Characters of Shakespear's plays Author:William Hazlitt Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: JULIUS CAESAR. Julius Caesar was one of three principal plays by different authors, pitched upon by the celebrated Earl of Hallifax to be brought out in a spl... more »endid manner by subscription, in the year 1707. The other two were the King and No King of Fletcher, and Dryden's Maiden Queen. There perhaps might be political reasons for this selection, as far as regards our author. Otherwise, Shakespear's Julius C.ssar is not equal as a whole, to either of his other plays taken from the Roman history. It is inferior in interest to Coriolanus, and both in interest and power to Antony and Cleopatra. It however abounds in admirable and affecting passages, and is remarkable for the profound knowledge of character, in which Shakespear could scarcely fail. If there is any exception to this remark, it is in the hero of the piece himself. We do not much admire the representation here given of Julius Caesar, nor do we think it answers to the portrait given of him in his Commentaries. He makes several vapouring and rather pedantic speeches, and does nothing. Indeed, he has nothing to do. So far, the fault of the character might be the fault of the plot. The spirit with which the poet has entered at once into the manners of the common people, and the jealousies and heart-burnings of the different factions, is shewn in the first scene, when Flavius and Manillas, tribunes of the people, and some citizens of Rome, appear upon the stage. " Flavins. Thou art a cobler, art thou ? Cobler. Truly, Sir, all that I live by, is the awl; I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor woman's matters, but with-al, I am indeed, Sir, a surgeon to old shoes : when they are in great danger, I recover them. Flavius. But wherefore art not in thy shop to day ? Why do'st thou lead these men about the streets...« less