Comments on: CAN CASSIUS BE A WOMAN?

By: Nick

Nick — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:29:28 +0000

I will point out that this argument comes close to the “Sam and Frodo are gay” arguments. Shakespeare from male-to-male used the term “love” all the time, and I’ve always taken it to be an expression of friendship.

By: Philip

Philip — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:25:54 +0000

I think that if Cassius is a woman, some of the other conspirators should be women. If we are in a world where half of the political actors are women, then a number of the conspirators should be women.

By: Mary Jane Schaefer

Mary Jane Schaefer — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:45:42 +0000

Yes, there are lots of places in the text where Cassius works well as a woman. The military role made me uncomfortable, however. Also, parts where Cassius uses the word “womanish” derogatorily. The scene at Brutus’ home where the conspirators draw him into a commitment to the assassination, he argues against taking an actual oath, saying that maybe weak women might need such an artificially created bond but not true Romans, I always turned and gave Casca (also played by a woman) an ironic look. Phil pointed out to me that many of the conspirators were played by women because not enough competent men tried out for the play. However, this casting decision had an inadvertent side-effect. The conspiracy appeared to have been formed largely by women trying to bring a great man down.