Tag Archives: Julius Caesar

Kill All the Lawyers? Nope, We Need Them

By Robin Bates | Published: October 12, 2016

A district judge reflects upon what lawyers and judges can learn from Shakespeare, including “Othello,” “Merchant of Venice, “Hamlet,” “King Lear,” most of the history plays, and others.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Antony and Cleopatra, civility, Hamlet, Henry IV Part 2, Henry IV Part I, Henry VI Part 2, Henry VI Part 3, King Lear, lawyers, legal system, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Othello, Richard II, Richard III, trust, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

How Trump Echoes Marc Antony

By Robin Bates | Published: August 29, 2016

A New York Times article argues that Trump is using rhetorical flourishes like those that Marc Antony uses to defeat Brutus in Shakespeare’s play. His key strategy is casting himself as authentic against the inauthenticity of politicians.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Marc Antony, Rhetoric, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Ted Cruz as Lucifer, “Squat Like a Toad”

By Robin Bates | Published: May 1, 2016

After John Boehner compared Sen. Ted Cruz to Lucifer, I went looking through “Paradise Lost” to find passages that would apply. I found a particularly good one but, if you ask me, Cruz more resembles Blifil, Tom Jones’s nemesis.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Bram Stoker, Dracula, Henry Fielding, John Boehner, John Milton, Lucifer, Paradise Lost, Peter King, politics, Presidential Primaries, Satan, Senate, Ted Cruz, Tom Jones, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Will Plots vs. Trump Succeed?

By Robin Bates | Published: March 16, 2016

“Beware the Ides of March,” the soothsayer tells Julius Caesar. On the Ides of March 2016, Marco Rubio received the unkindest cut from his home state of Florida. But if for perhaps a more apt application of the play, one should look at how members of the GOP establishment are hoping to stab Donald Trump at the July convention.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged GOP, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Rubio vs. Bush: The Unkindest Cut

By Robin Bates | Published: January 6, 2016

The struggle between Jeb Bush and his former protegé Marco Rubio has been described as Shakespearean. The Shakespeare duos that come to mind are Caesar-Brutus, Duncan-Macbeth, and Henry IV-Hal.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged GOP primaries, Henry IV Part II, Jeb Bush, Macbeth, Marco Rubio, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Jeb! Agonistes: An Unsettling Parallel

By Robin Bates | Published: November 1, 2015

Does Jeb Bush resemble at the moment Samson Agonistes? His rivalry with Marco Rubio also resembles any number of Shakespeare tragedies. There’s an Oedipus parallel as well.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 2016 election, GOP, GOP primary, Henry IV Part II, Jeb Bush, John Milton, Joseph Campbell, King Lear, Macbeth, Marco Rubio, Oedipus, politics, Samson Agonistes, Sophocles, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

The Bard Does Halloween

By Robin Bates | Published: October 30, 2015

In honor of Halloween, check out what Shakespeare had to say about ghosts. When his graves yawn and yield up their dead, they produce apparitions that are genuinely frightening.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged ghosts, Halloween, Hamlet, Macbeth, Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

A Colossus Bestriding the World (Series)

By Robin Bates | Published: November 1, 2014

Sports Saturday What a world series it was for San Francisco Giants pitcher Martin Bumgartner! On Sunday he threw 117 pitches for nine shutout innings to win game five and then on Wednesday he returned to throw another 68 pitches for five shutout innings to preserve a 3-2 lead in the deciding game seven. And […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Baseball, Kansas City Royals, Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants, Sports, William Shakespeare, world series | Comments closed

Marc Antony for the Prosecution

By Robin Bates | Published: September 24, 2014

Federal court judge Thomas Thrash, Jr., drawing on years of experience as a trial lawyer, explains why Marc Antony makes a better case than Brutus does.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged courtroom rhetoric, lawyers, legal profession, Rhetoric, William Shakespeare | Comments closed