Discussion Topic
Key elements and analysis of Acts 1 and 2, Scenes 1 in Julius Caesar
Summary:
Acts 1 and 2, Scene 1 of Julius Caesar introduce key elements such as political tension, the public's view of Caesar, and the conspiracy against him. Act 1 shows the celebration of Caesar's triumph, while Act 2 reveals the conspirators' plotting and Brutus's internal conflict. These scenes set the stage for the unfolding drama and highlight themes of power and betrayal.
Where does Act 1, Scene 1 of Julius Caesar take place?
The first scene in Act I takes place on the streets of Rome. We are to assume that it is the same day that Julius Caesar’s forces are marching to the capitol because the citizens are on “holiday” to see him make is procession through the streets. This was odd because he had not come from a war and usually a procession of this magnitude was reserved for a conquering general. It speaks further to the fact that Julius Caesar was pretty “high on his horse” as the play begins.
What are some important quotes from Julius Caesar, act 1, scene 1?
When you're about to be tested on a quote, what you want to do first is ensure you understand the point of the scene itself: what is happening and who is involved. In this case, we have Marullus and Flavius meeting a group of citizens who have closed their shops for the day in order to celebrate the return...
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of Caesar. Caesar has just defeated Pompey--the last of his fellow triumvirates--in battle and even pursued and defeated his sons (to secure his power). Marullus and Flavius are fairly certain that Caesar will now become a tyrant, and they want to avoid that if possible. This is why they tell the citizens to go back to work, then they go around removing all the decorations on Caesar's statues. They don't want Caesar to think it will be easy to take absolute control.
There is some punny bantering between them and a couple of trademen (this is trademark Shakespeare stuff), but the first important quote--which tells us what Marullus and Flavius are thinking and why--occurs with Marullus:
Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?
What tributaries follow him to Rome,
To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels?
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!
O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft
Have you climb’d up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops,
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
The livelong day with patient expectation
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome.
And when you saw his chariot but appear,
Have you not made an universal shout
That Tiber trembled underneath her banks
To hear the replication of your sounds
Made in her concave shores?
And do you now put on your best attire?
And do you now cull out a holiday?
And do you now strew flowers in his way
That comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood?
Be gone!
Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague
That needs must light on this ingratitude.
In essence, Marullus is arguing that the same people who are presumably here to celebrate Caesar's victory were the same who would go to the tops of the ramparts and wait patiently all day to see Pompey even appear in the streets, whereupon their their shouts would be so great that they echoed. He's calling them hypocrites, and says they should be ashamed of themselves. This quote is important because we (the audience) need to understand the setting of the play, the situation (or "argument"), and where Marullus and Flavius stand in relation to Caesar.
The second important quote in this scene is from Flavius, after he's reassured Marullus that they can and should confront the citizens and send them home and remove the ornaments from Caesar's statues:
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.
Their motives are clarified here: Don't give Caesar any reason to believe he has any more power than he already believes he does. The triumvirate was created in order to avoid tyranny, and while it didn't work out as planned, their hatred of tyranny is no less strong.
Discuss act 1, scene 1 of Julius Caesar.
The play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare was based on actual events. The assassination of Caesar took place on March 15, 44 B.C. in the Roman Senate. Most of the characters that Shakespeare used in his play were based on actual people.
In Act I, the date is February 15, 44 B.C. It is the Feast of the Lupercal. The Romans placed great importance on this event because it was a celebration of fertility and harvest. Roman farmers needed the gods to help with the growth of their crops and the reproduction of their animals.
Part of the celebration was a footrace which ran through the streets of Rome. Caesar, who has recently returned from a victorious battle over the sons of Pompey, is to be offered the crown as Emperor of Rome.
At one time, Pompey was Caesar’s friend. They argued and eventually met in battle. Caesar defeated Pompey, who was also killed. These are the events which lead to the beginning of this play.
Most of the Shakespearean plays began with humorous dialogue. The intention was to get the crowd involved and enthusiastic about the serious events that would come later in the play.
Act I, Scene I, takes place in a street of Rome. Some of the craftsman are not in their shops as usual but are on their way to see Caesar as he walks through the streets. In addition, it is a holiday. The workmen are met by two tribunes: Marullus and Flavius. The tribunes were elected and served as protectors of the rights of the people. Today, they are trying to keep civil disorder from breaking out.
The tribunes have been supporters of Pompey; therefore, they do not like Caesar. They believe that he has gained his status by killing Pompey.
The dialogue begins with Flavius asking the craftsman why they are out in the streets. In Shakepeare’s time, a craftsman was supposed to wear something on him that would indicate his type of work.
Marullus gets into a heated discourse with a cobbler who is a maker and mender of shoes. The Elizabethan audience would have thought this conversation hilarious. They enjoyed puns, which are plays on words. In addition, the audience would have enjoyed the craftsman “out thinking” the government official.
The following brief dialogue demonstrates a pun made by the cobbler and also tells the tribunes exactly why the common men are not in their workshops.
Flavius: But wherefore art not in thy shop today?
Why dost thou lead these men about the streetsCobbler: Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get myself into more work. (This is the pun.The cobbler is encouraging the other men to walk around wearing out their shoes, so that the cobbler will have more work and make more money.)
But indeed, sir, we make holiday, to see Caesar
and to rejoice in his triumph.
This information about Caesar infuriates Marullus who feels that Pompey has been considered a great Roman leader. The common people have cheered Pompey as he went through the Roman streets. Now, they are celebrating Caesar’s victory and killing of Pompey and his sons. The tribunes find this behavior appalling. They tell the workman to return to their homes.
After the crowd disperses, Flavius and Marullus decide to try to send other people home. They also know that decorated statues of Caesar have been placed along the streets. The tribunes decide that they will go to the statues and take down the decorations which are honoring Caesar. This is dangerous work.
Explain Act 2, Scene 1 in Julius Caesar.
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is virtually an all-male play. Shakespeare must have inserted scenes with female characters just to have some variety. Consider some of Shakespeare's other famous plays. In Macbeth there is a big part for Lady Macbeth and also parts for three (female) witches and for Lady Macduff. In Othello there are good parts for Desdemona and Emelia, with a smaller part for Bianca. In King Lear there are strong parts for Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Rosalind has the best part of all in As You Like It. But in Julius Caesar the audience sees nothing but men all dressed in robes, all conspiring with one another and against other men in robes. (The characters are continually addressing one another by their names, because otherwise it would be impossible for the audience to tell them apart.) Then at the end there are men dressed in armor and carrying swords. Even in the scene in which Brutus and Antony both address the plebians, there are only men in the mob because, presumably, women were expected to stay at home. No doubt the scenes involving Portia and Calpurnia, respectively, were created to provide work for the female impersonators in Shakespeare's company and to provide a little variety. The roles of Portia and Calpurnia are not absolutely necessary, since Portia does not succeed in getting Brutus to confide in her and Calpurnia does not succeed in persuading Caesar to stay at home. Calpurnia's role is partially justified by Plutarch, who was Shakespeare's sole source of historical information, but the most of what transpires in Act II.1 comes entirely from Shakespeare's imagination.
The scene takes place in Brutus' garden. He has received letters from anonymous Romans asking him to awaken to the potential tyranny of Caesar. We the audience know that these are planted by Cassius to incite Brutus to join the conspiracy. As Brutus is reading the letters, Cassius, accompanied by other conspirators, comes to speak to Brutus. They persuade Brutus to join them in their assassination to Caesar, for the good of Roman. After the conspirators leave, Portia questions Brutus about his late nights and sleeplessness. She is upset that Brutus won't share his plans with her, and she even cuts herself to show how strong she is (strong enough to bear his burdens with him). We are left to assume that he relays to her the events of that evening.
This scene allows the audience to see Brutus' character. It also sets the stage for Brutus' tragic flaw and allows for a juxtaposition between Brutus and Portia's relationship with Caesar and Calpurnia's later on.