Julius Caesar Act 1 Literary Elements

Cassius interpretation of storm and other signs the heavens bring

"And put on fear, and cast yourself in wonder/To see the strange impatience of the heavens./But if you would consider the true cause/Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts,/Why birds and beasts from quality and kind,/Why old men fool and children calculate,/Why all these things change from their ordinance/Their natures and preformèd faculties/To monstrous quality—why, you shall find/That heaven hath infused them with these spirits/To make them instruments of fear and warning" Cassius insists that heaven has brought about such things as birds and animals that change their natures "Why birds and beasts from quality and kind," and children who predict the future "Why old men fool and children calculate," all these beings act unnaturally "Why all these things change from their ordinance/Their natures and preformèd faculties" meaning Heaven has done all this, to warn the Romans of an evil condition that they should correct,

In Casca and Cassius' discussion what is the metaphor Shakespeare uses and what does it mean?

"And why should Caesar be a tyrant then?/Poor man! 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." Meaning Cassius implies that Caesar's power is only because Romans are weak and give him that power

Imagery example 3 in scene 3

"And why should Caesar be a tyrant then?/Poor man! 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./Those that with haste will make a mighty fire/Begin it with weak straws. What trash is Rome,/What rubbish and what offal, when it serves/For the base matter to illuminate/So vile a thing as Caesar!"

What is the goal of Cassius' speech beginning at line 90?

"I know virtue to be in you, Brutus," To say Caesar is weak without people anecdotes to highlight weakness and Cassius had to save Caesar.

Imagery example 2 in scene 3

"In Pompey's porch. For now, this fearful night,/There is no stir or walking in the streets,/And the complexion of the element/In favor's like the work we have in hand,/Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible."

Why do the conspirators choose to meet at Pompey's porch?

"In Pompey's porch. For now, this fearful night,/There is no stir or walking in the streets,/And the complexion of the element/In favor's like the work we have in hand,/Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible." It is night and stormy so no on would see them

Imagery example 1 in scene 3

"O Cicero, I have seen temptress with the scolding winds/Have rived knotted oaks, and I have seen/ The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam/To be exalted with the high threatening clouds;"

Compared Caesar to a bird

"These growing feathers plucked from Caesar's wing Will make him fly an ordinary pitch" Meaning he is a bird but if you pluck his wings to bring him back down to normal power

Brutus loves Caesar, but fears his power. Text evidence that examines his conflicted feelings, as well as his attitude about political power

"What means this shouting? I do fear the people Choose Caesar for their king." "Ay, do you fear it? then must i think you would not have it so. "" I would not, Cassius, yet I love him well."

Shakespeare decides to focus on Brutus and Cassius to show Caesar's true personality through the peoples' eyes

. It also highlights the conflicting sides against Caesar in Rome, developing a plot.

Foot

2 or more syllables that make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a poem; meter consisting of stressed and unstressed syllables

Soliloquy

A characters speech alone on stage to allow his/her thoughts and ideas to be conveyed to the audience

Tragedy

A drama in which a series of actions lead to the downfall of the main character

Iamb

A foot that has 2 syllables

Antony

A friend of Caesar. Caesars right hand man

Stanza

A group of 2 or more lines that form a unit poem (paragraph)

Pun

A humorous play on words Ex: "For the pun of it"

Aside

A line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage

Run-On Line

A line which has no natural speech pause at its end, allowing the sense to flow uninterruptedly into the succeeding line.

Rhetorical Question

A statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered

Brutus

A supporter of the republic. Best friend of Caesar. He killed Caesar because he was worried Caesar will demolish the republic and it was for the good of Rome.

Flavius

A tribune. is punished along with Marellus for removing the decorations from Caesar's statues during Caesar's triumphal parade.

Tragic Flaw

An error in judgement or character defect that ultimately leads to his/her downfall

Prologue

An introduction to a play

How does Cassius appeal to Brutus' sense of family honor?

Ancestor of brutus took down the kings long before caesar so he is basically saying its in your blood

Cassius does not provide factual reasoning as to why Caesar should not be king? How does Cassius present him as unfit to rule?

Anecdotes and facts about behaviors and other things to depict him as weak. look at 1208 his speech

In Scene 1 Marullus and Flavius are resisting Caesar they take down decorations and shame citizens for supporting him what happens to them?

Caesar has them executed on the same day that they do this, highlighting Caesar's influence and power

Calpurnia

Caesar's wife.

During the storm what is Casca feeling and provide text evidence that supports this?

Casca is scared this is the worst storm he's ever seen. He is stressed and feels as if the god's caused the storm "Either there is a civil strife in heaven,/Or else the world, too saucy with the gods, Incenses them to send destruction."

"You speak to Casca, and to such a man/That is no fleering telltale. Hold, my hand./Be factious for redress of all these griefs,/And I will set this foot of mine as far/As who goes farthest."

Casca to Cassius Meaning: I casca am not a tattletale. If you gather a group to right these wrongs I will go as far as any one of you. Significance: Casca has joined in to kill Caesar

In Casca and Cassius' discussion Casca brings up that Caesar will be crowned how does cassius respond?

Casca:"Indeed, they say the senators tomorrow/Mean to establish Caesar as king./And he shall wear his crown by sea and land/In every place save he in Italy" Cassius: "I know where I will wear the dagger then; Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius." Meaning Cassius will kill himself if that happens

Discuss the 2 allusions Cassius uses (Line 112 and 136) What effect do they have? How do they specifically serve his persuasive goal?

Cassius compared to Aeneas of troy, depicts himself heroic and Caesar as weak. Colossus compared to Caesar highlights greater than everyone and highlights results go his power

What does Cassius have Cinna do and why is Brutus so important to their plan? And text evidence?

Cassius has Cinna plant papers where Brutus will find them to get Brutus on their side. Brutus is important to their plan because like Caesar he is very well liked and his involvement will justify the assassination. "Oh, he sits high in all the people's hearts,/And that which would appear offense in us,/His countenance, like richest alchemy,/Will change to virtue and to worthiness."

What has happened to move the conspiracy forward by the end of scene 3?

Cassius has planted letters so Brutus will find them and turn on Caesar.

"Men at some times are masters of their fates./The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Cassius to Brutus Meaning: You control what happens to you, fate doesn't rule your life, the problem is that we are subject to others. Importance: Cassius trying to convince Brutus to take control of his fate and join conspiracy.

"Have bared my bosom to the thunder-stone;/And when the cross blue lightning seemed to open/ the breast of heaven, I did present myself"

Cassius to Casca Meaning: Something with Zues, Cassius tempts Zues to strike him dead if it is not his will to kill Caesar, Cassius sees the fact that he didn't strike him as confirmation to kill Caesar

"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 dishonorable graves."

Cassius to brutus meaning caesar's power is too much

Cassius technique for brutus persuasion

Cassius tries to get Brutus' regard for his word by flattering him and using reverse psychology.

Shows 2 ways Cassius attempts to get Brutus' regard for his word before he begins to belittle Caesar.

Flattering him and appealing to Brutus' political ideals

Flavius tells Marullus to make sure that none of Caesars statues are decorated why?

He does this because it will help take away Caesar's support and keep him weak.

How does Cassius drive the action in Act 1? What steps has he taken to reach his goal?

He has been the main conspirator he is driving the resistance of Caesar and turning everyone against him. He has planted letters so Brutus will find them and turn on Caesar.

How many times is Caesar offered the crown? why do you think he refuses it at first?

He is offered it 3 times. He refuses it because he needs to keep his popularity up and when it was offered the crowd stopped cheering so he knew if he accepted he would lose people's support.

Provide a line by line reading and interpretation of Cassius' closing soliloquy lines 308-322

He is planing on planting writings to have brutus find them and get him on his side.

What does Caesar think of Cassius? How do we know? What does his opinion show about Caesar's character?

He is power hungry wants change in government. Cassius will never be content with Caesar. Caesars opinion:"Let me have men about me that are fat,/Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights./Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;/He thinks too much, such men are dangerous."

Casca

He joins the conspiracy the night before the assassination and is the first conspirator to stab Caesar.

How are Casca's lines on page 787 different from the rest of Shakespeare's text? Why do you believe he choose to alter his style here?

He uses prose to indicate shift before Casca was vague and had no opinion highlighting his fear of having a opinion "hanged" he shifts to prose which is where he shares his opinion.

How does Brutus respond to Cassius' persuasion?

He's gonna think about it Look at line 163 he is saying I have some guesses as to what you want me to do this is inversion

Sonnet

Lyrical poem of 14 lines, commonly written in iambic pentameter

What is Cassius' opinion of Fate? Why would he mention this?

Men have power to change their fate "Men at some time are masters of their fates" and he mentions this because he wants to empower Brutus to make a change

What is the outward attitude of Casca toward Caesar? What attitude does he apparently hold behind Caesar's back?

Outward appearance is neutral, behind back he thinks Caesar wants the crown and Caesar's refusal of the crown is just a trick

Free Verse

Poetry that does not contain regular patterns of rhythm or rhyme

What is the Feast of Lupercal? What is the purpose of the Feast of Lupercal, relating to the women?

Race, their is also a superstition that if one of the runners touches a women then it will give them fertility

Meter

Regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem

Couplet

Rhymed pair of lines written in any rhythmic pattern

"You blocks, you stones. you worse than senseless things!"

Said by Marullus Said to the people. Meaning you idiots why are you celebrating Caesar

"Beware the ides of March."

Said by a soothsayer Said to Caesar Meaning: Be careful of March 15 Importance: Foretells future/assassination, Caesar ignores warning and thinks of himself as godlike.

What literally happens in scene 3? Major conflict? How are these events related to character development or the play as a whole?

Scene 3 their is a huge storm that is occurring it is the night before Caesar's assassination. One conflict is that Caesar is going to be kinged the next day unless they do something. They also need Brutus to have people on their side. Cassius character is developed through his hatred of Caesar and how he is willing to do whatever it takes to stop him, and Casca is developed from a loyal friend to Caesar to wanting him dead.

Cicero

Smart man speaks greek

Quatrain

Stanza of 4 lines, esp. one having alternative rhymes Ex: ~~~a ~~~a ~~~~b ~~~~b

Cinna

The conspirator who urges Cassius to bring "noble" Brutus into the conspiracy; he assists by placing some of Cassius' forged letters where Brutus will discover them.

Rhyme

The repetition of the same stressed vowel sounds and any succeeding sounds in two or more words

Inversion

The reversal of the normal order of words; Yoda talk

Parallelism

The use of a series of words, phrases, or sentences that have similar grammatical form

Marullus and Flavius

These are the two men in the beginning scene. They shame the workers for closing their shops and aren't dressed in their uniforms and celebrate Caesar. This highlights the diverse views on how the government should be run.

Why does Shakespeare choose to remain focused on Brutus and Cassius instead?

To highlight the conflicting sides against Caesar in Rome developed plot which leads to purpose

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter

Foil

a character whose personality and attitude contrast sharply with those of another

Trochee

a metrical unit with stressed-stressed-unstressed syllables

Scene 3

a month after Festival. night before Caesar's assassination

What is a pun? Explain the pun in lines 13-14. Explain the pun in lines 22-23. Why did Shakespeare include these?

a pun is a play on words, The first pun is about this trade he plays on the word soles "a mender of bad soles" The second is playing on the word meddle " I meddle with no tradesman's matters not women's matters , but with all." the word meddle is related to his trade but he is using it to highlight how he's meddling with people

Murellus

a tribune who condemns the plebeians for their fickleness in cheering Caesar, when once they cheered for Caesar's enemy Pompey. is punished for removing Caesar's decorations along with Flavius.

How does sky foreshadow upcoming events? What does Cassius compare it to?

compares to caesar foreshadows his death

Cassius

organizes the conspiracy against Caesar and recruits Brutus by passionate argument and manipulation

Marullus asks rhetorical questions to

shame the people

Caesar

wants the crown of Rome. Betrayed by his best friend Brutus. Killed by the conspirators.