Act I:
The play opens humorously with a little word play between
Flavius, Marullus, and a few workers. The workers are on their
way to see Julius Caesar who has recently returned from his
victorious battle against Pompey. The reader immediately sees
the dislike the tribunes have towards Caesar and on the other
hand, the favor of the commoners.
The scene moves to a large gathering where Caesar is the
focus. As Caesar converses with Mark Antony, we learn that
Caesar is superstitious. The belief in the supernatural and the
forces of nature are very prevalent in the play and Caesar’s
comment is but one example. To keep with the idea of the
supernatural, a soothsayer speaks, warning Caesar to beware
the Ides of March. He acts as though he is not concerned.
After the exchange with the soothsayer, Caesar is offered the
crown three times and refuses each time, even though the
people are cheering for him to accept the empororship. At the
same time, Cassius is trying to convince Brutus that Caesar is
too ambitious and should be killed before being allowed to rule
the Roman Empire. Brutus, always seeking to do what is right,
says that he will not betray his honor and loyalty to Rome.
That evening, there are strange and unusual natural
occurrences–the weather is very strange and violent and fire
falls from the sky. Most of the people believe that the weather
The Essay on Tragic Hero Caesar Brutus Play
Everyone is his own person, and he is entitled to his own opinion and judgment of subject in a society. It is difficult sometimes to determine who is the tragic hero of a story without reasons and proof. In William Shakespeare play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, there were two characters to choose from that were fit of being the tragic hero. They are Marcus Brutus and Julius Caesar. According to ...
is a bad omen, but Cassius disagrees. He uses the unusual
weather to reason that it is only for evil men (such as Caesar)
who need to be afraid. The plotting against Caesar continues.
Act II:
Brutus is convinced by Cassius that it is for the good of Rome
that Caesar be killed. Some of the other conspirators want to
kill other people who are friends of Caesar’s, but Brutus feels
that it is not necessary to kill anyone else. Only the person
responsible for the downfall of Rome should perish in the eyes
of Brutus.
Caesar is contemplating on whether he should remain home
during the Ides of March ( which is March 15, the middle of
the month).
Calphurinia, Caesar’s wife, tells Caesar of the
horrible dream she had about his death and that the strange
occurrences the night before are a prelude to his death. He
agrees to stay until Decius, a conspirator, tells him her dreams
were not of his death, but of him saving Rome. Thus he leaves
for the Senate despite his wife’s pleas.
Meanwhile, Artemidorus waits in the streets of Rome for
Caesar to pass so he can give him a note warning Caesar of
the conspiracy.
Act III:
Attempts are made to warn Caesar of the plot to kill him, but
none are successful. Caesar is murdered in the Senate House.
Brutus keeps the others from killing anyone else and they all
believe that their deed will be celebrated throughout the ages.
Antony enters and pretends that he agrees with the
conspirators actions and is granted permission to speak at
Caesar’s funeral.
Brutus speaks first at the funeral to explain their reasons for
killing Caesar. The people seem to accept this and then
Antony speaks. Throughout his speech, Antony never really
says anything bad about Brutus and the others, but he talks
about Caesar being such a great and noble man willing to
sacrifice all for his people. The listeners become angry and a
mob runs through the streets in search of the conspirators and
they even kill a man only because he had the same name as
one of the conspirators.
Act IV:
Battle plans are being made as well as a list of people
The Essay on Roman Citizens Brutus Caesar Cassius
... creates a noble person. All the conspirators, except Brutus, had killed Caesar because of jealousy but Brutus killed him for the good of the ... he will speak bad of the conspirators. Brutus does not listen to Cassius, and tells Antony: .".. You shall not in your funeral ... conspiracy, ignoring Cassius' advice to not let Antony speak at the funeral and going against the advice to kill Antony are all ...
supportive of Brutus and the conspirators. These people are to
be killed. Octavius and Antony methodically pick people (even
family members) who are to be executed.
This next part somewhat confused me. Brutus and Cassius are
arguing with each other because Brutus would not pardon a
friend of Cassius caught accepting bribes. It is almost as if
Brutus is mad at Cassius for convincing him to kill Caesar and
uses this to vent his anger. I’m not really sure if this is true,
so don’t take it as gospel. Then they make up saying they
weren’t really in there right minds.
As if things aren’t bad enough for Brutus, he finds out that his
wife committed suicide by swallowing hot coals. Later he sees
the ghost of Caesar who tells him that they will meet again in
Philippi.
Act V:
The battle is about ready to begin. First Octavius, Antony,
Cassius, and Brutus meet on the battlefield to talk, but
obviously they cannot and will not cooperate. Brutus and
Cassius talk after the meeting about the inevitable battle.
They say their farewells and part. It appears that Brutus has
been defeated and Pindarus tells Cassius that Brutus has been
taken and Antony has defeated him. Thus, Cassius kills himself
and then after seeing Cassius’ body, Titinius kills himself. From
what I gather, Julius Caesar’s ghost has caused all of this to
take place by making them see the events that did not
happen. Later Brutus says that Caesar’s spirit “walks abroad”
and I take that to mean that Caesar is making sure his killers
will also be dead.
By the end, Brutus and Cassius’ armies have been
overwhelmed and Antony and Octavius are fast moving in on
Brutus. Brutus asks Strato to kill and he does so. Once Antony
and Octavius find the body the say that Brutus was the only
noble person among the conspirators.
