History YMMV / JuliusCaesar

** Cinna the poet, being killed just for his first name.

--> '''Cassius:''' I did not. He was but a fool that brought
--> My answer back. Brutus hath rived my heart.

* CommonKnowledge: "Brutus is a honourable man" is often used in popular culture to mean what the person has said is ridiculous. While that is Mark Antony's intention, it is important to remember he is by no means a heroic character, and we should take everything he says with a pinch of salt.

** "The ides of March"

** Regardless of how you feel about Caesar, it's hard not to pity his wife, Calpurnia, a little. She begs her husband not to go to the session at Senate, convinced that he'll be killed if he does. He finally agrees to stay home so she can rest easy... [[ForegoneConclusion and then he changes his mind]].

* CriticalResearchFailure: It is set some 1,000 years before the invention of clocks, but that doesn't stop one striking in Act II Scene ii.

* AccidentalAesop: The play's 'message' can easily be read as "Democracy is bad because people are sheep," given all the scenes showing how quickly and easily the public's loyalties can change and be manipulated: Act I, Scene I, as well as their rapid switch of loyalties from Caesar to Brutus and back to avenging Caesar following the assassination. Of course, in Shakespeare's day [[ValuesDissonance this wouldn't have been an outrageous aesop]], as democracy didn't catch on for another few centuries.

* [[Irony]]: In the play Julius Caesar says to Mark Antony, "Let me have men about me that are fat, / Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights. / Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. / He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous." This is a paraphrase of something he actually said in real life about Mark Antony.

* Irony: In the play Julius Caesar says to Mark Antony, "Let me have men about me that are fat, / Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights. / Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. / He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous." This is a paraphrase of something he actually said in real life about Mark Antony.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: The play's 'message' can easily be read as "Democracy is bad because people are sheep," given all the scenes showing how quickly and easily the public's loyalties can change and be manipulated: Act I, Scene I, as well as their rapid switch of loyalties from Caesar to Brutus and back to avenging Caesar following the assassination. Of course, in Shakespeare's day [[ValuesDissonance this wouldn't have been a family-unfriendly aesop]], as democracy didn't catch on for another few centuries.

* MagnificentBastard: Mark Antony is a loyal man of the titular UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar's who participates in his schemes to help rise to the top of Rome. After Caesar is assassinated, Antony pretends to align with the conspirators before giving a [[RousingSpeech rousing eulogy]] where he provokes the crowd into fury at Caesar's death. Making them love Caesar and then revealing Caesar had promised every citizen money in his will, Antony is later able to [[TheStrategist defeat them on the field as well]], ending the play ruling Rome as one of the new Triumvirate.

** Cassius then desperately laments he is "hated by one he loves," jealously accuses Brutus of loving Caesar more than him, and offers his dagger to Brutus, asking him to stab him in the chest because he cannot bear the misery. Ironically, he later asks the same of a servant after learning erroneously that Brutus is dead; the servant obliges. Brutus returns and kills himself with Cassius' sword. Sound familiar?

** The 1953 movie adaptation interpreted Mark Antony as vaguely sinister, sporting both a KubrickStare and later a PsychoticSmirk whem he had finished his famous "friends, romans countrymen" speech at Caesar´s funeral. The smirk shows itself when he turns away from the crowds, rioting behind him. He is also ColorCodedForYourConvenience, sporting a toga that is slightly less dark than that of Cassius. In this respect, Brutus stands out as a TragicHero, played by both Cassius and Antony in due order.

** Cassius then desperately laments he is "hated by one he loves," jealously accuses Brutus of loving Caesar more than him, and offers his dagger to Brutus, asking him to stab him in the chest because he cannot bear the misery. Ironically, he later asks the same of a servant after learning erroneously that Brutus is dead; the servant obliges. Brutus returns and kills himself upon Cassius' sword. Sound familiar?

* ValuesDissonance: Portia, Brutus' wife, argues to him that he shouldn't keep secrets from her, and that she's strong and intelligent enough to be included in his plans. [[FairForItsDay Good for her]]! Except... she proves her point by negatively comparing all women (including herself) to men, and distancing herself from those ''other'', lesser women... not to mentioning giving herself a pretty serious wound on purpose. She later commits suicide offscreen. Yeesh.

*** Actually, "love" was once a word for "platonically like," so it should be interpreted as a quarrel between friends. It has the same logic as "lover" and "paramour."

** The 1953 movie adaptation interpreted Mark Antony as vaguely sinister, sporting both a KubrickStare and later a PsychoticSmirk whem he had finished his famous "friends, romans countrymen" speech at Caesar´s funeral. The smirk shows itself when he turns away from the crowds, rioting behind him. He is also ColorCodedForConvenience, sporting a toga that is slightly less dark than that of Cassius. In this respect, Brutus stands out as a TragicHero, played by both Cassius and Antony in due order.

* ProtagonistTitleFallacy: Caesar is assassinated halfway through and is never really the focus; this story is all about Brutus.

** The 2018 National Theater production, which set everything in the modern day, with the various characters being played as [[{{Expy}} expies]] of [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed contemporary politicians]], played Cassius as a woman. Although no words are changed, save for the necessary pronouns, the way certain lines are said and scenes are staged add another potential motive for Cassius turning on Caesar, implying that sexism (which is notoriously rampant in politics) might have had something to do with it.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Obviously Brutus, but also Caesar. Is he a skeptic who refuses to pay heed to the soothsayer (see ArbitrarySkepticism on the main page) or a highly superstitious figure who refuses to "beware" the Ides of March because it would be challenging fate and willingly goes to his destiny, only showing sadness at discovering Brutus among his killers? Or is he just too arrogant to pay heed to any warning of danger; or, is he worried about the threat but afraid of showing his fear out of concern for looking weak?