Book and the Performance

I understood more about the characters in Julius Caesar when we watched the play performance in English class. Watching the play was different from reading it. By reading Julius Caesar, I could only understand what each character said, for the script does not go in detail in how each line is spoken or how the characters are acting. However, the experience watching Shakespeare's play revealed so much more. I was able to get an impression of each characters' characteristics by their physical appearances. The hand-motions and voice tone brought more definition to how each character felt when they spoke their speeches. For example, during Act One Scene Two, Cassius spoke a great deal to Brutus. When I read the play, I could only imagine Cassius speaking in monotone with little emotion behind each line. However, by watching Julius Caesar, I could hear how his feeling shifted within his speech.