The Sunday News
LAST week’s article ended with a presentation of O-level Literature set books coming into effect next year to 2020 for some texts. It is important to note that the list is updated on a yearly basis. One of the plays coming in is Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar which I shall discuss with immediate effect. I believe the play should be studied after a simpler book has been done.
For me Julius Caesar comes in handy after analysing The Sun Will Rise Again, by George Mujajati, which to me is simpler than this play, in terms of both background and language. I have been disturbed to hear some teachers saying they start their Literature classes at Form Three with Shakespeare claiming it is easier than some African Literature texts including local ones. What I always tell myself when I hear such talk is that the students faced with such are in for a hard time. They would hate the subject forever.
The best a teacher could do for better results in the subject is to capture students’ interest. The impression one gets from students when they are introduced to Shakespeare’s plays, is that they are difficult. This is very true to a larger extent as some scholars state that they were written originally not to be read but to be played, that they contain a great deal of poetry and finally, because they were written some years ago, they have allusions we are not familiar with and some words we no longer employ.
However, apart from these obvious difficulties, they may be ready for the story, the characters, and the philosophy of life Shakespeare has filled them with. To secure a complete understanding of any of the plays, entails frequent references to a glossary of Shakespearian words. Other ideas offered to effectively read Shakespeare are to stage the play on the platform of our imaginations; only thus will the dramatic conflict become clear and the characters assume distinct attributes. This is not easy to understand at the onset if you ask me and we cannot expect students to do this before understanding the basic story line.
The problem observed above could be addressed by double reading. It is best to read the play quickly once for the story, and then the second time for the plot structure, characterisation and other relevant elements. As indicated above the first reading should attempt to reproduce the play as a drama, not as a novel or an essay but in the imagination. The second reading should be done more slowly and probably with a pencil in hand to make annotations in a note book and to underline significant passages.
What I would say is that these suggestions from various scholars are not meant to stop a teacher from using the best methods suitable for his classes. For example, it is important to give the author’s background to make students understand the story better. Where resources permit, the teacher together with students could read the abridged version of the play under review from Shakespeare’ short stories. These give summaries of the plays in simple understandable language.
Finally on the introduction, students should read and understand the play if they are to derive pleasure from it. Discussing with a lot of former Literature students I have always got the impression that they like the text they did in class, showing that they understood it and can identify with it in many years to come. How can I help students understand Julius Caesar now? Maybe start by giving a brief summary of the play.
The play begins with excitement during the Feast of Lupercalia in Rome. The common herd of citizens holiday attire is out in the streets ready to welcome Julius Caesar who has recently triumphed against Pompey’s sons. The day is February 15, 44 BC. There is imminent prospect that Julius Caesar is to be crowned king. The holiday mood is rudely interrupted by the tribunes, Marullus and Flavius. These tribunes are against Julius Caesar being crowned king.
Marullus chides the commoners for their ingratitude to Pompey’s memory. Flavius adds that they should all assemble on the banks of River Tiber and weep their repentance and sorrow. Students need to understand the role of the tribunes at this juncture. The tribunes are officials whose duty is to protect the rights of the citizens, especially the common working men. However, in the first scene they are found scolding the commoners for breaking a law of being on the streets on a working day.
The tribunes were not the only ones who were against the rise of Julius as we will show in later articles. The celebration of Caesar’s triumph was customary, where a general exhibited prisoners and trophies conquered. Marullus reminds the crowd that Caesar returns with no such trophies, since he returns after conquering fellow Romans, Pompey’s sons, whom he has defeated in a battle in Spain. After dismissing the crowd from the street, the two tribunes resolve to strip from the statues of Caesar all adornments and decorations, they may find.
By removing the decorations from Caesar’s statue, and by their utterances, the tribunes show that they represent elements in Rome that fear Caesar’s increasing popularity. We see the behaviour of the crowd at the beginning. They are revealed to be fickle.
More on this in the next episode.
For views link up with [email protected] or sms only to 0772113207.
