Julius Caesar, Folger Shakespeare Library

The authoritative edition of the classic play, a story of ancient Roman political intrigue, conspiracy, and murder.

Shakespeare may have written Julius Caesar as the first of his plays to be performed at the Globe, in 1599. For it, he turned to a key event in Roman history: Caesar’s death at the hands of friends and fellow politicians. Renaissance writers disagreed over the assassination, seeing Brutus, a leading conspirator, as either hero or villain. Shakespeare’s play keeps this debate alive.

The authoritative edition of Julius Caesar from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the playNewly revised explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the playScene-by-scene plot summariesA key to the play’s famous lines and phrasesAn introduction to reading Shakespeare’s languageAn essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the playFresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare booksAn annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Coppélia Kahn