William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Kenneth Parker (University of East London); Revised By: Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Ed. by Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), J A Roe (University of York), Sean Seeger (University of Essex), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1599

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Historical
Play

Resources

The more or less agreed order of composition of the plays shows Julius Caesar coming after Henry V. Since the latter might be seen as the culmination of a process that had begun with The First Part of the Contention of the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster (2 Henry VI), continuing via Richard III, Richard II, King John and the two parts of Henry IV, Julius Caesar might be seen as Shakespeare's move from English to Roman history - an interest manifested earlier in Titus Andronicus, first printed in 1594, and the poem The Rape of Lucrece, entered into the Stationers' Register on 9th May of the same year.

English popular interest in Roman history was immense. Not only were there key translations before 1600 (Herodian 1550; Eutropius 1564; Appian 1578), but Philip...

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2930 words

Citation: Parker, Kenneth, Virginia Mason Vaughan. "Julius Caesar". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 October 2000; last revised 20 January 2020. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4303, accessed 14 December 2025.]

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

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