Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

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  • November 25, 2008 at 4:42 pm
    csmamma
    Participant

    Would you recommend this play with an 8 and 13 yo? I’ve never read it before and would like to know if it would be suitable.

    Also, if it is – would you recommend a childrens version?

    Which resourse do you suggest I get this from?

    I saw the video of the play on the book finder- would you recommend this for my boys considering their ages?

    🙂 – Thanks and a big hug to you!!

    Heather

    November 25, 2008 at 5:39 pm
    Sonya Shafer
    Moderator

    Good question. I’ll throw in a few thoughts, and then maybe someone with boys can enlighten me. 😉

    Seems like it would be suitable for your 13yo. My main considerations would be the murder scene, in which the group stabs Julius Caesar, and the whole political debate that underlays the plot. I’m not sure whether your 8yo would “get it.” Marc Antony’s speech at the funeral is a preeminent passage for that play but requires some understanding of the political motives of the group that killed Julius Caesar.

    I just checked both Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb and Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children by E. Nesbit, and neither has a retelling for children.

    Based on those considerations, I would probably be inclined to wait until my children were older and could dig into the original lines with understanding and ease. But then, I don’t have boys . . . 🙂

    November 26, 2008 at 12:55 pm
    Bookworm
    Participant

    Personally, I’d wait a bit. I plan on covering Julius Caesar and Hamlet both when I have children a little older. I’ll probably do it with my older boys when they are both jr high-high school age for those two.

    Michelle D

    November 26, 2008 at 10:46 pm
    csmamma
    Participant

    Thank you, Sonya and Michelle, for your wise counsel. I think I might just wait to tackle Julius Caesar. I have so much to look forward when my boys are older!

    Thanks again ~ I’m not sure what I’d do without you. 😉

    Heather

    November 27, 2008 at 1:07 am
    Shanna
    Participant

    I would love more info on how you all study Shakespeare. I may have posted about it before. Maybe I should go look. It is one area that I just cant get a grasp on beyond reading Lamb’s.

    November 29, 2008 at 2:59 am
    cherylramirez
    Participant

    When we (then 9yo dd) “studied” A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we read Usborne’s Shakespeare for children book first, then we made a flow-chart on posterboard describing how the characters related to each other. The story doesn’t make sense if you don’t understand who is really in love with who! Then we looked at a parallel text (Shakespeares english on one side of the page and modern english translation on the opposite page) while we listened to the play on a cd. I ordered a video, but the library sent me the wrong version and we didn’t get to see it. I wanted the version with Mickey Rooney and they sent me a more modern interepretation which I returned immediately!

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