d piece of 1599."
He adds: "_Julius Caesar_ was certainly not unconcerned in the revival
of the fashion for tragedies of revenge with a ghost in them, which
suddenly set in with Marston's _Antonio and Mellida_ and Chettle's
_Hoffman_ in 1601."

Dr. Furnivall, a strong advocate for 1601 as the date of composition,
has suggested[1] that Essex's ill-judged rebellion against Queen
Elizabeth, on Sunday, February 8, 1601, was the reason of Shakespeare's
producing his _Julius Caesar_ in that year. "Assuredly," he says, "the
citizens of London in that year who heard Shakespeare's play must have
felt the force of '_Et tu, Brute_,' and must have seen Brutus's death,
with keener and more home-felt influence than we feel and hear the
things with now."

Drayton's revised version of his _Mortimeriados_ (1596-1597); published
in 1603 under the title of _The Barons' Wars_, has a passage which
strongly resembles some lines in Antony's last speech (V, v, 73-74), but
common property in the idea that a well-balanced mixture of the four
elements (earth, air, fire, and water) produces a perfect man
invalidates any argument for the date of the play based upon this
evidence. See note, p. 167, l. 73.

INTERNAL EVIDENCE

Dr. W. A. Wright[2] has argued against an earlier date than 1600 for the
composition of _Julius Caesar_ from the use of 'eternal' for 'infernal'
in I, ii, 160. See note, p. 20, l. 160. Of course there is no certainty
that Shakespeare wished to use the word 'infernal,' and, besides, if
any substitution was made, it may have been at a later date. But
adumbrations of _Hamlet_ everywhere in _Julius Caesar_, the frequent
references to Caesar in _Hamlet_, the kinship in character of Brutus and
Hamlet (see note, p. 46, l. 65), the treatment of the supernatural, and
the development of the revenge motive give strong cumulative evidence
that the composition of _Julius Caesar_ is in time very near to that of
_Hamlet_, the first Shakespearian draft of which is now generally
conceded to date from the first months of 1602. The diction of _Julius
Caesar_, the quality of the blank verse, the style generally (see below,
Versification and Diction), all point to 1601 as the probable date of
composition. It has been said that a true taste for Shakespeare is like
the creation of a special sense; and this saying is nowhere better
approved than in reference to his subtile variations of language and
style. He began with what may be described as