Julius Caesar, the epic political tragedy that Shakespeare brought to the stage starts off like his other plays, hitting on deep religious-political issues from the start! Shakespeare has masterful ability to turn historical moments into epic tragedies of incredible beauty. Throughout May we will be reading Julius Caesar and glean religious-political insights from the play and show how English religious history that underpin Shakespeare’s writings. Julius Caesar is just another example from his canon that teaches us about the religious troubles of 16th and 17th century England.
One of ways Shakespeare addresses what insights he’ll provide is with Set Up Scenes. Shakespeare is a master of getting to the heart of the story from the very beginning.
In King Lear, we have the oath required in the first scene by the king from his daughter. And that sets the stage for the story. In MidSummer Night’s Dream, likewise, we have a scene start off quickly with a forbidden love and the father’s harsh edict and Athens’s harsh laws on love. In Romeo & Juliet, we have the prologue that sets the stage for the star-crossed lovers. We could go on and on with examples of how Shakespeare sets the stage for the play with his Set Up Scenes, so let’s get to the point. Julius Caesar is no different.
The first scene is odd, it starts off with an interaction that any who have lived in a Totalitarian or Police state would be all too familiar wit. Essentially, it’s a “what are you doing, show me your papers” situation. One thing that’s odd is Shakespeare rarely ever starts off a play with any but at least one of his main characters. He does so here. But he’s setting the stage. He’s using these Set Up Scenes to clue us in as a Catholic audience on what we should pay attention to. And one thing we need to know, we’re in a totalitarian situation with the Tribunes Flavius and Marullus questioning the commoners.
Flavius What, know you not you ought not walk
Upon a laboring day without the sign
Of your profession? Speak, what trade art thou?Commoner Why sir, a carpenter.
When they ask his friend what trade he is, he responds, a cobbler, “a mender of bad soles.” And to the ear, sole is the same as soul. So, let us hear Shakespeare.
Now, to the audience, going to see a play about Julius Caesar, wondering whether this was some allegory of Jesus Christ, possibly like later artists would use those initials to help us see the Christ-figures (e.g., Jim Casy in Grapes of Wrath or Jim Conklin in The Red Badge of Courage), it’s still to early to tell. But in the least, we know it’s a commentary on the religious issues of Elizabethan England, where priests have to go in disguise and must describe their trade in ways that both hide the truth to evil doers of the State while yet still somehow sharing hints with those in need of the sacraments who they were. So, yes, here we have a play about Julius Caesar, possibly wondering if this is an allusion to Jesus Christ, and very quickly knowing that Shakespeare has crafted yet another religious play.
A carpenter who is a mender of bad souls could be one of the many descriptions of Christ’s life and work. These scenes and words are not arbitrary, but crafted in a way to clue the audience on what to pay attention to and set expectations for the next two hours on the stage. The 5th of our 5 Principles of Interpretation are to pay attention to how Shakespeare crafts his stories, because each one tackle these religious-political issues of his day through different lenses and view points.
We’ll spend the following weeks reviewing these in closer detail.
Again, let those with ears to hear, hear Shakespeare.