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Thirty Day Shakespeare Meme: Day Two (Your Favorite Character)
Okay, this will be the last post about Julius Caesar for a while. I'm not sure whether this is cause for rejoicing, mourning, or just...feeling vaguely apathetic. Regardless, today’s post is about Cassius.
I think my affection for Cassius has something to do with the circumstances under which I got to know him. The first few months of college are a time when people are often a bit lost, a bit off balance, and a bit desperate to find new friends. I was no exception. I guess it makes sense, in a way, that during that time, as I first read Julius Caesar, my search for friends spilled into the literary realm. I latched onto Cassius because he had many qualities I could identify with, and the qualities I couldn’t identify with, I found very human and intriguing. And I liked his smile. And there was the matter of his rants, of course, which I just adored. Cassius is quite versatile, when it comes to rants. He’s fabulous at furious excoriations: “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus.” Brilliant! And yet, his capacity for self-pitying diatribe rivals that of Richard II, the king of said diatribes: “Come, Antony, and Young Octavius, come. Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius, for Cassius is a weary of the world.” Perfect, as far as these things go.
I’ve known him for so long, examined him from so many different angles, that I can’t really say why he’s my favorite character. At times he seems to me to be ambitious, bitter, jealous and petty. Or I see him as emotionally needy, quick to assume the worst, and a bit manipulative. There’s the perverse pleasure he seems to take in “performing” his subjection to Caesar in the assassination scene, which makes his hatred especially vivid. I've also always seen in him, though, a stunning clarity of purpose, an idealistic hope that men can master their fates, and a surprising capacity for genuine affection and friendship. I have to face it, I'm a little in love and probably always will be.
And, as requested, the questions:
Day #1: Your favorite play
Day #2: Your favorite character
Day #3: Your favorite hero
Day #4: Your favorite heroine
Day #5: Your favorite villain
Day #6: Your favorite villainess
Day #7: Your favorite clown
Day #8: Your favorite comedy
Day #9: Your favorite tragedy
Day #10: Your favorite history
Day #11: Your least favorite play
Day #12: Your favorite scene
Day #13: Your favorite romantic scene
Day #14: Your favorite fight scene
Day #15: The first play you read
Day #16: Your first play you saw
Day #17: Your favorite speech
Day #18: Your favorite dialogue
Day #19: Your favorite movie version of a play
Day #20: Your favorite movie adaptation of a play
Day #21: An overrated play
Day #22: An underrated play
Day #23: A role you've never played but would love to play
Day #24: An actor or actress you would love to see in a particular role
Day #25: Sooner or later, everyone has to choose: Hal or Falstaff?
Day #26: Your favorite couple
Day #27: Your favorite couplet
Day #28: Your favorite joke
Day #29: Your favorite sonnet
Day #30: Your favorite single line
Okay, this will be the last post about Julius Caesar for a while. I'm not sure whether this is cause for rejoicing, mourning, or just...feeling vaguely apathetic. Regardless, today’s post is about Cassius.
I think my affection for Cassius has something to do with the circumstances under which I got to know him. The first few months of college are a time when people are often a bit lost, a bit off balance, and a bit desperate to find new friends. I was no exception. I guess it makes sense, in a way, that during that time, as I first read Julius Caesar, my search for friends spilled into the literary realm. I latched onto Cassius because he had many qualities I could identify with, and the qualities I couldn’t identify with, I found very human and intriguing. And I liked his smile. And there was the matter of his rants, of course, which I just adored. Cassius is quite versatile, when it comes to rants. He’s fabulous at furious excoriations: “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus.” Brilliant! And yet, his capacity for self-pitying diatribe rivals that of Richard II, the king of said diatribes: “Come, Antony, and Young Octavius, come. Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius, for Cassius is a weary of the world.” Perfect, as far as these things go.
I’ve known him for so long, examined him from so many different angles, that I can’t really say why he’s my favorite character. At times he seems to me to be ambitious, bitter, jealous and petty. Or I see him as emotionally needy, quick to assume the worst, and a bit manipulative. There’s the perverse pleasure he seems to take in “performing” his subjection to Caesar in the assassination scene, which makes his hatred especially vivid. I've also always seen in him, though, a stunning clarity of purpose, an idealistic hope that men can master their fates, and a surprising capacity for genuine affection and friendship. I have to face it, I'm a little in love and probably always will be.
And, as requested, the questions:
Day #1: Your favorite play
Day #2: Your favorite character
Day #3: Your favorite hero
Day #4: Your favorite heroine
Day #5: Your favorite villain
Day #6: Your favorite villainess
Day #7: Your favorite clown
Day #8: Your favorite comedy
Day #9: Your favorite tragedy
Day #10: Your favorite history
Day #11: Your least favorite play
Day #12: Your favorite scene
Day #13: Your favorite romantic scene
Day #14: Your favorite fight scene
Day #15: The first play you read
Day #16: Your first play you saw
Day #17: Your favorite speech
Day #18: Your favorite dialogue
Day #19: Your favorite movie version of a play
Day #20: Your favorite movie adaptation of a play
Day #21: An overrated play
Day #22: An underrated play
Day #23: A role you've never played but would love to play
Day #24: An actor or actress you would love to see in a particular role
Day #25: Sooner or later, everyone has to choose: Hal or Falstaff?
Day #26: Your favorite couple
Day #27: Your favorite couplet
Day #28: Your favorite joke
Day #29: Your favorite sonnet
Day #30: Your favorite single line
