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Julius Caesar(William Shakespeare),.“The Political Odyssey: Shakespeare’sExploration of Ethics in Julius Caesar”by Matthew Sims,Lee UniversityThe complex political and ethical issues of Julius Caesar (1599) makeinterpretation of the play difficult. Ernest Schanzer, for example, hasrightly labeled Julius Caesar as one of Shakespeare’s most controversialplays. He points out that commentators still disagree on such basicitems as the identity of the principal character, whether or not the playis a tragedy, and perhaps, most importantly, whether or not Shakespeareintended Caesar’s murder to be considered damnable or praiseworthy.Along with Measure for Measure and Antony and Cleopatra, Schanzerviews Julius Caesar as a problematic text in which no particular moralresponse seems to be unequivocally appropriate. As he states:The reader of Shakespeare’s play is consequently faced with adifficult choice. Is he to throw in his lot with Dover Wilsonand Cassius, and regard Shakespeare’s Caesar as a boastfultyrant, strutting blindly to his well-merited doom, and theassassination as a glorious act of liberation? Or is he to followMark Hunter and Mark Antony, and look at him as “thenoblest man that ever lived in the tide of times,” and at theassassination as a hideous crime? (Schanzer 6)95