A New Historicist Reading Of William Shakespeares Julius Caesar: The Influence Of The Renaissance On Elizabethan Drama

Et tu, Brute? remains one of William Shakespeares most well-known quotations to this day, with people using the phrase to express their sense of betrayal even if they were unfamiliar with the context. The Latin phrase, translated into You too, Brutus? marks the climax of Shakespeares Julius Caesar. Borrowing from The Lives of Noble Grecians and Roman, Plutrachs account of the Julius Caesar, Shakespeare wrote his play in 1599. Although the play is named after the Roman Emperor, Caesar is assassinated in Act III, and the play largely focuses on the psychological dilemma of Brutus. Caesar shows signs of tyranny as he rises to power, which starts a conspiracy against him led by Cassius. Cassius convinces Brutus to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar before he comes a tyrant. Throughout the play, Brutus is torn between his sense of responsibility towards Rome and his guilt for betraying his friend, as Caesar was a close friend to him. After Caesar is killed, the country spirals into civil war. Julius Caesar was written in a time of political tension during the Elizabethan Era. Queen Elizabeth was nearing the end of her reign, and she did not have a successor. Fears of civil