Shakespeare's Julius Caesar - Methinks Book Club
Et tu Brute?
Welcome to the Methinks Book Club! In 2026, we will be closely reading a Shakespeare play every month, with a complete guide at the start and an essay review at the end. Currently, we are reading Julius Caesar, our March play. You can check out the reading schedule on the introductory post below. Join us by upgrading to a paid subscription!
I was going to begin this post by saying: beware the ides of March! And then follow up with some Shakespearean pun on “guides of March” but I couldn’t think of anything funny enough. So I decided to tell you about my failed attempt hoping you would find this funny. And I’m sure it’s working and you think I’m charming. Well, in case you didn’t know, the Ides is on March 15, the day Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the Senate, so make sure to celebrate that (especially if you’re a republican partisan) by spending the day reading this wonderful and extremely political play.
As usual, a Reading Guide on a Shakespeare play could easily be a whole book, so I must make the following disclaimer: my intention with this guide is not to cover every single thing about Julius Caesar, but to provide enough historical and literary context for you to look at the play with a specific pair of eyes that will improve your reading experience and understanding. I’m leaving enough room for you to do your own research following what’s most appealing to your interests.
The topics I chose to highlight—such as the fall of the Roman Republic, morality in public life, political manoeuvring based on image and rhetoric, among many others—were based on how often they appeared in the critical material I consulted during my research (which demonstrates their relevance) and also on my own interests and curiosities.
REMINDER: the Macbeth guide and essay were paywall-free and will remain so, since it was our first month of the Book Club.
I’m keeping those posts free to serve as examples of what you get when you upgrade to a paid subscription.
From this post onwards, access to our Book Club will be through a paid subscription only.
In this guide you will find:
important contextual information about elements of the play;
reading tips;
suggestions for a note-taking system;
questions to guide your reading;
bibliography;
recommendations of adaptations, podcasts, and Youtube lectures.
WARNING: this guide contains 400-year-old spoilers. I hope you don’t mind.
