OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS The Shakespeare: Julius Caesar

Oxford delivered a superb edition of Shakespeare's classic! I have read many versions/editions and it does not compare to the quality and detail produced by Oxford's World Classics!

Julius Caesar is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, combining as it does some wonderful poetry with the drama of a historical tragedy.Shakespeare, characteristically, does not take sides. Are Brutus, Cassius and their co-conspirators striking a blow for freedom, or is their plot an unjustifiable and treacherous murder? Shakespeare does not tell us what to think; he puts the arguments of both sides into the mouths of his characters and leaves us to decide for ourselves.The only problem I have with the play is the way that the Roman masses are portrayed as a fickle mob who are easily swayed by the speeches of demagogues. Nevertheless, the scene where Mark Antony turns the crowd from supporting the actions of the assassins to wanting to hunt them down and kill them is marvellous drama. Especially clever is Antony's increasingly ironic use of the phrase, "And Brutus is an honourable man."Shakespeare's slightly patronising attitude to the common folk is also the only negative feature of another of my favourites: A Midsummer Night's Dream. Here the "mechanicals" are very funny, but unfortunately portrayed in a rather condescending way.As to the real history on which "Julius Caesar" is based, the Roman Republic which the historical Brutus supported was not a democracy. It was an oligarchy dominated by a rich senatorial elite who were only concerned with their own freedom, not that of the mass of poor citizens, let alone that of the slaves.The real Julius Caesar did indeed destroy the "freedom" of this rich people's oligarchy. But he gained power not just through military force but also because he won the poorer citizens to his side by adopting populist measures which benefited them. Caesar's assassins were as hostile to these populist policies as they were to his dictatorial ambitions.Finally, this particular edition of the play is as good as any, and it meets what is for me the essential requirement of the explanatory notes being at the foot of each page for easy reference.Phil Webster.

日本語の翻訳で読んだことがあるので、あらすじは、頭に入っており、そのおかげで、あまり苦労なく読めた気もします。古語英語が、多少混じりますが、それゆえに、読みづらいのではなく、むしろ、舞台劇用の、しかも、William Shakespeare 独特の、セリフ回しの構文（構文が最初は難解に思える）のために、最初は、かなり、きついです。が、だんだん、調子が乗ってきて、最後まで読めます。わたしは、英語が得意ではないので、あらすじを知っていること。そして、劇場仕立てのセリフが多いこと、場面で状況を推測できること・・に助けられて読んでる。という感じです。この本はオックスフォードシリーズで、少し、現代風に読みやすい英語に部分的に変えていることと、ページの下半分に詳細な注釈と文法的解説も添えてあること、そして、前半は、シェークスピア劇のジュリアスシーザー上演にまつわる、詳細な解説があることで、学問的に深い書物で、少年少女向けに平易な英文に直した版では、まったくありません。でも、このラインがぎりぎり現代風に平易になおす限界で、これ以上、本文をさわるとWilliam Shakespeare の文体の貴重な重厚さ、散文的、叙事詩的、語感が消えてしまうので、これは、苦労のすえの良書だと思います。とくにこの、オックスフォードシリーズのすぐれた点は、前半の多くを占める解説が非常に学術的で、また、各ページの下段にある注釈も、原著、古典からの出典をもとに解説しているので、専門的に勉強している学生向けでもあり、学術面での深みがあります。その部分は現代文の英語ですから、まあ、フツウに読めます。

Excellent in condition, prompt in delivery. Highly recommendable!! Great!

Perfect condition - A really useful edition of one of Shakespeare's arguably best works with an insightful introduction into politics, morality, Shakespeare's sources and the play as a performance.