A COMPLETE RUNTHROUGH OF EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN

JULIUS CAESAR

Act 1 Scene 1
The tribunes, Murellus and Flavius are conversing with citizens
The tribunes look down on the commoners
o thou naughty knave
o thou saucy fellow
The tribunes comment on Caesar
o Commoners say they want to make holiday to see Caesar and the tribunes
disapprove
Going to see Caesar is frowned upon because
Wherefore rejoice?
because the commoners did the same when Pompey ruled
Knew you not Pompey?
you climbd up to walls and battlements [t]o see great Pompey
pass the streets of Rome
put on your best attire
strew flowers in his way
Tribunes think that they are showing ingratitude
The tribunes mock them for their fickle-mindedness and easily-swayed
loyalty
Using anaphora and do you now
Metaphor of inanimate objects to show how the commoners have
no independent thought
you blocks, you stones
o The tribunes disapprove of Caesars rule
Sees it as a result of brute force
triumph over Pompeys blood
Uses metaphor of a falcon to describe Caesar
Like a falcon, Caesar is powerful
And will soar above the view of men and keep us all in
servile fearfulness
However, he is only powerful due to commoners support
If commoners (growing feathers) are removed
(pluckd) from Caesars side (Caesars wing)
He will not succeed (fly an ordinary pitch)

Act 1 Scene 2
Caesar is conversing with Calpurnia and Antony
o Antony is a loyal follower of Caesar / right-hand man
When Caesar says do this, it is performd
A soothsayer arrives
o Caesar turns to him to listen to him
Caesar is turnd to hear
Refers to himself in 3rd person
Shows his arrogance
 o He is half-deaf
Reflects how he does not listen to others
e.g. Many warn him of the Ides of March but he did not listen
Half-deaf as a metaphor shows he does not listen to criticisms, only
praises
Calls soothsayer a dreamer
Lets his pride in his invincibility blind him to the counsel
of others
Ironically, his blindness is defined by his stubborn refusal to listen
Set him before me; let me see his face
He sees but does not listen
Cassius is talking to Brutus
o About how Brutus does not recognize his hidden potential
Because he wants to convince him to join his enterprise
o Cassius flatters Brutus
good Brutus, noble Brutus
Acts as his mirror and glass and only tells him or reflects to him how
good, noble, honourable he is
Tells Brutus that he has a hidden worthiness
The word eye is used many times
Image of ocularity
Also a pun for I
Shows how Cassius reflects Brutus himself to Brutus
By posing as a good friend of Brutus
your friend that loves you
Cassius is able to cajole Brutus into joining his enterprise
Brutus sees that his friend is trying to help him and does the honourable
thing by becoming his ally
Also, by acting for what seems to be an honourable cause, Brutus can
hide the secret fact that hes actually very pleased by the flattery
o Cassius lies straight through his teeth but still manages to convince Brutus
He says that he will not make ordinary oaths (generic and empty
promises) and fawn on men and hug them hard (flatter someone and
backstap them)
However, this is exactly opposite of the truth as this is exactly what he is
doing to Brutus
Deceiver like Antony
o Brutus is dominated by honour
Set honour in one eye and death i the other / And I will lok on both
indifferently
Either honour or death
Honour dominates Brutus lens and perspective
Blinds him
Shows how idealistic Brutus is
Cassius monologue to Brutus
o for my single self, / I had as life not be as live to be / In awe of such a thing as
myself
Personal pronouns shows Cassius is selfish in his desire to kill Caesar
o He thinks of himself to be as capable as Caesar
I was born free as Caesar
both have fed as well
 o He thinks Caesar is weak
When Caesar was swimming in the river Tiber with Cassius
Caesar cried Help me Cassius, or I sink!
tired Caesar
When Caesar was sick in Spain
his coward lips did from their colour fly
I did hear him groan
His tongue cried Give me some drink, Titinius
Sick girl
o He thinks Caesar is an oppressor
become a god
Cassius is / A wretched creature and must bend his body / If Caesar
carelessly but nod on him
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
o Cassius emasculates Caesar
Sick girl
o Cassius thinks that Caesar is not worthy of such a high authority
It doth amaze me / A man of such a feeble temper should / So get the
start of the majestic world / And bear the palm alone
o On the other hand, Cassius thinks he is god-like
Calls himself Aeneas (simile)
1st founder of Rome
Believes himself to be great
Arrogant and ambitious
o Cassius is manipulative
Trying to rile up Brutus by saying that they should have their own free
will and decide their own fates instead of letting Caesar oppress them
Men at some time are masters of their fates: / The fault, deart
Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are
underlings
Casca talks about Caesar rejecting the crown
o Crown was offered to Caesar thrice
o But he put it by thrice, every time gentler than the other
o Shows that he actually wants the crown
1st time would fain to have had it
2nd time very loath to lay his fingers off it
o But he pretends to not want it to gain more supporters
at every putting-by mine honest neighbors shouted
the rabblement hooted and clapped their chapped hands
Cassius talks about Brutus
o Thy honourable metal may be wrought / From that it is disposed
o Cassius compares Brutus to honourable metal
o Metal may seem strong and unyielding at first, but it can be wrought(moulded,
shaped) into another form
o Cassius is comparing that process to his manipulation of it.
o Cassius acts as a manipulator who works on people as if they were materials
that could be crafted into products
o Cassius is cold and ruthless in treating people like tools for his own purposes
Act 1 Scene 3
Cassius manipulates Casca
o Cassius knows that Casca is superstitious
Casca is worried about a tempest dropping fire
Casca interprets this omen as civil strife in heaven or godssend[ing]
destruction
o Cassius uses this to his advantage
Uses the omens of
the hand of a common slave which was burn[t] but
remaind unscorchd
A lion in the Capitol which did not annoy [Casca]
Men on fire walked the streets
A bird of night sat upon the market-place at noon-day
To link with Caesars rule showing its unnaturalness and tyranny
Uses monstrous (monstrous state, monstrous quality)
On the other hand, Cassius promotes his own honourable enterprise as
being aligned with heavens will
o Cassius is perceptive of human nature