How does Julius Caesar relate to the Elizabethan Age in which it was written?
Catholicism was the major threat to Elizabethan England, although Elizabeth attempted to tolerate both Protestant and Catholic the opposition to both England and her reign came from or via Rome. The average Elizabethan theatre-goer could equate the Rome of Caesar with that of the contemporary Pope, there are few truly sympathetic characters in the play. A theme of Julius Caesar is the death of a ruler without an heir or successor and the conflict which follows, England and Elizabeth was in a similar position, rather than being a play about Caesar, it is a play about the power vacuum after Caesar, the politicking and infighting that immediately follow his assassination.
