In "Brutus and His Problems," Dr. Lee Oser explores the most basic rhetorical question in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar: the dramatic irony of the audience’s understanding the characters’ real moral position better than they do. This lecture will explore how Shakespeare establishes this situation in his three opening scenes before arguing that that Brutus's impediments to self-knowledge reflect his historical situation. Finally, Dr. Oser will remind us that Julius Caesar is a meditation on history, if we understand what history meant to Shakespeare. 

Dr. Lee Oser is Professor of English at College of the Holy Cross, where he specializes in the intersection of literature and religion. A recognized expert in the poetry of T.S. Eliot, Dr. Oser has also devoted significant scholarly attention to Christian Humanism and the works of William Shakespeare. In addition to his scholarship, Dr. Oser is the author of three novels and currently serves as a Councilor for the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW). Most recently, Dr. Oser is the author of Christian Humanism in Shakespeare: A Study in Religion and Literature (2022).