Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Since this is an election year, this was an appropriate read. Tedious but appropriate.

Most of us know at least the basics of the story. Caesar is stabbed to death by his colleagues. Most cruelly by Brutus, a man he trusted and thought of as a friend. Beyond that, I didn't remember why it happened or what happened afterwards.

Basically it boils down to ego and jealousy. One man was jealous of the glory and accolades that were given to Caesar. He, Cassius, had grown up with Caesar. He knew that Caesar was an epileptic and had witnesses a few seizures over the years. He decided that because of this 'weakness', Caesar was not fit to rule Rome. He knew, though, that popular opinion was against him. He needed a puppet for his plan to work.

Cassius began to work on Brutus and convince him that Caesar was ambitious to a fault but also had a weakness that would prevent him from being able to rule. Brutus was a weak willed man who seemed to go along with whatever was set before him. He buckled under the convincing sway of Cassius and agreed to join his band of conspirators. The play doesn't tell us who started it all but we're led to believe that it was Cassius. He had his other conspirators lined up before he got Brutus to join.

The conspirators were cowardly enough that they lured Caesar to the Senate that day under the guise of his receiving the crown. Caesar went against the wishes of his wife in order to receive the honor of ruling Rome. Instead, he was stabbed to death.

Cassius and friends hoped to sway the public in their view and thought if they could get the support of Marc Antony that nothing more would happen. Instead, Antony paid them lip service and conspired with Octavius against them that had killed Caesar.

Antony was able to get enough of the populous on his side, that many of the Senate were killed, most of them not part of the scheme at all. Antony and Octavius joined their military forces to battle the forces of Brutus and Cassius.

In the end, the conspirators lie dead. Most by their own hand, haunted by the ghost of Caesar and the evils of their own plotting.

Politics hasn't changed much for the better. Although, now we get awful advertisements (true and otherwise) on the television rather than actual assassinations. The whole petty ego driven spirit of it all seems about the same.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

I was finding Julius Caesar very tedious so I had to digress a moment and read my book club book.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is set during the French Revolution. He is a masked person (not literally but he does wear a disguise) who is a person of heroic legend in England and villainous legend in France.

He and an anonymous band of young men conspire to save the lives of many innocent nobility who are slated for the guillotine. They manage to steal the people away out from under the noses of Robespierre and his men of the French Provisional Government. Then, perhaps from hubris, a note is sent to the French powers that be advising them of who has just been stolen away and saved from certain death.

Along with this story of adventure and daring, is a love story of sorts. A young French woman, Marguerite St. Just has recently married a wealthy Englishman, Percy Blakenley, Bart. She is known to be the smartest woman in Europe and he is known to be a simple fop who loves fashion, cards and a laugh. Marguerite does not respect her husband and he, in turn, does not seem to respect her. Once they both learn more about each other though, things may change.

This was a fun read. It was a bit tedious at the beginning because I thought Lady Blakenley to be a shallow and snippy woman who clearly wasn't seeing what was in front of her eyes. As I got into the story more, I was able to more enjoy the intrigue that twisted through the story from a variety of corners.

I recommend this book. Now, on to finish Julius Caesar!

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Since the list of works from the Authors card game was a bit overwhelming, I wasn't sure where to begin. I decided to list them in chronological order of publication date. This means, I'll get all the Shakespeare taken care of first thing. I've read them all before especially Romeo and Juliet plus I've seen them performed and seen a couple movie productions of the books. I decided to pay attention to what I have either forgotten or just never noticed before.

First, Juliet's nurse had a daughter, Susan, the same age as Juliet. Susan died but it isn't specific when that happened. Nurse had also had a husband who was around in Juliet's youth but has since died. The only reason this is really important is that Nurse seems extremely protective of Juliet. More mothering than Lady Capulet for certain. It is quite possible that after the death of Susan, Nurse poured more of herself into her duties as Nurse.

Second, Mercutio, Paris and Prince are all related. Mercutio seems like the quintessential playboy while Paris has always seemed like a dweeb. Perhaps it is the various portrayals that I have seen but he seems like such a suck-up with the Capulets in trying to marry Juliet who doesn't even know what he looks like. Prince is just all about duty. If they were the three little pigs, Mercutio would be the straw-building pig because he'd be too busy partying and brawling for anything else. Paris would be the stick-builder because he'd try to do the right thing but would be lame about it. Prince would definitely be the responsible brick-builder.

Third, Paris dies. It makes sense that he dies since it's a tragedy. It is also tidy for the story because now there isn't an extra suitor left hanging. I suppose Shakespeare could have married him off to Rosaline but then it wouldn't have been as tragic.

Fourth, Romeo's mother, Lady Montague, dies. News of her death is not reported until the scene at the tomb. She apparently dies of grief over the news of Romeo's banishment. Good thing she didn't stick around for the gruesome scene in the tomb. I'm surprised that Lady Capulet doesn't die of the shock of seeing her dead daughter now really dead and bloody too. She doesn't seem like a terribly sensible woman.

I really enjoy the plays on words and the fast banter that Shakespeare gives his characters. It makes the story more entertaining although I find myself needing to read out loud in order to get the full effect of the language. The silly, romantic behavior of the teenagers is mildly annoying but I suppose that's the way the world looks when you are 14. I don't think my memory does the age justice.