Summary

A sleepless Brutus paces his orchard, considering an impossible dilemma. Though Caesar must die to protect Rome from dictatorship, Brutus has “no personal cause to spurn at him, / But for the general.” He fears kingship may bring out Caesar’s dominating, cruel streak, the way a bright day “brings forth the adder.” If one thinks of Caesar as a serpent’s egg, he says, then killing that egg before it “hatches” would be prudent. Brutus’s soliloquy is interrupted by his servant Lucius, who brings him one of the forged letters planted by Cinna at Cassius’s prompting. The letter exhorts Brutus to “awaken” and “speak, strike, and redress” against tyranny, urging him to come to a decision. As the sun rises, Lucius informs Brutus that the date is the ides of March.

Cassius enters and introduces Brutus to Trebonius, Decius Brutus, Casca, Cinna, and Metellus Cimber—the “conspirators.” Brutus asks everyone to bring forward their hands and join together in a noble cause. According to Brutus, the group do not need an oath to bind them, as Cassius suggests, because their honest intentions are oath enough. Cassius tells Brutus that Mark Antony should be assassinated along with Caesar, as he is a “shrewd contriver” who may later prove their undoing. However, Brutus shoots down Cassius’s suggestion, saying that Antony without Caesar is as powerless as the limbs of a body whose head has been cut off. Brutus also wants to avoid excessive violence, exhorting the conspirators to “carve” Caesar like a dish fit for the gods rather than fall on him in a savage frenzy.

To ensure that the superstitious Caesar arrives in the Capitol after the tumultuous previous night, Decius Brutus says he will go to Caesar’s home to flatter and coax him into attending the Senate. The group leave. Portia, Brutus’s wife, enters the scene, entreating Brutus to tell her the reason behind his recent secretive and agitated state. Kneeling before Brutus, Portia stabs herself in the thigh to prove she is worthy of his confidence. Moved, Brutus promises to tell Portia all “the secrets of [his] heart” in time. Cais Ligarius arrives to accompany Brutus to the Capitol.

Analysis

Scenes 1 and 2 of act 2 flesh out the characters of Caesar and Brutus, the play’s two tragic heroes. The tragic flaws in both their characters are established, setting up the stage for their eventual fate. Though scene 1 opens with Brutus in a state of great flux about his decision to oppose Caesar, Brutus rather quickly arrives at the conclusion that he has no choice but to assassinate Caesar. Ironically, “noble” Brutus, Caesar’s most beloved friend, is the first in the play to clearly suggest Caesar’s murder. Later in the scene, Brutus describes Caesar’s murder in particularly graphic terms, asking the conspirators to “carve” him as a dish fit for the gods, perhaps revealing a latent cruelty. Further, in an extremely important decision that has far-reaching consequences, Brutus shoots down Cassius’s suggestion of killing Antony along with Caesar. Brutus’s unshakeable belief in the loftiness of his ideals makes him obtuse toward himself and others. In his refusal to view himself objectively, Brutus is closer to Caesar than he thinks.