Julius Caesar

by William Shakespeare
 Characters
1. Julius Caesar - A great Roman general and
senator, recently returned to Rome in triumph after a
successful military campaign. While his good friend
Brutus worries that Caesar may aspire to
dictatorship over the Roman republic, Caesar seems
to show no such inclination, declining the crown
several times. Yet while Caesar may not be unduly
power-hungry, he does possess his share of flaws.
He is unable to separate his public life from his
private life, and, seduced by the populace’s
increasing idealization and idolization of his image,
he ignores ill omens and threats against his life,
believing himself as eternal as the North Star.
2. Brutus - A supporter of the republic who believes
strongly in a government guided by the votes of
senators. While Brutus loves Caesar as a friend, he
opposes the ascension of any single man to the position
of dictator, and he fears that Caesar aspires to such
power. Brutus’s inflexible sense of honor makes it easy
for Caesar’s enemies to manipulate him into believing
that Caesar must die in order to preserve the republic.
While the other conspirators act out of envy and rivalry,
only Brutus truly believes that Caesar’s death will
benefit Rome. Unlike Caesar, Brutus is able to separate
completely his public life from his private life; by
giving priority to matters of state, he epitomizes Roman
virtue. Torn between his loyalty to Caesar and his
allegiance to the state, Brutus becomes the tragic hero
of the play.
3. Antony - A friend of Caesar. Antony claims
allegiance to Brutus and the conspirators after
Caesar’s death in order to save his own life. Later,
however, when speaking a funeral oration over
Caesar’s body, he spectacularly persuades the
audience to withdraw its support of Brutus and
instead condemn him as a traitor. With tears on his
cheeks and Caesar’s will in his hand, Antony
engages masterful rhetoric to stir the crowd to
revolt against the conspirators. Antony’s desire to
exclude Lepidus from the power that Antony and
Octavius intend to share hints at his own ambitious
nature.
4. Cassius - A talented general and longtime
acquaintance of Caesar. Cassius dislikes the fact that
Caesar has become godlike in the eyes of the
Romans. He slyly leads Brutus to believe that
Caesar has become too powerful and must die,
finally converting Brutus to his cause by sending
him forged letters claiming that the Roman people
support the death of Caesar. Impulsive and
unscrupulous, Cassius harbors no illusions about the
way the political world works. A shrewd
opportunist, he proves successful but lacks integrity.
5. Octavius - Caesar’s adopted son and appointed
successor. Octavius, who had been traveling abroad,
returns after Caesar’s death; he then joins with
Antony and sets off to fight Cassius and Brutus.
6. Calpurnia - Caesar’s wife. Calpurnia invests great
authority in omens and portents. She warns Caesar
against going to the Senate on the Ides of March, since
she has had terrible nightmares and heard reports of
many bad omens. Nevertheless, Caesar’s ambition
ultimately causes him to disregard her advice.
7. Lepidus - The third member of Antony and Octavius’s
coalition. Though Antony has a low opinion of Lepidus,
Octavius trusts his loyalty.
8. Decius - A member of the conspiracy. Decius convinces
Caesar that Calpurnia misinterpreted her dire
nightmares and that, in fact, no danger awaits him at the
Senate. Decius leads Caesar right into the hands of the
conspirators.
 Plot Overview
Two tribunes, Flavius and Murellus, find scores of Roman
citizens wandering the streets, neglecting their work in order to
watch Julius Caesar’s triumphal parade: Caesar has defeated the
sons of the deceased Roman general Pompey, his archrival, in
battle. The tribunes scold the citizens for abandoning their duties
and remove decorations from Caesar’s statues. Caesar enters
with his entourage, including the military and political figures
Brutus, Cassius, and Antony. A Soothsayer calls out to Caesar to
“beware the Ides of March,” but Caesar ignores him and
proceeds with his victory celebration .Cassius and Brutus, both
longtime intimates of Caesar and each other, converse. Cassius
tells Brutus that he has seemed distant lately; Brutus replies that
he has been at war with himself. Cassius states that he wishes
Brutus could see himself as others see him, for then Brutus
would realize how honored and respected he is. Brutus says that
he fears that the people want Caesar to become king, which
would overturn the republic. Cassius concurs that Caesar is
treated like a god though he is merely a man, no better than
Brutus or Cassius
. Cassius recalls incidents of Caesar’s physical weakness and
marvels that this fallible man has become so powerful.
Cassius recalls a windy day when he and Caesar stood on the
banks of the Tiber River, and Caesar dared him to swim to a
distant point. They raced through the water, but Caesar
became weak and asked Cassius to save him. Cassius had to
drag him from the water. Cassius also recounts an episode
when Caesar had a fever in Spain and experienced a seizure.
Cassius marvels to think that a man with such a feeble
constitution should now stand at the head of the civilized
world.
Brutus considers Cassius’s words as Caesar returns. Upon seeing
Cassius, Caesar tells Antony that he deeply distrusts Cassius.
Caesar sees Cassius and comments to Antony that Cassius
looks like a man who thinks too much; such men are
dangerous, he adds. Antony tells Caesar not to worry, but
Caesar replies that he prefers to avoid Cassius: Cassius reads
too much and finds no enjoyment in plays or music—such
men are never at ease while someone greater than themselves
holds the reins of power.
 Caesar departs, and another politician, Casca arrives. Casca reports
to Cassius and Brutus that the senators plan to make Caesar king in
the Senate the following day. Brutus goes home to consider
Cassius’s words regarding Caesar’s poor qualifications to rule,
while Cassius hatches a plot to draw Brutus into a conspiracy
against Caesar.
Cassius draws his dagger and swears to the gods that if they can make
a weak man like Caesar so powerful, then they can empower
Cassius to defeat a tyrant. He declares that Rome must be merely
trash or rubbish to give itself up so easily to Caesar’s fire. Casca
joins Cassius in his censure of Caesar, and Cassius reveals that he
has already swayed a number of high-powered Romans to support
a resistance movement. Cassius gives Cinna the letters he has
forged to place in Brutus’s chair in the Senate, and others to throw
through Brutus’s window and place on Brutus’s statue. Cassius
claims that Brutus has already come three-quarters of the way
toward turning against Caesar; he hopes the letters will bring him
the rest of the way around. Casca comments that the noble Brutus’s
participation in their plot will bring worthiness to their schemes,
for “he sits high in all the people’s hearts.”
 ACT 2
Brutus’s servant enters with a letter that he has discovered near
the window. Brutus reads the letter, which accuses him of
sleeping while Rome is threatened: “Brutus, thou sleep’st.
Awake, and see thyself”. Brutus interprets the letter as a
protest against Caesar. A committed supporter of the republic,
Brutus fears the possibility of a dictator-led empire, worrying
that the populace would lose its voice.
Brutus’s servant announces Cassius and a group of men—the
conspirators. They include Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus,
and Trebonius. The men agree to lure Caesar from his house
and kill him. Cassius wants to kill Antony too, for Antony will
surely try to hinder their plans, but Brutus disagrees, believing
that too many deaths will render their plot too bloody and
dishonor them. Having agreed to spare Antony, the
conspirators depart.
Caesar prepares to go to the Senate. His wife, Calpurnia, begs him not
to go, describing recent nightmares she has had in which a statue of
Caesar streamed with blood and smiling men bathed their hands in
the blood, dead men walked, ghosts wandered the city, a lioness
gave birth in the street, and lightning shattered the skies. These
signs portend true danger, she says; Caesar cannot afford to ignore
them. Caesar counters that nothing can change the plans of the
gods. He says “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the
valiant never taste of death but once.” Caesar refuses to yield to
fear and insists on going about his daily business. Finally,
Calpurnia convinces him to stay home—if not out of caution, then
as a favor to her. But Decius, one of the conspirators, then arrives
and convinces Caesar that Calpurnia has misinterpreted her dreams
and the recent omens. Decius disputes Calpurnia’s interpretation,
saying that actually the dream signifies that Romans will all gain
lifeblood from the strength of Caesar. He confides that the Senate
has decided to give Caesar the crown that day; if Caesar were to
stay at home, the senators might change their minds. Moreover,
Caesar would lose public regard if he were perceived as so easily
swayed by a woman, or by fear.
 Act 3
Artemidorus comes onstage, reading to himself a letter that he has
written Caesar, warning him to be wary of Brutus, Casca, and the
other conspirators. As Caesar proceeds through the streets toward the
Senate, the citizen Artemidorus hands him a letter warning him about
the conspirators, but Caesar refuses to read it, saying that his closest
personal concerns are his last priority. At the Senate, the conspirators
speak to Caesar, bowing at his feet and encircling him. The citizen
Artemidorus hands him a letter warning him about the conspirators,
but Caesar refuses to read it, saying that his closest personal concerns
are his last priority. At the Senate, the conspirators speak to Caesar,
bowing at his feet and encircling him. Trebonius draws Antony away
from the Senate room. Metellus approaches Caesar to request that his
brother, Publius Cimber, who has been banished from Rome, be
granted permission to return. Caesar answers that since Publius was
banished by lawful decree, there is not just cause for absolving his
guilt. Brutus and Cassius kneel at Caesar’s feet and repeat Metellus’s
plea; Caesar answers that he will not change his mind now, One by
one, they stab him to death. When Caesar sees his dear friend Brutus
among his murderers, he gives up his struggle and dies. One by one,
they stab him to death. When Caesar sees his dear friend Brutus
among his murderers, he gives up his struggle and dies.
• The murderers bathe their hands and swords in
Caesar’s blood, thus bringing Calpurnia’s
premonition to fruition. Antony, having been led
away on a false pretext, returns and pledges
allegiance to Brutus but weeps over Caesar’s body.
He shakes hands with the conspirators, thus
marking them all as guilty while appearing to make
a gesture of conciliation. When Antony asks why
they killed Caesar, Brutus replies that he will explain
their purpose in a funeral oration. Antony asks to be
allowed to speak over the body as well; Brutus
grants his permission, though Cassius remains
suspicious of Antony. The conspirators depart, and
Antony, alone now, swears that Caesar’s death shall
be avenged.
Brutus addresses the onstage crowd, assuring them
that they may trust in his honor. He did not kill
Caesar out of a lack of love for him, he says, but
because his love for Rome outweighed his love of a
single man. He insists that Caesar was great but
ambitious: it was for this reason that he slew him.
He feared that the Romans would live as slaves
under Caesar’s leadership. Brutus explains to the
crowd that Antony had no part in the conspiracy but
that he will now be part of the new commonwealth.
The plebeians cheer Brutus’s apparent kindness,
declaring that Brutus should be Caesar. He quiets
them and asks them to listen to Antony, who has
obtained permission to give a funeral oration. Brutus
exits.
• Antony’s speech becomes increasingly sarcastic;
questioning the claims that Brutus made in his speech
that Caesar acted only out of ambition, Antony points
out that Caesar brought much wealth and glory to
Rome, and three times turned down offers of the
crown. Antony then produces Caesar’s will but
announces that he will not read it for it would upset
the people inordinately. The crowd nevertheless begs
him to read the will, so he descends from the pulpit to
stand next to Caesar’s body. He describes Caesar’s
horrible death and shows Caesar’s wounded body to
the crowd. He then reads Caesar’s will, which
bequeaths a sum of money to every citizen and orders
that his private gardens be made public. The crowd
becomes enraged that this generous man lies dead;
calling Brutus and Cassius traitors, the masses set off to
drive them from the city.