The Death of Caesar: A Play in Three Acts

Voltaires The Death of Caesar (Mort de César 1735) is often erroneously described as a reworking of the first three acts of William Shakespeares Julius Caesar. Instead Voltaire rewrote the text in its entirety using a different approach that focuses on the act of tyrannicide with the complication that Caesar has revealed to Brutus that the latter is actually his son. Brutus is an ardent republican whom Caesar wants to convert to his side. Ultimately the son places the needs of the country over any paternal connection and participates in the tyrants assassination on the Ides of March. Great political drama and a rediscovered classic of French literature!