Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

by William Shakespeare

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Dramatis Personae

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Dramatis Personae

  • JULIUS CAESAR, Roman statesman and general
  • OCTAVIUS, Triumvir after Caesar's death, later Augustus Caesar, first emperor of Rome
  • MARCUS ANTONIUS, general and friend of Caesar, a Triumvir after his death
  • LEPIDUS, third member of the Triumvirate
  • MARCUS BRUTUS, leader of the conspiracy against Caesar
  • CASSIUS, instigator of the conspiracy
  • CASCA, TREBONIUS, LIGARIUS, DECIUS BRUTUS, METELLUS CIMBER, CINNA, conspirators against Caesar
  • CALPURNIA, wife of Caesar
  • PORTIA, wife of Brutus
  • CICERO, PUBLIUS, POPILIUS LENA, senators
  • FLAVIUS, tribune
  • MARULLUS, tribune
  • CATO, LUCILIUS, TITINIUS, MESSALA, VOLUMNIUS, supporters of Brutus
  • ARTEMIDORUS, a teacher of rhetoric
  • CINNA, a poet
  • VARRO, CLITUS, CLAUDIUS, STRATO, LUCIUS, DARDANIUS, servants to Brutus
  • PINDARUS, servant to Cassius
  • Ghost of Caesar
  • A Soothsayer
  • A Poet
  • Senators, Citizens, Soldiers, Commoners, Messengers, and Servants

SCENE: Rome, the conspirators' camp near Sardis, and the plains of Philippi.

  • mutineers; rebels
  • shackles
  • fail
  • task
  • reading of the note
  • delay
  • allowed
  • before
  • statesmen
  • lowly skill
  • neatly
  • faithful
  • request
  • servant nation
  • a wreath symbolic of peace
  • friendships
  • significance
  • confession of sins
  • in control
  • ring with the official seal
  • signed
  • seal
  • substitution
  • the result
  • thrust
  • cruel
  • this seems to indicate that the Danish king was elected instead of given the throne by birthright
  • election to the throne
  • fishing line
  • own
  • finish
  • insignificant person
  • feed stall
  • dining table
  • chattering bird
  • gentle
  • map
  • guide
  • description [in the next lines, Hamlet speaks in exaggerated language, mocking Osric]
  • harm
  • i.e., to make an ordered list of his good qualities
  • miss the mark
  • truth
  • praise
  • importance
  • mixture
  • description
  • likeness
  • shadow
  • purpose
  • crude
  • mention
  • compliment
  • reputation
  • worth
  • unmatched
  • wagered
  • daggers
  • accessories
  • belts
  • sword-straps
  • matched
  • noble
  • design
  • instructed
  • margin notes
  • relevant
  • wagered
  • i.e., answer the challenge by consenting to duel
  • exercise
  • random
  • meaning
  • embellishment
  • kind of bird said to grow up very quickly
  • formally bow to
  • Horatio makes fun of Osric's hurry to do everything; he calls Osric a lapwing (a bird thought to grow to adulthood very quickly) and adds to the picture by saying that Osric is running off right after “hatching,” with his shell on his head. Hamlet then says that Osric probably bowed to his own mother's breast.
  • mother's breast
  • group
  • worthless
  • frothy
  • considered
  • selected
  • polite
  • greeting
  • misgiving
  • arrival
  • predictions about what will happen
  • a reference to Matthew, book 10, verses 29-31, in which Jesus asks, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very heirs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
  • a reference to Matthew 10:29–31
  • party
  • renouncing
  • intended
  • legal precedent
  • unharmed
  • freely
  • considered better
  • large pearl
  • kettle drum
  • ancient
  • The Stoics were followers of a philosophy started in Greece around 300 BC. The core principle of Stoicism was acceptance of one's lack of control over external circumstances. Later Romans took the philosophy and made it their own, turning its focus to strong morality and bravery in the face of death. A good Stoic would commit suicide before he compromised himself. Horatio makes known his intent to follow this “antique Roman” ideal and commit suicide.
  • pleasure
  • greeting shot
  • overcomes
  • lands
  • occurrences
  • brought about
  • pile of corpses
  • proclaims, shows
  • unlimited slaughter
  • about to happen
  • those who devised the plan