shakespearean play the first time around. He turns a pretty phrase, but usually his plots don't make much sense, his characters tend to be on the melodramatic side... But with enough mental energy, really trying to understand the characters, a whole array of layers because available. I'm thinking of Othello, which I read a few months ago, hated at first, but then became mildly obsessed with. >:}

And if you'll bear with another leap in subject matter... I stumbled onto this post through the snapesupport group, so Harry Potter is fresh in my mind, and I find that I respond to JKR in much the same way that I respond to Shakespeare. Her work seems rather simplistic at first, even flawed, but to take the time to really understand the characters... That's what makes it completely fascinating for me, not just an enjoyable read.

You might be interested in some back-and-forth we had about HP and "Othello" here.

"Othello" happens to be one of my favorites too, right up there with "Julius Caesar". I know what you mean about it being rather inscrutable the first time around, but that's what's great about Shakespeare -- the answers are there if you're willing to look for them. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the play. Have you seen the film with Laurence Fishburne? I saw it recently and enjoyed it very much -- Kenneth Branaugh as Iago was absolutely brilliant.

Have you seen the film with Laurence Fishburne? I saw it recently and enjoyed it very much -- Kenneth Branaugh as Iago was absolutely brilliant

I've seen parts of it. Unfortunately, when I see KB, my brain says "comedy." And I've got this beautiful mental picture of the cast of Othello that I'm just too stubborn to relinquish. However, should it come on TV one day....

Unfortunately, when I see KB, my brain says "comedy."

You're missing out, then... His range is much greater than that. I'd especially recommend "Rabbit Proof Fence", which doesn't really hang on KB, but he has a wonderful dramatic turn. He disappeared so completely into the role that I barely knew it was him.

DITTO on Brutus. DITTO DITTO. I've actually known someone like that in RL, and it makes one want to pull one's hair out and start screaming. No matter how fond one is of said person (even BECAUSE of said naivete), there are just these... moments... of extraordinary denseness. One cannot even sputter in indignation.

... Er.

Um. Sorry.

'What's the matter?'

*is torn, as always, between smiting or shagging Brutus senseless*

*decides to give Cassius a pity shag instead* (Shut up, I'll call it a pity shag if I want to.)

Now look what you've done. You've made me all slashy and hungry for incandescent, heart-twisting C/B. You will write some, won't you? Won't you? A scene from Cassius' 'seduction', perhaps?

*clasps your knees in supplication*

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

julius caesar (again)

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Yay! In-depth Cassius slash discussion!

Re: Yay! In-depth Cassius slash discussion!

Re: Yay! In-depth Cassius slash discussion!

More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

Re: More Unashamed Cassius Fangirl Squee

All I can say is...

Re: All I can say is...

Re: All I can say is...

Re: All I can say is...

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