Julius Caesar

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   sagetrieb Teacher
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   I believe that Cassius does “accept” the news that Pindarus gives him. In Act 5 Scene 3, Cassius orders Pindarus to climb a hill to see what is going on in the battle. Pindarus reports that the enemy has surrounded Titinius and then “ta’en” him (30-33). Cassius asks Pindarus to “come down,” and then moans the fact that his good friend Titinius has been “ta’en before my face.” After freeing Pindarus (for he is his slave), Cassius asks him to run a sword through him (40-50). It would seem to me that Cassius very much “accepts” the reality of Pindarus’s report, so much so that he realizes this news signifies that his own actions—killing Caesar and then battling Antony and Octavius—have met their inevitable end.  Rather than accept defeat at the hands of his enemy, Cassius asks his slave, whom he had taken in battle years ago, to kill him, thus controlling  his life rather than allowing his enemy to win in this way.

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   Posted by sagetrieb on Thursday January 17, 2008 at 4:19 AM
   
   

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