Again, Poets and Julius Caesar (Critical Essay‪)‬

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a dramatization of Plutarch's account of the death of Julius Caesar and the consequences of that event in the war waged against his assassins by Mark Antony and Octavian, is particularly admired for the elegance of its plot. The main episodes in the history as Plutarch's Lives conveys them are contained in a structure that, by line count, is shorter than any of Shakespeare's English histories and all but two of his tragedies. (1) In relation to his apparent commitment to economy in Julius Caesar, Shakespeare's inclusion in his play of two episodes involving characters identified as poets invites comment and has drawn it concertedly in three essays: Norman Holland, "The 'Cinna' and 'Cynicke' Episodes in Julius Caesar" (1960); Thomas Pughe, "'What should the wars do with these jigging fools?' The Poets in Julius Caesar" (1988); and Gary Taylor's "Bardicide" (1992). (2) A curious feature of the attention paid these scenes by all three of these essays is that none of them considers all of what is known about Cinna, the poet identified by name in Shakespeare's play. Being specific about this, however, particularly about what was known by Shakespeare of Cinna's poetry (and little more is known today than what Shakespeare knew), heightens the already remarkable effect of Shakespeare including these scenes. In this light, incidental as they remain to the historical and political questions surrounding the play's action, the poet scenes make Julius Caesar eerily predictive of the dilemmas faced by teachers of the humanities these days. Because of them, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar seems to be considering the value of poetry in a time of cataclysmic change; and it is a consideration that, typical of Shakespeare, is unflinching in its unwillingness to mount an expedient defense.