1. Find 2 puns, 2 metaphors, 2 similes, 3 images,
and complete 2 scansions of sentences to check for iambic pentameter in Act 1 scenes 1-2 of Caesar
Puns
A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe
conscience;
which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles
He says he mends bad soles which is the soles
of shoes and the souls of humans.
Why, sir, cobble you
A cobbler is a joker and a shoemaker
Metaphors
It is no matter; let no images
Be hung with
Caesar's trophies. I'll about,
And drive away the vulgar from the streets:
So do you too, where you perceive them thick.
These
growing feathers pluck'd 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.
FLAVIUS compares Caesar to birds.
The Second Commoner- “I am, indeed, sir,
a surgeon
to old shoes.”
Similes
“As well as I do know your outward favour.”
Cassius- “Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar.”
Three Images
Marullus- “To hear the replication of your
sounds made in her concave shores?”
Cassius- “Did from the flames of Troy upon
his shoulder”
Flavius- “These growing feathers pluck'd
from Caesar's wing
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch”
Two Scansions
“You know / it is / the feast / of Lup /
er cal. /” – Marullus (pentameter)
“They van / ish tongue- / tied in / their
guil / ti ness. /” – Flavius (pentameter)
2. Who speaks in poetry? Who speaks in prose?
Who speaks in blank verse? why?
· Royalty
and nobility both talk in poetry, because they have the most important. The Plebeians and commoners speak in prose, because
it is the most normal form of language. The main characters of the play speak in blank verse, because they have many
lines.
3. Identify
at least 5 characteristics found in the characters of Caesar, Brutus, and Cassius.
Caesar-
wants power, smart, cares about the working class, sometimes has seizures, humble, self-conscious of others.
Brutus-
he loves more than he fears death, determined, prideful, the public admires him, very powerful.
Cassius-
powerful, does things without thinking, tricky, has a big ego, patriotic.
17. In his argument with Cassius in Act IV scene 3, Brutus refers to Caesar
in terms of both praise and censure. Find the speech and decide whether
a. the praise is consistent with earlier references to Caesar’s qualities
and
Yes the speech is consistent
with the praises because it still praises Caesar as being great and that his death was just for the good of rome.
b. whether the criticism is so
major that Brutus should have mentioned it earlier.
It should have been mentioned earlier to the people of rome so that that they
would have better understood the purpose of killing Caesar and they might not
of turned on him.
10. The quarrel scene (Act IV Scene 2) has been belittled by the critic Thomas
Rymer in the seventeenth century; praised by John Dryden, his contemporary, for its “masculinity” in the eighteenth
century; admired as an example of dramatic genius in the nineteenth century (by Samuel Taylor Coleridge); and dismissed as
irrelevant by twentieth century critic Henry Bradley. Read it carefully and decide for yourself
a. Whether Brutus is (i) unrealistic in expecting his allies always to act
honorably or (ii)
admirable in his inflexible attitude toward corruption.
He is admirable in his inflexible attitude toward corruption because in the
whole story Brutus stands for what he thinks is right and would do many things, like killing Caesar, for the good of Rome.
b. Whether Brutus is (i) arrogant and insensitive towards Cassius at the beginning
of the quarrel or (ii) properly firm and uncompromising.
Brutus is properly firm and uncompromising because he doesn’t want to
argue in front of his and Cassius’s army which would show weakness and conflict between the two men.
c. Whether Brutus is (i) taunts Cassius or (ii) refuses to be browbeaten by
him (Explain your answer)
Brutus refuses to be browbeaten by him because he is willing to argue more
inside the tent to show that the point of view that Brutus has is the better one compared to Cassius.
d. Whether Brutus is (i) insultingly cold or (ii) admirable forthright
Brutus is insultingly cold when he hears that Cassius is near and insults him
and says that he is a coward.
e. Whether Brutus is (i) sober form …”hides wrongs” or (ii)
whether he is “armed so strong in honesty” that he cannot compromise.
Form an opinion of your own about the character of Brutus as it is revealed
in the quarrel with Cassius from its beginning to its height.
Brutus is “armed so strong in honesty” that he cannot compromise
because he has not done any wrong to his enemies which means he could have not possibly done wrong to his brother.
10. The quarrel scene (Act IV Scene 3) shows Cassius in many moods.
a. choleric: what are the reasons for his anger, and are they justified?
He is angry because Brutus condemned and denounced Lucius Pella for taking
bribes. They are justified because Brutus supposedly ignored letters supporting Lucius.
b. tormented: how does Brutus provoke him , and what does Cassius’s restraint
reveal about his personality?
Brutus provokes him by giving allegations of corruption and Cassius warns him
to back off but does not fight him which shows his character of having self control.
c. passionate: does the passion throw a new light on his character?
Yes the passion throws a new light on his character by showing that he is more
than a two faced man but he also loves.
d. affectionate: how does this show and is it surprising?
It is surprising because earlier he was a ruthless man and was willing to do
anything to kill Caesar.
e. jocular: which episode brings out a flash of humor, and what is its purpose?
f. sympathetically emotional: would you have expected him to react to
Portia’s death in the way he does? How does it compare with Brutus’s own response?
Yes I would have expected the reaction from Brutus because Brutus is stoic
and does not show emotion but the real reaction was that he was very hurt.
g. dependent: what evidence is there to show that in his relationship with Brutus, there is another side to Cassius than the one presented before the assassination?
The other side of Cassius
is a greedy, self center personality compared to the noble and just side presented before the assassination.
