JULIUS CÆSAR Copyright, 1916, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America Published April, 1916 D-Q TO THE TEACHER THE object of this edition is twofold: first, to afford assistance of a practical kind to the boy or girl who may be reading in Julius Cæsar his first Shakespearean text; and second, to present the play consistently as a performance on the stage of the Globe theater rather than as a work of poetic art. It is in the first respect more elementary and in the second more technical than previous editions intended for the use of the highschool or grade-school student. With regard to the propriety of approaching the plays of Shakespeare from the standpoint of the acted drama. little difference of opinion is found among teachers of the present generation. Doubtless an increasing number believe that a knowledge of his dramaturgic aims and devices, the laws of the drama in general and the physical conditions of the Elizabethan theater in particular, is the Open Sesame to all right criticism of the great English poet of the drama. The present edition, without minimizing the language problem, aims to provide such teachers with a simple working manual for students, and incidentally to reproduce the conditions of writing and performance more closely than has hitherto been attempted in any school text. It is hoped for this method that Julius Cæsar will be made more than ever interesting, better adapted to class performance, and more serviceable as a guide to the other plays. |