The reason for this day isn't as funny as yesterday's . . . there's a morbid bent!
Before we get into it, I just want to say once again that I do hope you grow up to love the arts and reading . . .
. . . but if you wind up the science type, that'll be okay too . . .
. . . I'll just make sure we at least occasionally venture into this other world!
I didn't appreciate Shakespeare until I was in college; his language is hard to read . . . much less understand. But he was a brilliant writer!
Most scholars accept that he was indeed the author of the 37 plays and 154 sonnets attributed to him, but because there are so few recorded "facts" about his life, the authenticity of that has come into question. There's obvious proof that he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and acted in London . . . his marriage to Anne Hathaway is recorded as are the births of their three children . . . a will exists along with some legal papers with his signature. But experts questions whether or not this man of such humble origins is responsible for what has been called "the greatest body of work in the English language." Famous people like Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, Helen Keller, and Charlie Chaplin have expressed their doubts! Thousands of books have been dedicated to this subject!
I could care less!
Macbeth was the first play I fell in love with . . . it's brilliant actually! It dramatizes the physical and psychological damage suffered by someone seeking power through political ambition for its own sake. I think our modern politicians could learn a lot from studying this story.
But Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is where we find today's quote.
What a powerful play . . . based on actual events from Roman history. Funny thing though . . . while titled after the great leader Caesar, the central tragic character of the story is in fact Brutus. It is Brutus' struggle with honor, patriotism, and friendship that is at the heart of Julius Caesar.
In history, Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March (though the Romans didn't actually number their days . . . it's complicated . . . the "ides" were the middle of the month) . . . stabbed to death at a meeting of the senate.
In the story, a soothsayer warns Caesar of this event . . . Act I, Scene II
Caesar's last words . . . before being stabbed by Brutus: "Et tu Brute?" Translated from Latin, it roughly means, "And you Brutus?" Brutus and Caesar were friends. Caesar had been stabbed by 40 senators, but it was Brutus' knife that wounded him the deepest. All because they felt Caesar was a threat to their own positions!
The saying to be "stabbed in the back" may have originated here.
Of course, the 15th of March is the middle . . . or the ides . . . of the month (every month actually has an "ides) . . . soooooooo . . .
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