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REVIEW
- Wilson, Harold. "Thesis: Julius Caesar and Coriolanus."
- On the Design of Shakespearian Tragedy. University of
Toronto Department of English Studies and Texts. 5. N.p.: U of Toronto
P, 1957. 85-114.
Thesis: Wilson's view of Julius Caesar grows out of his
belief that Antony and Cleopatra and King Lear are
Shakespeare's greatest tragedies because they convey the strongest
"tragic reconciliation," so that we feel that "the loss is inherent
in the story and inevitable, but we are left with the sense that
human life has been ennobled in and through the tragic experience"
(13). In Wilson's scheme, Julius Caesar is a kind of
precursor to Antony and Cleopatra. The two plays have a
similar subject matter and share a matter-of-fact world view which
Wilson calls "the order of nature," but Julius Caesar lacks
the passion which leads to tragic reconciliation:
The play contains perhaps the most philosophical of all Shakespeare's
dramatic interpretations of human history. Plainly, it is the most
detached; there was nothing to engage Shakespeare's partisanship, and
he views both the imperial ambitions of Caesar and the republican
ardour of Brutus with a gravely ironic impartiality. The irony is
deeply understanding; he studies not only the vicissitudes of the
Roman state in its moment of greatest crisis but also the personal
tragedies of its citizens. Brutus and Caesar, Cassius and Antony,
Titinius and Lucilius and even the slave Strato who holds the sword
for Brutus are all vividly realized for us as human beings. The
detachment, the serene and impartial understanding of the artist and
the thinker—for this is more a play of thought than of
passion—is the leading quality of this work; and, as we grow
older, at least, it leaves us filled with admiration for the artist's
genius but comparatively unmoved—unmoved, that is, compared with
the effects we experience in the great tragedies that followed
Julius Caesar. (97)
Aside from this evaluation of the play, Wilson generally concurs with
other critics on such matters as characterization and theme.
Bottom Line: OK
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