JULIUS CAESAR

Content Warning:
Depictions of Death by Suicide

Fate. Freedom. Power. This wild & fresh adaptation of one of the greatest political tragedies in theatrical history opens up the traditional confines of the narrative to explore the still-beating heart that resonates loudly in today’s political landscape.Play Written by William Shakespeare
Adapted & Directed by Priscilla Lindsay

Digital Lobby Display written and designed by Naomi Rodriguez

Framework of a Matriarchy

In an interest in understanding how women and non-assigned male at birth individuals present themselves in this world, I have looked at ideological books that talk about the importance of man and that disregards women in society. I believe it’s an interesting way to understand how men approach their own identity, and as a result, we can approach our identity just as unapologetically.Feminism is rooted in the idea that men and women are created equal, and as a result, we receive the same opportunities, livelihood, and overall equity is achieved. However, men, in history, as a collective only look upon themselves as the only deserving group. They take charge; they’re the breadwinners; they can tell you to your face that you’re just a woman, or not deserving like a man is. “Masculinism” is even described as the thought that men began receiving less due to feminism.If we want the audience to not think “Where are the men?”, what happens when we start acting like men historically have?“the other, and while the first is famous for the declaration that man and woman are made in the image of God, the second story picks up in a different place and adds a new dimension to the picture of this creature, man. The second account emphasizes where Adam lives and what it means: that he comes from earth, and is meant to make the earth into something magnificent. “[T]hen the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed”Josh Hawley, a Missouri Senator, depicts this framework of God foregrounding the description of Adam and thus, inferring men are the true depiction of God (And there can be a larger conversation on the depiction of women through sin and offense by the stories of Eve and Lilith).Realizing what dominant and embedded narratives of patriarchy we were up against, we asked ourselves the following questions: How do men begin to separate themselves from each other? What identities under men’s rule have been consistently ignored and thrown aside? This is where intersectionality comes into play. Where do you begin to fall into line with your character’s privilege based on status, race, physicality, and education?

Shakespeare's Intent

The goal of the 1586 Babington Plot was to assassinate Protestant Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Catholic relative Mary, Queen of Scots, as the new English monarch. Mary was executed as a result of a letter she sent supporting Elizabeth's assassination. Mary had been held captive in England for 19 years since 1568 at Elizabeth's request. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare was produced in 1599, 10 years after its plot. Martin Luther, German teacher and monk, released Disputation on the Power of Indulgences debating Catholic Church teachings.After the defeat of the Spanish Conquest of England, Queen Elizabeth was commemorated with ‘The Armada Portrait.’ Since then, her image as Queen has changed. She was seen as a powerful leader who led the defeat of one of the larger monarchies in Europe; her ‘Womanness’ was pushed aside and now seen as a military leader and negotiator.Shakespeare's original Julius Caesar echoes themes of tyrannicide and spoke to an audience who would have most likely lived through the events of the decade before the play premiered.Looking upon Shakespeare's original form of this play. Shakespeare wrote this play with only two female characters–Portia and Calpurnia–who are wives to Brutus and Caesar and were originally played by men. Yet, these performances were timely. 10 years before Julius Caesar premiered, England had gone through an attempted coup of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. With this event, Shakespeare had more than just men in mind as this coup had women pitted against each other and challenged the rule of Elizabeth whose gender identity and marital status was a subject of debate and discomfort on the global and national stage. We all can become masters of our own fates.In a matriarchy with(out) men, who comes forward? How do we separate ourselves from each other? What identities under a patriarchy have been consistently ignored or thrown aside and in this setting start to rear their heads? Where do you start to align yourself with the privilege of your character in terms of status, ethnicity, physical appearance, and education?

Democracy, Stoic Philosophy and Death by Suicide in Ancient Rome

Rome has become the imagery of a representative democracy; which the United States Government frequently credits as the foundation of our democractic system. One that Federalist Alexander Hamilton praises the Roman Republic has “attained to the utmost height of human greatness" in this system.Despite the framework they've been credited for, it's often debated on how democractic the republic had been especially as Rome's republic has been lead by the wealthy aristocrats at the time. Polybius even stated that Rome stability comes from the "kingship," "aristocracy," and "democracy." Even if the plebians were involved in the process, oftentimes, the wealthy had a bigger influence on matters that occur in the Senate. As a whole, this brings the question of what is a democracy, and are we following in the footsteps of Rome?In this period of Rome, death by suicide became rampant across elites and even as a public announcement of said death. We see this in the play as Brutus and other co-conspirators talk about death by suicide and their philosophies. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, co-conspirators, Cassius, Brutus, and Titinius, and Brutus’s wife Portia all die by suicide for their own individual, cultural and historical reasons. For the co-conspirators, in ancient Rome, it was considered not only an act of courage, but of honor, to kill oneself after failing in a battle. This historically and culturally-held belief is depicted in the assisted deaths by suicide of Cassius and Brutus in the final act of the play. For Portia, however, her death by suicide could be considered in a more individual context that was a result of her deep despair and mental anguish, factors that may increase the risk of suicide for someone, and perhaps Portia’s suicide may seem more akin to contemporary views of death by suicide.Something important to consider is the viewpoint Brutus shares on a painting of the time known as Cato’s Suicide, depicting the death by suicide by Cato the Younger. Cato was an adversary of Caesar’s and when it became clear that Caesar would become the political leader of Rome, he chose what had become known as the philosophical way to end one’s life in connection with Stoicism. Seneca the Younger, a philosopher in the Stoic movement, who also famously died by suicide, had written on the Cato’s death and the painting a “spectacle” worthy of the Gods’ attention. Here, albeit contradictory to events later in the play, Shakespeare seems to be invoking, beyond the reference to the famous painting, a perspective by Brutus somewhat like a common phrase in suicide prevention–that death by suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary situation. That with patience, support networks and pathways, and the opportunity to seek help with ease and without stigma or shame, helps us to ride out a difficult situation with the strong belief there are better times ahead.As a community, we can unlearn the taboos of suicide that Brutus briefly explains here especially in the context of our adaption. We can also read his words as giving sage advice about looking to the future for the strong probability of a better situation. We can attempt to understand the contradictions in the historical significance of the tradition and honor of death by suicide during warfare that comes later in the play yet also see Portia’s death as something that happens very much in her present, not future bound and is preventable.

If you’re feeling suicidal, please talk to somebody. You can reach the National Suicide Prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860; or the Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ young people, at 866-488-7386. Text “START” to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Or consider using the Lifeline Crisis Chat at https://www.crisistextline.org/. See additional resources below.

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