Introduction
Julius Caesar is a colossus such as Rome has never seen and he threatens the long established Roman Republic itself. But he is also a charismatic leader who has an immense popularity with the masses and the army. This play is a treatise on strong leadership and its acceptable limits, in which two sides clearly emerge, one in support of Caesar’s dictatorial aspirations and one willing to take his life in order to preserve the long tenured but recently turbulent Republic. Caesar is arrogant and over-confident about his power and abilities, but he is also charming and in command of a Rome recently wracked by civil war and chaos. He seems the perfect man at the perfect time to many Romans. The first half of the play is all about the conspiracy to murder him and save the Republic. In it, Caesar appears in only three scenes and speaks fewer than 150 lines. The second half explores the consequences of his murder, as Rome plunges into more civil war between Antony and Octavius, who condemn Caesar’s murder and seek revenge for it, and Brutus and Cassius, who commit the murder and then flee for their lives after Antony exposes them as treasonous murderers of Rome’s greatest warrior and hero. The conspirators may well kill Caesar but his spirit will not die, and hundreds of years of Caesars will follow. Shakespeare weaves his magic, as Caesar’s presence is as seemingly great after his death as it was when he ruled as Rome’s first citizen. He is killed in Act III, Scene i but is always present in the hearts and minds of both sides in the conflict. Most of the characters are simply behaving on the basis of their principles. Republican Cassius is envious of Caesar and both Antony and Octavius are clearly looking ahead at the void created by Caesar’s demise and awaiting the spoils. But Brutus is a man as torn apart as Rome itself. Brutus can remind us of Hamlet at times because he is such a thinking man, not easily aroused to action. In fact, once he takes action, he is on the defensive for the remainder of his life. He is Shakespeare’s first intellectual and is dragged into this venture of killing his personal friend, Caesar, at the urging of the more aggressive Cassius in order to save the much loved Republic. Brutus is a deeply divided man, trapped between friendship and patriotism, loving both Caesar and the Republic, and having to choose between the two competing loyalties. He is a man who finally does what he thinks is right even though it turns out to be disastrously wrong. And he must pay the ultimate price for his blunder. He wishes in vain that he could kill Caesarism and not Caesar. Brutus stands shoulder to shoulder with Caesar as the true tragic figure of the play. Cassius, on the other hand, is a political opportunist and, unlike Brutus (and Hamlet), is a man of action. As the leading conspirator, he realizes that murdering Caesar can only work out if they have the popular and honourable friend to Caesar, Brutus, on their side. Mark Antony and Octavian will avenge Caesar’s death, Antony being Caesar’s closest and most trusted ally and Octavius his adopted son. Antony’s funeral oration is the apex of the play, as he manages to endear himself enough to the conspirators to be permitted to speak over Caesar’s dead body, while utilizing brilliant oratorical skills and manipulating the passionate crowds against Brutus and Cassius and their fellow conspirators. Shakespeare presents us with a profound study of how political groups are formed and the tensions that can tear them apart. Although experienced Antony and young Octavius defeat Brutus and Cassius’ attempted overthrow all that Caesar represented, they too dissolve into a conflict that requires another Shakespeare tragedy, Antony and Cleopatra, to resolve. Spoiler alert: Antony will luxuriate in Egypt with his famous lover, Cleopatra, while Octavian consolidates his power base in Rome and is eventually crowned Emperor, just as Caesar wished to be. History will know Octavius by his more imperial and well known adopted name of Augustus Caesar, Rome’s greatest emperor.
Shakespeare’s politics are a mystery to us. He depicts both sides of his political debates so convincingly that we can never pin him down, which was the safest way for him to survive the writing of such controversial subjects in so many of his productions. There are no villains in Julius Caesar, although both sides, throughout the civil war following the assassination of Caesar, seem way worse than Caesar himself. Perhaps that is a vote of confidence for Queen Elizabeth, who was especially enamoured by this play. Shakespeare was likely exploring the politics of Elizabethan London as much as Ancient Rome in Julius Caesar. Both were bloodthirsty and volatile cities with plebeian mobs and a divided ruling class, as Elizabeth certainly had her detractors and slept with a sword by her side throughout her entire reign. This play is a timeless examination of just what happens when a popular ruler oversteps the bounds of acceptable power. While Cassius may be more of a genuine revolutionary, Brutus commits to his highest principles by fighting honourably for the freedom and preservation of the Republic. He is defending his country from Caesar’s abuse of power. In creating such an honourable conspirator in Brutus, Shakespeare makes his point in this play set in Ancient Rome that the Republic can only be saved from tyranny when great personalities like Brutus act honourably. This eternal debate between monarchy and republicanism would erupt into a violent revolution in England shortly following Shakespeare’s death, when the Parliament confronts, defeats and executes England’s King Charles I. It has also played out repeatedly between then and now throughout much of the entire world. Hence Cassius’ famous prophecy: “How many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over in states unborn and accents yet unknown.” Shakespeare knew exactly what he was doing and was not merely referring to future productions of his play about Julius Caesar. His true audience is posterity.
Act I (3 scenes)
Scene i
A street in Rome
Enter Flavius, Marullus and common citizen
Flavius: “Hence! Home you idle creatures, get you home. Is this a holiday? Speak, what trade art thou?”
1 Citizen: “Why, sir, a carpenter.”
Marullus: “Where is thy leather apron and ruler? You, sir, what trade are you?”
2 Citizen: “I am but a cobbler.”
Marullus: “But what trade art thou. Answer me directly.”
2 Citizen: “A trade, sir, that I hope I may use with a safe conscience, which is indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.”
Marullus: “What trade, thou naughty knave?”
2 Citizen: “I am a surgeon to old shoes.”
Flavius: “But wherefore art not in thy shape today? Why dost thou lead these men about the streets?”
2 Citizen: “Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get myself more work. But indeed, sir, we make holiday to see Caesar, and to rejoice in his triumph.”
Marullus: “Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things. O, you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, knew you not Pompey? Many a times have you climbed up walls, towers, and chimney-tops to see great Pompey. And do you now strew flowers in his way who comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood? Be gone!”
Exit the commoners
Flavius: “Let no images be hung with Caesar’s trophies. I’ll drive away the vulgar from the streets, so do you where you perceive them thick. These growing feathers plucked from Caesar’s wing will make him fly an ordinary pitch. Who else would soar above the view of men, and keep us all in servile fearfulness?“
Analysis
The play opens with two tribunes scolding the commoners for coming out to celebrate Caesar’s return from the battlefield, where he has defeated the once great Pompey, paving his way to consolidate enough power to turn the nearly 500 year old Roman Republic into an imperial Roman Empire with Caesar as the despotic ruler. Elizabethan audiences, aristocratic and commoner alike, would have recognized the relevance of this first scene to their own times, as powerful French and Spanish kings routinely threatened England’s Parliamentary Monarchy. As well, the year is 1599 and Elizabeth is soon to die without a declared heir, which may result in a succession crisis the like of which nearly destroyed England during the War of the Roses in the previous century. Immediately Shakespeare distinguishes between Caesar’s supporters and detractors, a focus that will continue throughout the play.
Act I
Scene ii
Rome, a public place
Enter Caesar, Antony (in a race), Brutus, Calphurnia, Cassius and Casca, among others. A great crowd follows the procession, among them a soothsayer
Caesar: “Antonius!”
Antony: “Caesar, my lord.”
Caesar: “Forget not to touch Calpurnia, for the elders say, the barren, touched by this holy chase, shake off their sterile curse.”
Antony: “I shall remember. When Caesar says ‘do this’, it is performed.“
Soothsayer: “Caesar!”
Caesar: “Who calls?”
Soothsayer: “Beware the Ides of March.”
Caesar: “What man is that?”
Brutus: “A soothsayer bids you beware the Ides of March.”
Caesar: “Set him before me; let me see his face.”
Cassius: “Fellow, look upon Caesar.”
Caesar: What sayest thou to me now? Speak once again.”
Soothsayer: “Beware the Ides of March.”
Caesar: “He is a dreamer; let us leave him.”
Exit all but Brutus and Cassius
Cassius: “Brutus, I do observe you now of late; I have not from your eyes that gentleness and show of love I was wont to have.”
Brutus: “Cassius, be not deceived. If I have veiled my look, I run the trouble of my countenance merely upon myself. But let not my good friends be grieved. Poor Brutus, with himself at war, forgets the shows of love to other men.”
Cassius: “Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?“
Brutus: “No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself but by reflection.“
Cassius: “And it is very much lamented, Brutus, that you have no such mirrors as will turn your hidden worthiness into your eye.”
Brutus: “Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, that you would have me seek into myself for that which is not in me?“
Cassius: “Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear; and since you know you cannot see yourself so well as by reflection, I, your glass, will modestly discover to yourself that of yourself which you yet know not of.“
Flourish and shouting
Brutus: “What means this shouting? I do fear the people choose Caesar for their king.”
Cassius: “Ay, do you fear it? Then must I think you would not have it so.”
Brutus: “I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well. But what is it that you would impart to me? If it ought toward the general good, see honour in one eye and death in the other, and I will look on both indifferently; for let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honour more than I fear death.”
Cassius: “I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus. Well, honour is the subject of my story. I was born as free as Caesar; so were you. We can both endure the winter’s cold as well as he. For once, upon a raw and gusty day, the troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, Caesar said to me ‘dearest thou, Cassius, now leap in with me into this angry flood, and swim to yonder point.’ Upon my word, I plunged in and bade him follow. So indeed he did. The torrent roared, and we did buffet it with lusty sinews, throwing it aside and seeming it with hearts of controversy; but ere we could arrive at the point proposed, Caesar cried ‘help me, Cassius, or I sink!’ I, from the waves of Tiber, did save the tired Caesar. And this man has now become a god; and Cassius is a wretched creature. He had a fever when he was in Spain, and when the fit was on him I did mark how he did shake. ‘Tis true, this god did shake. His coward lips did from their colour fly, and that same eye did lose its lustre. I did hear him groan ‘alas, give me some drink, Titinius’ as a sick girl. Ye gods! It doth amaze me a man of such a feeble temper should so get the start of the majestic world.”
Flourishes and shouts
Brutus: “Another general shout! I do believe that these applause are for some new honours that are heaped on Caesar.”
Cassius: “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs, and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves. Men at some time are masters of their fates: the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings. ‘Brutus’ and ‘Caesar’. Why should that name be sounded more than yours? Write them together: yours is as fair a name’. Sound them: it doth become the mouth as well. Weigh them: it is as heavy. Conjure with them: ‘Brutus’ will start a spirit as soon as ‘Caesar’. Now, in the names of all the gods at once, upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he is grown so great? Age, thou art shamed. When could they say, ’till now, who talked of Rome, that her wide walls encompass but one man?“
Brutus: “What you would work me to, I have some aim; how I have thought of this, and of these times. For the present, I would not be any further moved. What you have said, I will consider; what you have to say I will with patience hear; and find a time to hear and answer such high things.“
Re-enter Caesar and his train
Cassius: “As they pass, pluck Casca by the sleeve, and he will, after his sour fashion, tell you what hath proceeded today.”
Brutus: “I will do so. But, look you, Cassius, the angry spot doth glow on Caesar’s brow.”
Cassius: “Casca will tell us what the matter is.”
Caesar: “Antonius!”
Antony: “Caesar?”
Caesar: “Let me have men about me that are fat. Yonder Cassius has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.“
Antony: “Fear him not, Caesar, he’s not dangerous; he’s a noble Roman.“
Caesar: “Would he were fatter! But I fear him not. Yet if my name were liable to fear, I should not know the man I should avoid as soon as the spare Cassius. He reads much, he is a great observer, and he looks quite through the deeds of men. He loves no plays, as thou dost, Antony; he hears no music. Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort as if he mocked himself, and scorned his spirit that could be moved to smile at anything. Such men as he be never at heart’s ease while they behold a greater than themselves, and therefore are they very dangerous. I rather tell thee what is to be feared than what I fear; for always I am Caesar.“
Exit Caesar and his train
Brutus: “Ay, Casca; tell us what hath chanced today that Caesar looks so sad.”
Casca: “Why, there was a crown offered him, and he put it by with the back of his hand, thus; and then the people fell a-shouting.”
Brutus: “What was the second noise for?”
Casca: “Why, for that too.”
Brutus: “Was the crown offered him thrice?”
Casca: “Ay, marry, was it, and he put it by thrice.”
Cassius: “Who offered him the crown?”
Casca: “Why, Antony.”
Casca: “And still, as he refused it, the rabbles hooted, clapped their hands and threw up their night caps. Caesar swooned and fell down in the market-place, foamed at the mouth and was speechless.”
Brutus: “‘Tis very like. He hath the falling sickness.”
Cassius: “No, Caesar hath it not; but you and I, and honest Casca, we have the falling sickness.”
Casca: “Before he fell down, when he perceived the common herd was glad he refused the crown, he offered them his throat to cut; and so he fell.”
Brutus: “And after that, he came thus sad away?”
Casca: “Ay.”
Cassius: “Did Cicero say anything?”
Casca: “Ay, he spoke Greek.”
Cassius: “To what effect?”
Casca: “It was all Greek to me. I could tell you more news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarves off Caesar’s images, are put to silence.”
Cassius: “Will you dine with me tomorrow?”
Casca: “Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, and your dinner worth the eating.”
Cassius: “Good, I will expect you.”
Casca: “Do so. Farewell both.”
Exit Casca
Brutus: “What a blunt fellow.“
Cassius: “This rudeness is his sauce to a good wit, which give men stomach to digest his words with better appetite.“
Brutus: “And so it is. For this time I will leave you.”
Cassius: “Till then, think of the world.”
Exit Brutus
Cassius: “Well, Brutus, thou art noble; Caesar doth bear me hard; but he loves Brutus. I will this night, at his windows throw, as if they came from several citizens, writings, all tending to the great opinion that Rome holds of his name; Caesar’s ambition shall be glanced at; for we will shake him, or worse days endure.”
Analysis
In this, the second scene of the play, we meet most of the main players. Caesar will not heed warnings about his fate. The first instance of this is when he fatefully dismisses the soothsayer who insists Caesar ‘beware the Ides of March’. Caesar is supremely confident of his abilities, which are leading him to be crowned Rome’s first emperor. Hence does Cassius approach Brutus about Caesar. Cassius despises Caesar’s arrogance and power and has initiated a conspiracy against his very life. Caesar makes a note of Cassius to Mark Antony that he is indeed dangerous, although Antony insists not. It will turn out that Caesar is right: ‘Yonder Cassius has a lean and hungry look. Such men as he be never at heart’s ease while they behold a greater than themselves, and therefore are they dangerous.” Pretty much bang on. Cassius is cold, ruthless, and calculating. He realizes that any conspiracy against Caesar will require that Caesar’s dear friend, Brutus, be enlisted in the plot to bring him down. Brutus is beloved of the people and of Caesar. He is loyal to both Rome and to his friend. He is a most honourable Roman and If Brutus were to join the ranks of the conspirators it would lend them the credibility Cassius seeks. Cassius ingeniously reels Brutus in, appealing to his love of the Roman Republic over his love for Caesar. Cassius and Brutus will lead the conspiracy and only Antony’s skills of oration over Caesar’s dead body will turn the tide against them… in Act III.
Act I
Scene iii
A street in Rome. Thunder and lightning
Enter Cicero and Casca
Cicero: “Good evening, Casca. Why are you breathless? Why stare you so?”
Casca: “Are you not moved? When all the sway of earth shakes like a thing uniform? O Cicero, I have seen tempests, but never till tonight did I go through a tempest dropping fire. Either there is a civil strife in heaven, or else the world, too saucy with the gods, incenses them to send destruction.“
Cicero: “Why, saw you anything more?”
Casca: “A common slave held up his left hand, which did flame and burn; and yet his hand remained unscorched. Against the capitol I met a lion, who gazed upon me, and went surly by without annoying me. A hundred ghastly women, transformed with fear, swore they saw men, all in fire, walk up and down the streets. When these prodigies do so conjointly meet, let not men say ‘they are natural’, for they are portentous things.“
Cicero: “Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time; but men may construe things after their fashion, clean from the purpose of the things themselves. Comes Caesar to the capitol tomorrow?”
Casca: “He doth.”
Cicero: “Good night, then, Casca; this disturbed sky is not to walk in.”
Exit Cicero
Enter Cassius
Casca: “Cassius, what night is this?”
Cassius: “A very pleasing night to honest men.”
Casca: “Who ever knew the heavens menace so?”
Cassius: “For my part, I have walked about the streets, submitting me unto the perilous night.“
Casca: “But wherefore did you so much tempt the heavens? It is the part of men to fear and tremble when the most mighty gods send such dreadful heralds to astonish us.“
Cassius: “You are dull, Casca. If you would but consider the true cause – why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts; why all these things change from their ordinance to monstrous quality – why, you shall find that heaven hath infused them with these spirits, to make them instruments of fear and warning unto some monstrous state. Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man most like this dreadful night that thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars as doth the lion in the capitol; a man no mightier than thyself or me, yet prodigious grown, and fearful, as these strange eruptions are.“
Casca: “‘Tis Caesar that you mean, is it not, Cassius?“
Cassius: “Let it be who it is. Our father’s minds are dead, and we are governed with our mother’s spirits.“
Casca: “Indeed, they say the senators tomorrow mean to establish Caesar as a king.”
Cassius: “I know where I will wear this dagger then; Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius. Life, being weary of these worldly bars, never lacks power to dismiss itself. Knowing this, I can shake off at pleasure.”
Casca: “So every bondsman in his own hand bears the power to cancel his captivity.“
Cassius: “Why should Caesar be a tyrant then? I know he would not be a wolf but that he sees the Romans are but sheep. He were no lion, were not Romans hinds. What trash is Rome, when it serves to illuminate so vile a thing as Caesar. But I am armed, and dangers are to me indifferent.“
Cassius: “Now you know, Casca, I have moved already some certain of the noblest-minded Romans to undergo with me an enterprise of honourable-dangerous consequence. The work we have at hand is most bloody, fiery and most terrible.”
Enter Cinna
Cinna: “O Cassius, if you could but win the noble Brutus to our party.“
Cassius: “Be you content.”
Exit Cinna
Cassius: “Come, Casca. You and I will see Brutus at his house. Three parts of him is ours already, and the man entire upon the next encounter yields him ours.”
Casca: “O he sits high in all the people’s hearts; and that which would appear offence in us his countenance, like richest alchemy, will change to virtue and worthiness.“
Cassius: “We will be sure of him.”
Analysis
The fierce night storm and the even stranger events that accompany it are a clear indication that great alterations in the world are afoot and Cassius plays it perfectly, referring to Caesar as one ‘most like this dreadful night’. Clearly Casca is a fellow conspirator and Cassius informs him that he has already secured some of Rome’s noblest citizens to the cause. But they both know that they need to enlist Brutus if they are to succeed. Cassius assures Casca that ‘three parts of him is already ours’ and the next encounter should seal the deal. The Act I setup is complete. Cassius, Casca, Cinna, Brutus and others are prepared to enact their dire plan to alter the course of Roman history. It is a very dangerous thing to murder the most famous Roman of them all and perhaps the ancient world’s greatest personage. In Act II the plan is set in stone and there will be no turning back.
Act II (4 scenes)
Scene i
Rome
Enter Brutus in his orchard
Brutus: “It must be by his death, and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general; he would be crowned. How that might change his nature, there’s the question. The abuse of greatness, when it disjoints remorse from power; and to speak truth of Caesar, I have not known when his affections swayed more than his reason. But ’tis a common proof that lowliness is young ambition’s ladder, whereto the climber upwards turns his face; but when he once attains the upmost round, he then unto the ladder turns his back, looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees by which he did ascend. So Caesar may. Then, lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel will bear no colour for the thing he is, fashion it thus – that what he is, augmented, would run to these and these extremes; and therefore think him as a serpent’s egg, which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, and kill him in the shell.“
Enter Lucius, Brutus’ servant
Brutus: “Is not tomorrow, boy, the Ides of March?”
Lucius: “I know not, sir.”
Brutus: “Look at the calendar and bring me word.”
Lucius: “I will sir. I found this paper, and I am sure it did not lie there when I went to bed.”
Lucius gives Brutus the letter
Brutus: (reading the letter) “Brutus, thou sleep’st. Awake, speak, strike, redress!”
Lucius: “Sir, march is wasted fifteen days.”
Brutus: “‘Tis good. Go to the gate; somebody knocks.”
Exit Lucius
Brutus: “Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, I have not slept. Between the acting of a dreadful thing and the first motion, all the interim is like a phantasm or a hideous dream. The genius and the mortal instruments are then in council; and the state of man, like to a little kingdom, suffers then the nature of an insurrection.“
Lucius: “Sir, ’tis your brother Cassius at the door who doth desire to see you.”
Brutus: “Is he alone?”
Lucius: “No, sir, there are more with him.”
Brutus: “Let them enter.”
Enter the conspirators Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus, Cimber and Trebonius
Cassius: “Good morrow, Brutus. Do we trouble you?”
Brutus: “I have been awake all night. Know I these men who come with you?”
Cassius: “Yes, every man of them, and no man here but honours you; and everyone doth wish you had but the opinion of yourself which every noble Roman bears of you.”
Brutus: “They are all welcome. Give me your hands all, one by one.”
Cassius: “But what of Cicero? Shall we sound him?”
Brutus: “Name him not. For he will never follow anything that other men begin.”
Cassius: “Then leave him out.”
Decius: “Shall no man else be touched but only Caesar?”
Cassius: “Decius, well urged. I do not think that Marc Antony, so beloved of Caesar, should outlive Caesar. We shall find him a shrewd contriver. Let Antony and Caesar fall together.“
Brutus: “Our course will seem too bloody, Cassius, to cut the head off and then hack the limbs, like wrath in death and envy afterwards. Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers, Cassius. We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar. O that we could then come by Caesar’s spirit, and not dismember Caesar! But, alas, Caesar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends, let’s kill him boldly, but not wrathfully; let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods, not hew him as a carcase fit for hounds. This shall make our purpose necessary, and not envious; which so appearing to the common eyes, we shall be called purgers, not murderers. And for Mark Antony, think not of him; for he can do no more than Caesar’s arm, when Caesar’s head is off.“
Cassius: “Yet I fear him.”
Brutus: “Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him! If he love Caesar, all that he can do is to die for Caesar.”
Cassius: “But it is doubtful yet whether Caesar will come forth today or not; for he is superstitious grown of late, which may hold him back from the capitol today.”
Decius: “Never fear that. If he be so resolved, I can over sway him. Let me work and I will bring him to the capitol.”
Cassius: “The morning comes upon us. We’ll leave you, Brutus. And friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember what you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.”
Brutus: “Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily; let not our looks put on our purposes, but bear it as our Roman actors do. And so good morrow to you every one.”
Exit all but Brutus
Enter Portia, Brutus’ wife
Portia: “Brutus, my lord!”
Brutus: “Portia, what means you? Wherefore rise you now?”
Portia: “You have ungently, Brutus, stolen from my bed. I should not know you, Brutus. Dear, my lord, make me acquainted with your cause of grief.”
Brutus: “I am not well in health, and that is all.”
Portia: “Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health he would embrace the means to come by it.”
Brutus: “Good Portia, go to bed.”
Portia: “Is Brutus sick and yet walks unbraced, sucking up the dank morning? Is Brutus sick, and will steal out of his wholesome bed, to dare the vile contagion of the night and tempt the rheumy and unpaged air to add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus; you have some sick offence within your mind, which by the right and virtue of my place I ought to know of. Unfold to me yourself. Why are you so heavy and what men tonight have had resort to you? Am I yourself, but, as it were, in sort of limitation? To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, and talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs of your good pleasure? If it be no more, Portia is Brutus’ harlot and not his wife.“
Brutus: “You are my true and honourable wife, as dear to me as are the ruddy drops that visit my sad heart.”
Portia: “If this were true, then should I know this secret. I grant I am a woman; but withal a woman who Brutus took to wife; a woman well reputed, Cato’s daughter. Think you I am no stronger than my sex, being so fathered and so husbanded? Tell me your councils, I will not disclose them. I have made strong proof of my constancy, giving myself a voluntary wound here, in my thigh. Can I bear that with patience, and not my husband’s secrets?”
Brutus: “O ye gods, render me worthy of this noble wife.”
Analysis
Clearly Cassius has won Brutus over to the side of the conspiracy to murder Julius Caesar. Their secret meeting place is in Brutus’ garden before the sunrise. Brutus seems to become the leader of the group, over-ruling Cassius on their very first crucial decision about Marc Antony. Cassius fears Antony’s shrewd cunning and wants him to die along with Caesar, but Brutus believes that would make their deed appear ‘too bloody’ and assures Cassius that Antony will not be a problem. Brutus may be a great thinking man, but Cassius could not be more correct in his assessment of Marc Antony, who will turn the play on its head with his speech over dead Caesar’s body. It is ironic that in Act I, Scene i Caesar is extremely wary of Cassius, but Antony convinces him that Cassius is but a loyal Roman, and here Cassius is suspicious of Antony, but Brutus convinces him that Antony will be fine. If Caesar and Cassius had followed their instincts, what a very different play this might have been. Brutus may, in fact, be a committed conspirator, but the fact that he does not share his participation in the group with Portia, his wife, suggests that he still must harbour some doubts in his decision to murder his dear friend for the sake of the state.
Act II
Scene ii
Caesar’s house
Enter Julius Caesar in his nightgown during a thunder storm
Caesar: “Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace tonight. Thrice hath Calphunia in her sleep cried out ‘Help, ho! They murder Caesar!’
Enter a servant
Servant: “My lord?”
Caesar: “Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, and bring me their opinion of success.”
Servant: “I will, my lord.”
Exit servant
Enter Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife
Calpurnia: “Think you to walk forth, Caesar? You shall not stir out of your house today.”
Caesar: “Caesar shall forth; the things that threatened me, when they shall see the face of Caesar, they are vanished.”
Calphurnia: “Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, yet now they frighten me. A lioness has whelped in the streets, and graves have yawned and yielded up their dead. Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds, which drizzled blood upon the capitol. Ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets. O Caesar, I do fear them!“
Caesar: “What can be avoided, whose end is purposed by the mighty gods? Yet Caesar shall go forth.”
Calpurnia: “When beggars die there are no comets seen: the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.“
Caesar: “Cowards die many times before their deaths: the valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders, it seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.“
Re-enter the servant
Caesar: “What say the augurers?”
Servant: “They would not have you stir forth today. Plucking the entrails of an offering, they could not find a heart within the beast.”
Caesar: “The gods do this in shame of cowardice. Caesar should be a beast without a heart, if he should stay at home today for fear. No, Caesar shall not. Danger knows full well that Caesar is more dangerous than he; we are two lions littered in one day, and I the elder and more terrible; and Caesar shall go forth.“
Calphurnia: “Alas, my lord, your wisdom is consumed in confidence. Do not go forth today. Call it my fear that keeps you in the house. We’ll send Marc Antony to the Senate, and he shall say that you are not well today. Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.”
Caesar: “Marc Antony shall say I am not well; and for thy humour I will stay at home.”
Enter Decius
Decius: “Good morrow, worthy Caesar, I come to fetch you to the Senate.“
Caesar: “Tell them that I will not come today.“
Calphurnia: “Say he is sick.”
Caesar: “Shall Caesar send a lie? Have I in conquest stretched my arm so far, to be afeared to tell greybeards the truth? Decius, go tell them, Caesar will not come.”
Decius: “Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause, lest I be laughed at when I tell them so.”
Caesar: “The cause is in my will. I will not come. This is enough to satisfy the Senate. But because I love you, I will let you know: Calphurnia here, my wife, stays me at home. She dreamt tonight that she saw my statue, which, like a fountain with a hundred spouts did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans came smiling and did wash their hands in it. On her knee she did begged that I stay home today.”
Decius: “This dream is all mis-interpreted. It was a vision fair and fortunate. Your statue spouting blood signifies that from you great Rome shall suck reviving blood. And know it now: the Senate have concluded to give this day a crown to mighty Caesar. If you shall send them word that you will not come, their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock for someone to say ‘break up the Senate for another time, when Caesar’s wife shall meet with better dreams.’ If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper ‘lo, Caesar is afraid’? “
Caesar: “How foolish do your dreams seem now, Calphurnia! I am ashamed I did yield to them. Give me my robe, for I shall go.”
Enter Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca, Trebonius, Cinna and Publius
Caesar: “And look where Publius has come to fetch me. Welcome Publius. What, Brutus, are you stirred so early too?”
Enter Antony
Caesar: “Good morrow, Antony. Good friends, go in and taste some wine with me. And we, like friends, will straightway go together.”
Analysis
There are ample signs suggesting Caesar should avoid the Senate today. The soothsayer warned him to beware the Ides of March, which day this is. Calphurnia has had murderous dreams of Caesar’s statue pouring blood. The night and morning are treacherously storm ridden. A lion is walking the streets, graves are yielding up their dead and ghosts are shrieking about the city. That’s enough portents to keep anyone else home, but not Caesar. Decius reinterprets Calphurnia’s dream and informs Caesar that the Senate is prepared to offer him a crown and Caesar dresses for the Senate, welcoming his very ‘friends’ who are about to end his life, including his dear friend, Brutus. Caesar ignores all of the omens and arrogantly proceeds to the Senate with the intention to be crowned emperor. In reality he has but minutes to live.
Act II
Scene iii
Rome, a street near the capitol
Enter Artemidorus reading a paper
Artemidorus: “‘Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna; trust not Trebonius; mark well Metellus Cimber; Decius loves thee not; thou hast wronged Ligarius. There is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against Caesar. The mighty gods defend thee! Thy lover, Artemidorus.’ Here will I stand till Caesar passes along, and as a suitor will I give him this. If thou read this, O Caesar, thou may live; if not, the fates with traitors do contrive.”
Analysis
Clearly, Artemidorus has learned of the conspiracy and writes a letter intended for Caesar, warning him of the plot he is walking into momentarily.
Act II
Scene iv
Rome, before the house of Brutus.
Enter Portia and Lucius
Portia: “I prithee, boy, run to the Senate. Get thee gone! (aside) O constancy, be strong upon my side. I have a man’s mind, but a woman’s might.”
Lucius: “Madam, what should I do?”
Portia: “Bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well, for he went sickly forth; and take good note what Caesar does and what suitors press to him.”
Enter the soothsayer
Portia: “Is Caesar yet gone to the capitol?”
Soothsayer: “Madam, not yet. I go to take my stand, to see him pass.”
Portia: “Thou hast some suit with Caesar, hast thou not?”
Soothsayer: “That I have, lady. If it will please Caesar I shall beseech him to befriend himself.”
Portia: “Why, know’st thou any harms intended towards him?”
Soothsayer: “None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance.”
Exit soothsayer
Portia: “I must go in. Ay, me, how weak a thing the heart of a woman is! O, I grow faint. Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord; and bring me word what he doth say to thee.”
Analysis
Portia is quite upset that Brutus left home so distraught. She craves word that all is well with Brutus and Caesar at the Senate. The soothsayer claims that he knows nothing definitive about Caesar’s wellbeing but rather he fears what might happen. So ends Act II, as Brutus and Cassius and their fellow conspirators prepare to enact the most famous murder in the ancient world. Act III is the apex of the play. Release the dogs of war!
Act III (3 scenes)
Scene i
Rome, before the capitol
Enter Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Metellus, Trebonius, Cinna, Antony, Lepidus, Publius, Artemidorus and the soothsayer.
Caesar: “The Ides of March are come.”
Soothsayer: “Ay, Caesar, but not gone.”
Artemidorus: “Hail, Caesar, read this suit that touches Caesar nearer. Read it, great Caesar.”
Caesar: “What touches us ourself shall be last served.”
Artemidorus: “Delay not, Caesar; read it instantly.”
Caesar: “What, is the fellow mad?”
Caesar enters the capitol and the rest follow
Popilius: “I wish your enterprise today may thrive.”
Cassius: “What enterprise, Popilius?”
Popilius: “Fare you well.”
Popilius speaks to Caesar
Brutus: “What said Popilius?”
Cassius: “He wished today our enterprise might thrive. I fear our purpose is discovered.”
Brutus: “Look how he makes right to Caesar. Mark him.”
Cassius: “Brutus, what shall be done? If this be known, I will slay myself.”
Brutus: “Cassius, be constant. Popilius speaks not of our purpose. For look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change.”
Cassius: “Trebonius knows his time; for look how he draws Marc Antony out of the way.”
Exit Antony and Trebonius
Caesar: “Are we all ready? What is now amiss that Caesar and his Senate must now address?”
Metellus: “Most high and mighty Caesar, I throw before thy seat a humble heart.”
Caesar: “I must prevent thee, Metellus. Thy brother by decree is banished. If thou dost bend and fawn for him I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.”
Metellus: “Is there no voice for the repealing of my banished brother?”
Brutus: “I kiss thy hand, Caesar, desiring that Metellus’ brother have an immediate freedom of repeal.”
Cassius: “Pardon Caesar! As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall, to beg enfranchisement for Metellus’ brother.”
Caesar: “I could well be moved, if I were as you; but I am constant as the northern star. That I was constant he should be banished, and constant do remain to keep him so.”
Casca: “Speak, hands, for me!”
Casca stabs Caesar and then do the rest, with Brutus delivering the last blow
Caesar: “Et tu, Brute? – Then fall Caesar!”
Cinna: “Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead! Run hence, proclaim it in the streets.”
Cassius: “Some to the common pulpits, and cry out ‘Liberty, freedom and enfranchisement!'”
Brutus: “People and Senators, be not affrighted. Ambition’s debt is paid.“
Casca: “Go to the pulpit, Brutus.”
Cassius: “Where is Antony?”
Trebonius: “Fled to his house amazed.”
Brutus: “Fates, we will know your pleasures. That we shall die, we know; ’tis but the time.“
Cassius: “Why, he who cuts off twenty years of life cuts off so many years of fearing death.“
Brutus: “Grant that, and then is death a benefit. So we are Caesar’s friends, who have abridged his time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop, and let us bathe our hands in Caesar’s blood up to the elbows, and besmear our swords. Then walk we forth to the marketplace, waving our red weapons over our heads, crying ‘Peace, freedom and liberty!'”
Cassius: “Stoop then and wash. How many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over in states unborn and accents yet unknown! So often shall the knot of us be called the men who gave their country liberty.”
Enter a servant
Brutus: “Soft, who comes here? A friend of Antony’s.”
Servant: “Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel and bade me say ‘Brutus is noble, wise, valiant and honest; Caesar was mighty, bold, royal and loving. Say I love Brutus, and I honour him; say I feared Caesar, honoured him and loved him.’ If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony may safely come to him, and be resolved how Caesar hath deserved to lie in death, Marc Antony shall not love Caesar dead so well as Brutus living.“
Brutus: “Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman; tell him, so please him come unto this place; he shall be satisfied, and, by my honour, depart untouched.”
Servant: “I’ll fetch him presently.”
Exit servant
Brutus: “I know that we shall have him well to friend.”
Cassius: “I wish we may. But yet have I a mind that fears him much.”
Enter Antony
Brutus: “Here comes Antony. Welcome Mark Antony.”
Antony: “O mighty Caesar! Dost thou lie so low? Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs and spoils shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well. I know not, gentlemen, what you intend. Who else must be bled? If I myself, there is no hour so fit as Caesar’s death hour; nor no instrument of half that worth as those your swords, made rich with the most noble blood of all this world. I do beseech thee, if you bear me hard, now, while your purple hands do reek and smoke, fulfill your pleasure. Live a thousand years, I shall not find myself so apt to die. No place will please me, as here by Caesar, and by you cut off, the choice and master spirits of this age.”
Brutus: “O Antony! beg not your death of us. Though now we must appear bloody and cruel, our hearts you see not; they are pitiful. To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony. Our hearts do revive you with all kind love, good thoughts and reverence.”
Cassius: “Your voice shall be as strong as any man’s in the disposing of new dignities.”
Brutus: “Only be patient till we have appeased the multitude, beside themselves with fear, and then we will deliver you the cause why I, who did love Caesar when I struck him, have thus proceeded.”
Antony: “I doubt not your wisdom. Let each man render me his bloody hand. Gentlemen all – alas, what shall I say? My credit now stands on such slippery ground that one of two bad ways you must think me; either a coward or a flatterer. That I did love thee, Caesar, O, ’tis true! If thy spirit look upon us now, shall it not grieve thee dearer than death to see thy Antony making his peace and shaking the bloody hands of thy foes, in the presence of thy corpse? Pardon me, Julius! Here did thou fall; and here thy hunters stand.”
Cassius: “Mark Antony -“
Antony: “Pardon me, Cassius.”
Cassius: “I blame you not for praising Caesar so; but what compact mean you to have with us? Will you be pricked in number of our friends, or shall we not depend on you?”
Antony: “Friends am I with you all, and love you all, upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons why Caesar was so dangerous.”
Brutus: “Or else were this a savage spectacle. Our reasons are so full of good regard that were you, Antony, the son of Caesar, you should be satisfied.”
Antony: “That’s all I seek. And that I may produce his body to the market-place, and , in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, speak in the order of his funeral.”
Cassius: “Brutus, a word with you. (aside) You know not what you do. Do not consent that Antony speak at his funeral. Know you how much the people may be moved by that which he will utter?”
Brutus: “I will myself to the pulpit first, and show the reason for our Caesar’s death. What Antony shall speak, I will protest he speaks by permission. It shall advantage more than do us wrong.”
Cassius: “I know not what may fall. I like it not.”
Brutus: “Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar’s body. You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, but speak all good you can devise of Caesar; and say you do it by our permission. And you shall speak in the same pulpit whereto I am going, after my speech is ended.”
Antony: “Be it so; I do desire no more.”
Exit all but Antony
Antony: “O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, that I am meek and gentle with these butchers! Thou art the ruins of the noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times. Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood! Over thy wounds now do I prophesy – A curse shall light upon the limbs of men; domestic fury and fierce civil strife shall cumber all the parts of Italy; blood and destruction shall be so in use, and dreadful objects so familiar, that mothers shall but smile when they behold their infants quartered with the hands of war, and Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge, shall, with a monarch’s voice cry ‘havoc’ and let slip the dogs of war, that this foul deed shall smell above the earth with carrion men, groaning for burial.“
Enter Octavius’ servant
Antony: “You serve Octavius Caesar, do you not?”
Servant: “I do, Mark Antony.”
Antony: “Caesar did write for him to come to Rome.”
Servant: “He did receive his letters and lies tonight within seven leagues of Rome.”
Antony: “Post back with speed, and tell him what has chanced. Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome, no Rome of safety for Octavius yet. Tell him so.”
Analysis
Julius Caesar is dead. The conspirators have murdered the most famous man of the ancient world. When Artemidorus implored Caesar to read his letter about the danger of the conspiracy against him Caesar assumed Artemidorus was mad. There is a pattern here of people not taking good advice. Caesar should not have trusted Antony’s assessment of ‘loyal’ Cassius. Cassius should not have accepted Brutus’ assurance that Antony was harmless and should not die along with Caesar. Caesar should not have dismissed his wife’s fear of his appearance at the Senate. Caesar should have questioned further the soothsayer who warned him of the Ides of March. Brutus should have listened to Cassius and not allowed Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral. And Caesar should have read Artemidorus’ letter naming the individual conspirators.
This is the scene where Shakespeare himself speaks through Cassius, pondering ‘how many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over in states unborn and accents yet unknown’. He is simultaneously referring to both the historical event itself and the rendering of it in this play, and indeed, such events have played out time and time again throughout the political world and across the centuries, all the while productions of the Bard’s Julius Caesar have proliferated stages everywhere, since he penned these lines in 1599.
Antony must play along and make a grand show that he is friends to the conspirators. It is the only way he can survive to exact the revenge he so desires for Caesar’s fresh murder. He shakes their bloody hands and assures them of his love, all the while he is preparing to speak at the funeral and bring these conspirators to task. Brutus shows his naiveté in permitting Antony to address the fickle masses. Cassius rightly denounces this decision. “I like it not.” Cassius is 100% correct, as the entire play follows from the speech Antony will deliver, which will cause the conspirators to flee for their lives from the very masses Antony will ignite with a vengeance. This is a tremendous mistake on Brutus’ part, and one from which there is no saving grace. This is, after all, a tragedy of great scope and measure.
Act III
Scene ii
Rome, the Forum
Enter Brutus and Cassius with the Plebians
Citizens: “We will be satisfied! Let us be satisfied!”
Brutus: “Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. Public reasons shall be rendered of Caesar’s death.”
1 Plebian: “I will hear Brutus speak.”
2 Plebian: “I will hear Cassius, and compare their reasons.”
Exit Cassius and some of the Plebians. Brutus goes to the pulpit.
3 Plebian: “The noble Brutus is ascended. Silence!”
Brutus: “Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen and lovers! Hear me for my cause. Believe me for my honour. If there be any dear friend of Caesar’s to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his. If that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him; but as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition. Who is here so base who would be a bondsman? If any, speak; for him I have offended. Who is here so rude who would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him I have offended. Who is here so vile who will not love his country? If any, speak; for him I have offended. I pause for a reply.“
All: “None, Brutus, none.“
Brutus: “Then none have I offended.“
Enter Antony with Caesar’s body
Brutus: “Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony, who had no hand in his death. With this I depart, that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.”
All: “Live, Brutus! Live! Live!”
1 Plebian: “Bring him in triumph home unto his house.”
2 Plebian: “Give him a statue!”
3 Plebian: “Let him be Caesar!”
4 Plebian: “Caesar’s better parts shall be crowned in Brutus.”
Brutus: “My countrymen, let me depart alone, and stay here with Antony.”
1 Plebian: “Stay, ho! Let’s hear Mark Antony.”
4 Plebian: “Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here.”
1 Plebian: “Caesar was a tyrant.”
3 Plebian: “Nay, that’s certain. We are blest that Rome is rid of him.”
Antony: “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The noble Brutus hath told you that Caesar was ambitious. If it were so, it was a grievous fault, and grievously hath Caesar answered it. Here come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me; but Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man. He hath brought home many captives to Rome, whose ransoms did the general coffers fill; Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; ambition should be made of sterner stuff. Yet Brutus says that he was ambitious; and Brutus is an honourable man. You all did see that I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; and surely he is an honourable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause; what cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him? O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason. Bear with me, my heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me.“
1 Plebian: “Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.”
2 Plebian: “If thou consider rightly of the matter, Caesar has had great wrong.”
3 Plebian: “Has he, masters! I fear there will a worse come in his place.”
4 Plebian: “Marked ye his words? He would not take the crown; therefore, ’tis certain he was not ambitious.”
2 Plebian: “Poor soul! His eyes are red as fire with weeping.”
3 Plebian: “There’s not a nobler man in Rome then Antony.”
Antony: “But yesterday the word of Caesar might have stood against the world: now lies he there. O masters, if I were disposed to stir your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, who, you all know, are honourable men. I will not do them wrong; I rather choose to wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, than I will wrong such honourable men. But there’s a parchment with the seal of Caesar; I found it in his closet – ’tis his will. Let but the commons hear this testament, which, pardon me, I do not mean to read, and they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds.”
4 Plebian: “We’ll hear the will. Read it, Mark Antony.”
All: “The will! The will! We will hear Caesar’s will!”
Antony: “Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; for then you would know how Caesar loved you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; and being men, hearing the will of Caesar, it will inflame you, it will make you mad. ‘Tis good you know not that you are his heirs; for if you should, O, what would become of it?”
4 Plebian: “Read the will, Antony! Read Caesar’s will!”
Antony: “Will you be patient? I have overshot myself to tell you of it. I feel I wrong the honourable men whose daggers have stabbed Caesar. I do fear it.”
4 Plebian: “They were traitors. The will!”
2 Plebian: “They were villainous murderers. Read the will!”
Antony: “You will compel me, then, to read the will? Then make a ring about the corpse of Caesar.”
4 Plebian: “A ring! Stand around.”
Antony: “If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. Look! In this place ran Cassius’ dagger through; see what a rent the envious Casca made; through this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed. For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s angel. Judge, o you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him! This was the most unkindest cut of all; for when the noble Caesar saw him stab, ingratitude, more strong than traitor’s arms, quite vanquished him. Then burst his mighty heart. And at the base of Pompey’s statue, great Caesar fell. O, what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, while bloody treason flourished over us. O, now you weep, and I perceive you feel the dint of pity. These are gracious drops. Look you here, here is himself, marred as you see with traitors.“
1 Plebian:”O piteous spectacle!”
2 Plebian: “O noble Caesar!
3 Plebian: “O woeful day!”
4 Plebian: “O traitors, villains!”
2 Plebian: “We will be revenged.”
All: “Revenge! Seek! Burn! Kill! Let not traitors live!”
Antony: “Stay, countrymen. Sweet friends, let me not stir you up to such a sudden flood of mutiny. They who have done this deed are honourable. What private griefs they have, alas, I know not what made them do it; they are wise and honourable, and will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts; I am no orator, as Brutus is, but as you know me all, a plain blunt man, who loved my friend.”
1 Plebian: “We’ll burn the house of Brutus.”
3 Plebian: “Away, then! Come seek the conspirators.”
Antony: “You have forgot the will I told you of.”
All: “The will! Let’s stay and hear the will.”
Antony: “Here is the will: to every Roman citizen he gives seventy-five drachmas.”
2 Plebian: “Most noble Caesar! We’ll revenge his death.”
Antony: “Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, his private arbours, and new-planted orchards; he hath left them you, and to your heirs forever. Here was a Caesar! When comes such another?”
1 Plebian: “Never! never! Come away! We’ll burn his body in the holy place, and with the brands fire the traitor’s houses. Take up the body.”
2 Plebian: “Go, fetch fire.”
Exit Plebians with Caesar’s body
Antony: “Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot, take thou what course thou wilt.“
Enter a servant
Antony: “How now, fellow!”
Servant: “Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome. He and Lepidus are at Caesar’s house.”
Antony: “I will straight to visit him. Fortune is merry, and in this mood will give us anything.”
Servant: “Brutus and Cassius are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome.”
Antony: “Be like they had some notice of the people, how I had moved them. Bring me to Octavius.”
Analysis
One might say that this play pivots on the murder of Julius Caesar. But if Antony does not turn the Plebians against the conspirators then the play may as well end right there and Brutus would be the hero. Therefore, the actual turning point is to be found in Antony’s speech, which sends Brutus and Cassius from Rome as wanted murderers of Caesar and leads Rome to civil war between the forces of Antony and Octavius and that of the conspiratorial leadership of Brutus and Cassius. It is the oratory power of both Brutus and Antony that propels this play toward its inevitable tragic final two acts. Brutus convinces the frazzled mobs that Caesar had to die for the sake of a free Rome. But then Antony steals the show, repeating over and over how Brutus is an honourable man, despite his increasing examples of Caesar’s love for the Plebians. That Brutus is honourable becomes farcical in the face of Antony’s noble presentation of Caesar. He actually pauses to weep, before revealing Caesar’s generous will, after which the mob is calling for the heads of the conspirators. It’s a masterful speech, even by Roman standards of oratory. And he knows it, too: ‘Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot. Take thou what course thou wilt.” Brutus’ speech is a distant memory, as the Plebians roam throughout the city with fire to burn down the homes of the conspirators, including Brutus and Cassius, who have literally fled Rome for the sake of their lives. Earlier in Act III, Antony had prophesied domestic fury and fierce civil strife for Italy, with Caesar’s ghost ranging for revenge. Well, here we go. ‘Let slip the dogs of war.”
Act III
Scene iii
A street in Rome
Enter Cinna the poet pursued by the Plebians
1 Plebian: “What is your name?”
2 Plebian: “Whither are you going?”
3 Plebian: “Where do you dwell?”
Cinna: “Directly, I am going to Caesar’s funeral.”
1 Plebian: “As a friend or an enemy?”
Cinna: “As a friend.”
3 Plebian: “Your name, sir?“
Cinna: “Truly, my name is Cinna.”
1 Plebian: “Tear him to pieces; he’s a conspirator!“
Cinna: “I am Cinna the poet.“
4 Plebian: “Tear him for his bad verses!“
Cinna: “I am not Cinna the conspirator.”
4 Plebian: “It is no matter; his name’s Cinna. Pluck his name out of his heart.”
3 Plebian: “Tear him! Tear him! Fire brands to Brutus and Cassius! Burn all! Some to Decius’ house and some to Casca’s. Away, go!”
Analysis
In the immediate aftermath of Caesar’s murder the mobs riot all over Rome on a killing spree. All the poet did to be killed was he shared a name with one of the conspirators. The rational portion of the play is finished. Let the civil war commence. Brutus and Cassius may believe they have saved Rome from tyranny, but the people of Rome only want another Caesar to replace the one they just lost. Of course, all subsequent Roman emperors for the next nearly 500 years will assume the title Caesar in honour of Julius Caesar. The first of these, and likely the most renowned, will be Augustus Caesar, known in this play as Octavius. That family name Caesar will be the root of the Russian word Tsar and the German word Kaiser.
Act IV (3 scenes)
Scene i
Rome. Antony’s house
Enter Antony, Octavius and Lepidus
Antony: “These many, then, shall die; their names are pricked.”
Octavius: “Your brother too must die, Lepidus. Consent you?
Lepidus: “I do consent.”
Exit Lepidus
Antony: “This is a slight and unmeritable man, to be sent on errands. Is it fit, the threefold world divided, that he should stand as one of the three to share it? And though we lay these honours on this man, he shall but bear them as the ass bears gold.”
Octavius: “You may do your will; but he’s a tried and valiant soldier.”
Antony: “Do not talk of him but as a property. And now, Octavius: Brutus and Cassius are levying powers and we must straight make head; therefore, let our alliance be combined.”
Octavius: “Let us do so; for we are at the stake, and bayed about with many enemies; and some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, millions of mischiefs.”
Analysis
Our first scene with Antony and Octavius, who will defend Caesar against Brutus and Cassius, who murdered him. To be clear, Brutus and Cassius wanted to preserve the 500 year old Republic from Caesar’s apparent tyranny. Antony and Octavius were supporters of Caesar’s imperial ambitions. It was Antony who offered Caesar the crown earlier and it is Octavius who was to be Caesar’s heir. Unlike Brutus and Cassius, they do not romanticize the Republic, which has had a very chaotic ride over the past decades of civil war and military triumphs. The three strongest supporters of Caesar were Antony, Octavius and Lepidus and Caesar has strategically positioned them around the empire. Antony clearly believes that Lepidus is undeserving of his third of the empire and suggests he be treated as the errand boy he truly is, which would leave Octavius and Antony to divide the Roman world between them. Octavius is alright with that and is more concerned about the opposition they face from Brutus and Cassius’ supporters and all defenders of the Republic. Presently, Octavius feels they are ‘at the stake and bayed about with many enemies bearing millions of mischiefs.’ The alliances on both sides of the impending conflict are frayed from the start. Brutus and Cassius will struggle profoundly with one another as they are finally pursued to the bitter end by Antony and Octavius, who, themselves, will require a whole other play to resolve their titanic power struggle for supremacy of the Roman world.
Act IV
Scene ii
A military camp before Brutus’ tent
Enter Brutus and Lucilius
Brutus: “Stand ho! What now, Lucilius? Is Cassius near?”
Lucilius: “He is at hand.”
Brutus: “Hark! He is arrived.”
Enter Cassius
Cassius: “My noble brother, you have done me wrong.”
Brutus: “How should I wrong a brother? Cassius, be content. Speak your griefs softly. Before the eyes of both our armies here, which should perceive nothing but love from us, let us not wrangle. Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs, and I will give you audience. Lucilius, let no man come to our tent till we have done our conference.”
Analysis
A brief scene at the camp of the main conspirators introduces us to a rift that has developed between Brutus and Cassius, which gets explored in detail in the following scene. Clearly, Cassius feels he has been done wrong by Brutus. Their only hope of survival is to work together very well, so these two scenes do not bode well for them, especially when a certain ghost appears to haunt their enterprise.
Act IV
Scene iii
Within Brutus’ tent
Enter Brutus and Cassius
Cassius: “That you have wronged me doth appear in this: you have condemned Lucius Pella for taking bribes.”
Brutus: “Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself are much condemned to have an itchy palm, to sell your offices for gold to undeservers.”
Cassius: “I an itchy palm! You know that you are Brutus that speaks this, or, by the gods, this speech were else your last.”
Brutus: “Did not great Julius bleed for justice sake? Shall we now contaminate our fingers with base bribes. I had rather be a dog than such a Roman.”
Cassius: “Brutus, bait me not! I’ll not endure it. You forget yourself. I am a soldier. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself; have mind upon your health, tempt me no further.”
Brutus: “Away, slight man.”
Cassius: “Is it possible?”
Brutus: “Hear me, for I shall speak. Must I give way to your rash choler? Shall I be frightened when a madman stares?”
Cassius: “O ye gods, must I endure all this?”
Brutus: “All this? Ay, more! Fret till your proud heart break. Must I observe you and crouch under your testy humour. You shall digest the venom of your spleen though it do split you; for from this day forth I’ll use you for my mirth; yea, for my laughter, when you are waspish.”
Cassius: “Is it come to this?”
Brutus: “You say you are a better soldier. Let it appear so and it shall please me.”
Cassius: “You wrong me, Brutus, in every way. Do not presume too much upon my love; I may do that I shall be sorry for.”
Brutus: “You have done that you should be sorry for. There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats; for I am armed so strong in honesty, that they pass me as the idle wind, which I respect not. I did send to you for certain sums of gold, which you denied me. Was this done like Cassius?”
Cassius: “I denied you not.”
Brutus: “You did.”
Cassius: “A friend should bear his friend’s infirmities, but Brutus makes mine greater than they are. You love me not.“
Brutus: “I do not like your faults.“
Cassius: “A friendly eye could never see such faults.”
Brutus: “A flatterer would not, though they do appear as huge as high Olympus.”
Cassius: “Come Antony and young Octavian, come and revenge yourselves alone on Cassius, for Cassius is a weary of the world. Hated by one he loves, all his faults observed. There is my dagger, and here my naked breast; within it a heart richer than gold. Strike as thou did at Caesar; for I know, when thou did hate him worst, thou loved him better than ever thou loved Cassius.”
Brutus: “Sheathe you’re dagger.”
Cassius: “Hath Cassius lived to be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus?”
Brutus: “When I spoke that I was ill-tempered.”
Cassius: “Do you confess so much? Give me your hand.”
Brutus: “And my heart too.”
Cassius: “O Brutus.”
Brutus: “What’s the matter?”
Cassius: “Have you not love enough to bear with me when that rash humour makes me forgetful?”
Brutus: “Yes, Cassius; and from henceforth, when you are over-earnest with your Brutus, he will leave you so.”
Cassius: “I did not think you could have been so angry.”
Brutus: “O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs! Portia is dead.”
Cassius: “Portia? O insupportable loss! Upon what sickness?”
Brutus: “Impatient of my absence, and grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony have made themselves so strong; with this she fell distract and swallowed fire.”
Cassius: “O ye immortal gods!”
Brutus: “Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of wine. In this I will bury all unkindness, Cassius.”
Cassius: “My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge. I cannot drink too much of Brutus’ love.”
Enter Titinius and Messala
Brutus: “Come in, Titinius! Welcome, good Messala. Now sit we close about and call in question our necessities. Messala, I have here received letters, that young Octavius and Mark Antony come down upon us with a mighty power, bending their expedition toward Philippi.”
Messala: “Octavius, Antony and Lepidus have put to death a hundred senators.”
Brutus: “Cassius, what do you think of marching to Philippi presently?”
Cassius: “I do not think it good.”
Brutus: “Your reason?”
Cassius: “Tis better that the enemy seek us; so shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, whilst we are full of rest and nimbleness.”
Brutus: “Good reasons must, of force, give place to better. Our legions are brim full, our cause is ripe. The enemy increases every day: we, at the height, are ready to decline. There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.“
Cassius: “Then with your will, go on; we’ll meet them at Philippi. O my dear brother, this was an ill beginning of the night! Never come such division between our souls!”
Brutus:”Everything is well.”
Cassius: “Good night, my lord.”
Brutus: “Good night, good brother.”
Caesar’s ghost appears in Brutus’ tent
Brutus: “Who comes here? I think it is the weakness of mine eyes that shapes this monstrous apparition. Speak to me what thou art.”
Ghost: “Thy evil spirit, Brutus.”
Brutus: “Why comes thou?”
Ghost: “To tell thee thou shall see me at Philippi.”
Exit ghost
Brutus: “Boy, Lucius! Awake! Did thou dream, Lucius? Did thou see anything?”
Lucius: “Nothing, my lord.”
Brutus: “Sleep again, Lucius. Sirrah Claudius!”
Claudius: “My lord?”
Brutus: “Saw you anything?”
Claudius: “No, my lord, I saw nothing.”
Analysis
A serious conflicts develops between Brutus and Cassius as Brutus criticizes Cassius for having ‘an itchy palm’ and taking bribes. Brutus also requested gold from Cassius for his troops and claims Cassius denied him the gold. Cassius takes Brutus’ charges to heart and even invites Brutus to slay him as he slew Caesar. They reconcile but we have been witness to their significant rift. They may be fellow conspirators, but they are very different personalities. Brutus claims to be sick of many griefs, one of which is the death of Portia, who took her life as Antony and Octavius seized Rome.
A battle approaches at Philippi, where Brutus insists, over Cassius’ better judgement, they confront Antony and Octavius. Whenever they disagree Brutus gets his way. Antony was not killed along with Caesar, Antony was permitted to speak at Caesar’s funeral and they will confront Antony and Octavius at Philippi, all against the worthy advice of Cassius. When they retire for the night Brutus is confronted with Caesar’s ghost, who claims to be Brutus’ evil spirit. This does not bode well for the conspirators in Act V.
Act V (5 scenes)
Scene i
Near Philippi
Enter Octavius, Antony and their army
Octavius: “Now, Antony, our hopes are answered. You said the enemy would not come down. It proves not so.”
Antony: “Tut, I am in their bosoms, and I know why they do it, thinking by this face to fasten in our thoughts that they have courage; but ’tis not so.”
Messenger: “Prepare you, generals. The enemy comes on in gallant show.”
Antony: “Octavius, lead your battle upon the left hand of the even field.”
Octavius: “Upon the right hand I: keep thou the left.”
Antony: “Why do you cross me in this?”
Octavius: “I do not cross you; but I will do so.”
Enter Brutus, Cassius and their army
Brutus: “They stand, and would have a parley.” (to Antony) “Words before blows. Is it so, countrymen?”
Octavius: “Not that we love words better, as you do.”
Brutus: “Good words are better than bad strokes, Octavius.”
Antony: “In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good words; witness the hole you made in Caesar’s heart. Villains, your vile daggers hacked the sides of Caesar. You showed your teeth like apes, and fawned like hounds. O you flatterers!”
Cassius: “Now Brutus, thank yourself: this tongue had not offended so today if Cassius might have ruled.”
Octavius: “Come, come, the cause. I draw a sword against conspirators. And I was not born to die on Brutus’ sword.”
Brutus: “Young man, thou could not die more honourably.”
Octavius: “Come, Antony, away! Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth. If you dare fight today, come to the field; if not, when you have stomachs.”
Exit Octavius, Antony and their army
Cassius: “Now, most noble Brutus, let’s reason with the worst that may befall. If we lose this battle, are you content to be led in triumph through the streets of Rome?”
Brutus: “No, Cassius, no. Think not that ever Brutus will go bound to Rome. He bears too great a mind. But whether we shall meet again, I know not. Therefore, forever and forever farewell, Cassius!”
Cassius: “Forever and forever farewell, Brutus.”
Brutus: “Why then, lead on. O that a man might know the end of this day’s business ere it come! But it sufficeth that the day will end. And then the end is known.“
Analysis
The play’s fortunes will be determined at Philippi. Both sides are snippy with one another. In the previous scene Brutus and Cassius nearly came to blows and in this first scene of Act V Antony and Octavius are very short with one another as well. At least they have another entire play to resolve their dance. Rhetoric has been the cornerstone of this play and so it is only fitting that both sides should parley with bitter words for their opponents before the commencement of the battle that will decide everything. Octavius and Antony seem cocky about the looming battle, while Brutus and Cassius discuss what they will do if they lose the battle.
Act V
Scene ii
Near Philippi
Enter Brutus and Messala
Brutus: “Ride, ride, Messala, ride, unto the legions on the other side. For I perceive but cold demeanour in Octavius’ wing, and sudden push gives them the overthrow. Ride, ride, Messala!”
Analysis
This six line scene makes clear that the battle goes well for Octavius and Antony as Brutus tries to move his men around to match up better with Octavius’ forces.
Act V
Scene iii
Another part of the field of battle
Enter Cassius and Titinius
Cassius: “O, look, Titinius, look, the villains fly!”
Titinius: “O Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early, who, having some advantage on Octavius, took it too eagerly. His soldiers fell to spoil, while we by Antony are all enclosed.”
Exit Titinius
Enter Pindarus
Pindarus: “Fly further off, my lord. Mark Antony is in your tents.”
Cassius: “Are those my tents where I perceive the fire?”
Pindarus: “They are, my lord.”
Cassius: “Go Pindarus, get higher on that hill and regard Titinius. Tell me what thou notes about the field.”
Pindarus climbs the hill
Pindarus: “O, my lord!”
Cassius: “What news?”
Pindarus: “Titinius is all enclosed about, yet he spurs on. Now they are almost on him… He’s taken.”
Cassius: “Come down, Pindarus, and behold no more. Come be a freeman, and with this good sword, that ran through Caesar’s bowels, search this bosom. When my face is covered, as it is now, guide thou the sword.”
Pindarus stabs Cassius
Cassius: “Caesar, thou art revenged, even with the sword that killed thee.“
Pindarus: “So, I am free. O Cassius! Far from this county Pindarus shall run, where never Roman shall take note of him.”
Enter Titinius and Messala
Messala: “Octavius is overthrown by noble Brutus’ power, as Cassius’ legions are by Antony. Where did you leave Cassius?”
Titinius: “All disconsolate.”
Messala: “Is not that he that lies upon the ground?”
Titinius: “He lies not like the living. O my heart!”
Messala: “Is that not he?”
Titinius: “No, this was he, Messala; but Cassius is no more. O setting sun. The sun of Rome is set. Our day is gone. Come, Cassius’ sword, and find Titinius’ heart.”
Titinius dies
Enter Messala, with Brutus and Cato
Brutus: “Where, Messala, doth his body lie?”
Messala: “Lo yonder, and Titinius mourning it.”
Brutus: “Tintinius’ face is upward.”
Cato: “He is slain.”
Brutus: “O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet! Thy spirit walks abroad and turns our swords in our own proper entrails. Are yet two Romans living such as these? The last of all the Romans, fare thee well! Friends, I owe more tears to this dead man than you shall see me pay. Come, young Cato; let us to the field to set our battles on. We shall try fortune in a second fight.”
Analysis
This is Cassius’ death scene, as Mark Antony’s army closes in all around him. References to Caesar abound, as the presence of his spirit is very much in evidence. Cassius dies from his own sword, the very one that stabbed Caesar. When Brutus sees Cassius’ dead body he says ‘O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet! Thy spirit walks abroad and turns our swords in our own proper entrails.’ Caesar’s ghost appeared to Brutus in Act IV and will again just before he chooses to die on his sword rather than be captured in the play’s final scene. Caesar may have been murdered at the outset of Act III but his presence is constant throughout the entire play. His revenge is nearly complete, and although he never wore the crown, his adopted son, Octavius, certainly will as Emperor Caesar Augustus, once we get through the next play and Lepidus and Antony both falter and fall.
Act V
Scene iv
Philippi battlefield
Enter Brutus, Cato, Lucilius
Brutus: “I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I. Brutus, my country’s friend. Know me for Brutus!”
Exit Brutus
Cato falls
Enter Antony
2 Soldier: “Tell Antony Brutus is taken.”
1 Soldier: “Brutus is taken, my lord.”
Antony: “Where is he?”
Lucilius: “Safe, Antony. I dare assure thee that no enemy shall ever take alive the noble Brutus.”
Antony: “This is not Brutus, friend. Keep this man safe; give him all kindness. I had rather have such men my friends than enemies. Go on, and see where Brutus be alive or dead.”
Analysis
The play is called Julius Caesar, but the true heroic protagonist is Brutus. Cassius convinced him to join the conspiracy and kill his friend, Caesar, for the sake of preserving the Republic. Brutus was torn between his private friendship with Caesar and duty to the Republic. Unfortunately for Brutus, the Republic is as dead as his friend, Caesar, and he and Cassius are as dead as them both. But amongst the conspirators, only his intentions were pure. In this brief scene, Brutus and his army are overwhelmed by Antony’s forces. Brutus’ last pronouncement is a reminder to himself and his fellow fighters and opponents of what an honourable man he has been known to be, all throughout his life, despite his murder of Caesar: ‘I am Brutus! Marcus Brutus, I Brutus, my country’s friend! Know me for Brutus!’ His fall is somehow more tragic than Caesar’s and certainly Cassius’s. The final scene looms.
Act V
Scene v
Philippi battlefield
Enter Brutus, Dardanius, Clitus, Volumnius, Strato
Brutus: “Sit thee down, Clitus. Slaying is the word; it is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus.”
Brutus whispers to Clitus
Clitus: “What, I, my lord? No, not for all the world. I’d rather kill myself.”
Brutus: “Hark thee, Dardanius.”
Dardanius: “Shall I do such a deed?”
Clitus: “What ill request did Brutus make to thee?”
Dardanius: “To kill him, Clitus.”
Brutus: “Come hither, good Volumnius.”
Volumnius: “What says my lord? “
Brutus: “The ghost of Caesar hath appeared to me, this last night here in Philippi. I know my hour is come.”
Volumnius: “Not so, my lord.”
Brutus: “Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius. Our enemies have beat us. Good Volumnius, hold thou my sword whiles I run on it.”
Volumnius: “That’s not an office for a friend, my lord.”
Clitus: “Fly, fly, my lord.”
Brutus: “Farewell to you; and you; and you, Volumnius. For Brutus’ tongue hath almost ended his life’s history. Night hangs upon mine eyes; my bones would rest, that have but laboured to attain this hour.”
Clitus: “Fly, my lord, fly!”
Brutus: “I pray thee, Strato, hold then my sword, and turn away thy face, while I do run upon it.”
Strato: “Give me your hand first. Fare you well, my lord.”
Brutus: “Farewell, good Strato. Caesar, now be still.”
Brutus runs upon his sword and dies.”
Enter Octavius, Antony, Messala and the army
Octavius: “What man is that?”
Messala: “My master’s man. Strato, where is thy master?”
Strato: “Free from the bondage you are in, Messala. The conquerers can but make a fire of him; for Brutus only overcame himself.”
Antony: “This was the noblest Roman of them all. All the conspirators save only he did that they did in envy of great Caesar; his life was gentle; and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to all the world ‘this was a man!’“
Octavius: “According to his virtue let us use him, with all respect and rites of burial. So call the field to rest, and let’s away to part the glories of this happy day.”
Final Thoughts
Much new was written about Caesar in the 1580s and this was Shakespeare’s contribution. His principle source was Plutarch’s Lives.
Julius Caesar has been a very popular play, from its earliest production in 1599 right up to today. A most startling and famous staging was in 1864, which featured all three Booth brothers, including John Wilkes himself. In the following year, immediately after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln at the Ford Theatre in Washington DC for what he had done to the south, Booth leapt upon the stage and declared, in the words of Brutus, ‘Sic semper tyrannous’, which translates as ‘such always to tyrants’. Sic Semper Tyrannous remains to this day the motto of the state of Virginia. In 1953 a film production of Julius Caesar starred Marlon Brando as Antony, John Gielgud as Cassius and James Mason as Brutus. It, among many other staged and filmed versions, both amateur and professional, are readily available on youtube.
During the Trump presidency, a version of Julius Caesar was performed in Central Park, New York. The actor portraying dictatorial Caesar was unmistakably personifying Donald Trump. Needless to say, when he was assassinated by the conspirators a massive disruption occurred in the audience, as actors hovered over Caesar’s (Trump’s) dead body, while large numbers in the crowd were aghast and walked out visibly disturbed, as others cheered voraciously. Oh Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare: Journey Through Genius 