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In this scene, it is set in a street in Rome. It shows Artemidorus reading a letter that he has written to prove that Brutus, Cassius and the other conspirators

In this scene, Caesar is meant to go to the Senate House. However, his wife, Calpurnia wants him to not go. This is because she had a dream  about Caesar being a fountain. In her dream, there are people drinking his blood as it is pouring from various holes in his body. She sees this as a bad omen and begs him to not go.

However, because of Caesar’s hubris, he says, ‘Caesar shall forth. The things that threaten’d me ne’er looked but on my back; when they shall see the face of Caesar they are vanished.’ This quotation shows Caesar saying he will go to the Senate House because nothing can harm him. He says that things that try to do harm to him have never seen his face and only conspired behind his back. When they see him, they will run. Decius Brutus, one of the conspirators, arrives to get Caesar to go to the Senate House. He persuades Caesar that if he doesn’t go then people will think of him as a coward and someone that will listen to his wife’s superstitions. He interprets Calpurnia’s dream as being a blessing towards Caesar. He says, ‘Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, In which so many smiling Romans bath’d, Singnifies that from you great Rome shall suck reviving blood,’. This shows that Decius has twisted and manipulated Calpurnia’s dream. He shows Caesar that the dream was misinterpreted. Finally, Caesar goes to the Senate House.

The theme that I have chosen is fiction because I read a lot of fiction books. I feel that fiction books give you a completely different life and like you’re in another world.

How has Shakespeare shown Antony’s reaction to Caesar’s murder?

Shakespeare has shown Antony’s reaction to Caesar’s murder by portraying Antony as someone that is clever and strong and loved Caesar, who was his leader or mentor. He uses a lot of figurative language to show Antony’s feelings and emotions. Antony meets with Caesar’s assassins to try and get them to trust him and to be on their side. He compliments and flatters them by shaking their hands. In this part of the play, Antony is hiding his true emotions.

In Antony’s soliloquy, it shows what his true motives are. For example, in the first line of his soliloquy, Antony says, ‘O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, that I am meek with these butchers!’. This quote is an example of personification. This very first line brings out what he feels towards the conspirators. Shakespeare also shows Antony’s feelings in the quote, ‘ Over thy wounds now do I prophesy – Which like dumb mouths do open their ruby lips to beg the voice and utterance of my tongue-‘. This quote shows the use of a simile where Antony is going to predict what will happen in Rome now that Caesar is dead.

In his soliloquy, Antony says, ‘A curse shall light upon the limbs of men: Domestic fury and fierce civil strife shall cumber all the parts of Italy;’. This quote shows a piece of figurative language, a metaphor. This quote is Antony’s prediction of Rome in the future. This is how Shakespeare has shown Antony’s reaction to Caesar’s murder.

Brutus is in his garden and he has now decided that he must kill Caesar. It says, “It must be by his death.” I think that the ‘it’ is the tyranny that Caesar could bring to Rome if he was made king. He thinks that if Caesar was king, it would not be good for the people below him or for the people that are his enemies.

Cassius has sent a letter through Brutus’ window. It says “Brutus, thou sleep’st. Awake, and see thyself!” The letter says that Brutus should be king because he is he descendant of Tarquinius Superbus, the last King of Rome. The letter was thrown so that Brutus could join their cause. He would make them look respectable. Not like a group of bandits or criminals.

Cassius comes to Brutus’ house and brings with him Decius, Casca, Cinna and Metellus Cimber. Brutus says, “Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.” This quote means that they wish to kill Caesar but not like animals killing their prey. Their way of doing it should be like they are killing Caesar for the people and not for their own reasons.

They decide to kill him “by the eighth hour.” Meanwhile, Portia has become suspicious of Brutus and what he is doing in the middle of the night with strange men. He doesn’t sleep in the same bed as her.

Caius Ligarius comes knocking on Brutus’ door. He wants to join the cause and is very enthusiastic about doing it. They’re planning on going to Caesar’ house now.

‘The torrent roar’d, and we did buffet it.’ This quote shows personification and I believe that it has been used here so you can imagine how rough the water and how stormy the day was when Cassius supposedly saved Caesar from drowning. ‘The torrent roar’d’ means that the water was choppy and that it was stormy, windy and probably raining.

‘Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus.’   ‘Throwing it aside and stemming it with hearts of controversy.’    ‘I plunged in and bade him follow.’   ‘A wretched creature and must bend his body, If Caesar carelessly but nod on him.’   ‘Alas, it cried ‘Give me some drink, Titinius,’ as a sick girl.’

The verbs in the quotes above are used by Cassius to get his point across. He uses this very enthusiastically and almost like he is full of excitement. The use of verbs gets his point across and to persuade Brutus that Caesar is the enemy and that he is his ally and friend. He tries to get him to be on his side. Verbs help him because they let him speak his mind and he can say what he wants full of enthusiasm. He presents his ideas by saying words that really describe what he is talking about. The pattern in his speech is that he is very descriptive about what he talks about. For example, when he was talking about saving Caesar from drowning he made it seem that he was a hero. He said, ‘I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor, Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber Did I the tired Caesar.’ His language is very imaginative and puts a picture in your mind of how he saved Caesar.

“Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves.”

“Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that ‘Caesar’? Why should that name be sounded more than yours? Write them together, yours is as fair a name; Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well; Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with ’em, ‘Brutus’ will start a spirit as soon as ‘Caesar’.”

“And this man is now become a god, and Cassius is a wretched creature and must bend his body, if Caesar carelessly but nod on him.”

“He had a fever when he was in Spain, And when the fit was on him, I did mark How he did shake: ’tis true, this god did shake; His coward lips did from their colour fly, And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world Did lose his lustre.”

“Alas, it cried ‘Give me some drink, Titinius,’ As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me A man of such a feeble temper should So get the start of the majestic world And bear the palm alone.”

“I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, As well as I do know your outward favour.”

In this quote, Cassius is manipulating Brutus by complimenting him and saying nice things about him. Really, he only thinks as Brutus as something he can take to his advantage and not as a friend at all.

“I was born free as Caesar; so were you: We both have fed as well, and we can both Endure the winter’s cold as well as he.”

In this quote, Cassius is comparing him and Brutus to Caesar and showing him that Caesar is no better than them. He says it almost like, “Why shouldn’t we be king?”.

There was a Brutus once that would have brook’d The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome As easily as a king.

Cassius is trying to get Brutus riled up by saying “There was a Brutus once that would have brook,d the eternal devil to keep his state in Rome as easily as a King”. Saying this is like saying that he used to be strong but is now weak. Then, Brutus will think that Caesar is a bad person and that him being King of Rome will mean bad things for those under him.

In Act 1 Scene 3, Cassius is trying to get people to join his cause. He has got Casca to join him in the plan to overthrow Caesar. However, to really make them respectable and to  get them an advantage over Caesar, they must get Brutus to join them because he is very close to Caesar. This would be good for them because he could know what Caesar is doing before he even does it. Caesar is very close to Brutus and sees him as someone he can trust.

Also, Cassius meets Casca and the weather is extremely bad. It is pouring with rain and there is thunder and lightning. This was seen as a bad omen and that the gods were angry. Because Cassius is very good at manipulating things and making it useful to him, he says that the bad weather is because the gods are unhappy that Caesar has been elected as leader or emperor of Rome. Casca calls him mad because Cassius says, “A very pleasing night to honest men.” He tries to say that he likes the weather. He also says, “A man no mightier than thyself, or me.” He says this but doesn’t say who he is talking about. He is talking about Caesar and how he is not better than Cassius. Everything he says has a hidden meaning. Casca says, ” ‘Tis Caesar that you mean, is it not, Cassius?”. Cicero also joins them and they discuss on the importance of getting Brutus to join them. Caesar is also coming to the Capitol tomorrow in the play.

Cassius talks about how he has got people to follow them and that they’re organisation or group is getting larger and larger. Comma is tasked with putting a piece of paper on the praetor’s chair which is Cassius’ chair. He places it there so he will definitely finish it. They decide to all go to Pompey’s Porch to meet and speak with each other about their mutual task. Cassius thinks that the next time they see Brutus, he will be 100% committed to the cause. They need him because if he isn’t with them and they kill Caesar then it will look like a criminal act. However, with Brutus in their side, it will look like it is a good thing, of virtue and worthiness. He would make them look much more respectable and not a group of hooligans or bandits. They want to try and wake him and make sure that he is on their side. This is what happens in Act 1 Scene 3.

In Scene 1, Murellus and Flavius hear the cheering on the streets and they try to stop the people from celebrating the arrival of Caesar because they don’t like him because Pompey’s two sons both were killed in the battle with Caesar. They question what he brings back or what he has done to have people cheer him.

In Scene 2, Cassius and Brutus talk about Caesar and what he could do. Cassius says that he saved Caesar’s life when they dived into the water. I think that he regrets saving him because Caesar hasn’t done anything to better Cassius. Cassius believes that he hasn’t been rewarded for what he’s done. He now resents Caesar.

Caesar arrives in Rome and people are celebrating his arrival. They are happy that he is here. During this, a soothsayer says to Caesar, ” Beware the Ides of March.” This quote means that he should be careful of the middle of March. However, Caesar says that he’s a “dreamer” and people shouldn’t listen to him. They completely disregard him.

At the end of this scene, Cassius is by himself and he says his soliloquy. He warns that Caesar should be careful. He says, ” And after this let Caesar seat him sure, For we will shake him, is worse days endure.” This says that he will let him be aware of his position and he will kill him or worse things are coming.