Month: November 2016

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.