🎭 Et Tu, Bestie? | A Modern Reading of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

## 🏛️ Power, Plotting, & Prose: A Julius Caesar Discussion

We’ve all seen the memes, but have you actually sat down with the story lately?
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is the ultimate study in "cancel culture," political spin, and what happens when your best friend takes "backstabbing" literally. We’re reading a modern English version to strip away the 16th-century barriers and get straight to the grit of the story.

The link to the modern English translation:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nacnsJF6rkQ7jBSMUYi5E6n6SDdM4eJu/view?usp=sharing

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### 📖 The Assignment

To make the most of our time, please read the play in full before we meet. We recommend using a modern "side-by-side" translation (like No Fear Shakespeare or SparkNotes). It makes the political maneuvering way easier to follow when you aren't stuck wondering what "wherefore" means.
Key Themes to Think About:

• The PR Spin: How does Mark Antony’s funeral speech hold up as a masterclass in gaslighting?
• Brutus vs. Cassius: Is it "noble" to do a bad thing for a good reason?
• Modern Mirrors: Which characters remind you of today’s political figures?

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### 📍 Event Details

• Date: Sunday, May 17, 2026
• Time: 11:30AM - 1:30PM
• Location: Central Library - Meeting Rooms - L6 North (690) Meeting Room
• The Vibe: Deep-dive discussion. Think of it as a book club, but with more daggers.

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### 💬 Discussion Flow

1. The "Vibe Check": Initial impressions of the modern translation. Did it make the characters more or less relatable?
2. Character Trial: We’ll put Brutus on "trial" to decide if he was a patriot or a traitor.
3. The "What If?": How would this story play out in 2026 with social media and 24-hour news cycles?

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> "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves..."
> Translation: "We can't blame fate for this mess; it’s on us."

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