Julius Caesar

Question:

Answers:

1. 
   reidalot Teacher
   College - Freshman

   The conspiracy begins to fail in Act III with Mark Antony's famous speech, "Friends, Romans, Countrymen." It is in this Act, after Caesar's assassination, that the crowd is turned into a hostile mob against the conspirators and Brutus. In the next Act, the Second Triumverate(Octavius,Mark Antony, Lepidus) decides which of the conspirators shall live or die.Next, you see the conspirators doubting each other when Brutus and Cassius argue;Brutus accuses Cassius of greed.The conspirators then go to war on the plains of Philippi against the Triumverate. The battle is going in favor of the conspirators until mistaken information leads to Cassius committing suicide.Brutus continues fighting bravely even as the last conspirators begin to lose the battle. Then Brutus kills himself and the conspiracy fails. The real reason behind the failed conspiracy lies in their motivations-is assassination a worthy means to an end? The conspiracy is doomed to fail from the start. Good luck on your exam!

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/juliuscaesar

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   Posted by reidalot on Sunday May 25, 2008 at 6:05 AM
   
   

2. 
   linda-allen Student
   High School - 10th Grade

   Actually, the conspiracy didn't fail. Their aim all along was to assassinate Julius Caesar, and they were successful in doing so. We don't know what they had planned for after the assassination. Who did they think would take control of Rome? How did they think the people of Rome would react?

   In the play, we hear lots of dialogue about why they should kill Caesar and how they should do it, but we hear very little about what they're going to do afterward. In Act II, scene 1, Metellus does offer a suggestion:

   METELLUS.
   O, let’s have him[Cicero]! Because his silver hairs
   Will also give us a good opinion with the people
   And buy men's votes to commend our deeds.
   It shall be said that his judgment ruled our hands;
   Our youths and wildness won’t appear at all,
   But all be buried in his seriousness.

   He wants to add Cicero to their number so that people might say it was all Cicero's idea and so that he can pay people to side with them. But the others veto this idea.

   In the play, the conspirators don't seem to think about what to do once their plan has succeeded.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/jc/act-ii-scene-1-summary-analysis

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   Posted by linda-allen on Sunday May 25, 2008 at 8:06 AM