For Your Consideration


Week Two: March 8-14:
Act II, Scenes ii, iii, iv:
"This dream is all amiss interpreted" II, ii, 88

Julius Caesar
  • 1. 2.1 and 2.2 are parallel scenes. How many parallels do you see? What do we learn of the personal lives of Brutus and Caesar?

  • 2. Caesar tells Calpurnia "Cowards die many times before their deaths;/ The valiant never taste of death but once" (II,ii, 32-33). Do you agree with Caesar?

  • 3. How does Decius convince Caesar to come to the Capitol even though Caesar has determined not to appear in order to reassure his wife?

  • 4.Caesar refers to himself increasingly in these scenes in the third person. What does this indicate?

  • 5. Caesar says "What can be avoided
    Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?" (II, ii, 27).

    Does Caesar seem a believer in fate versus free will, a preordained path through life? How does this contrast with the other characters in the play? Does he take the eruptions of the skies as omens or messages?


    Brutus
  • 6. At the end of Act II scene iv we see the excitement as the Great Man prepares to go to the senate with his escorts. What does Brutus mean in the last two lines?
    "That every like is not the same, O Caesar,
    The heart of Brutus earns to think upon."
    What does this show about his character?

  • 7. WHY did Caesar go? What made him decide? Was it a combination of factors or one particular thing? If he had decided not to go, do you think anything would have changed?

  • 8. If it had not been for Cassius, would Brutus have ever come up with or executed this plan himself? (Jan)

  • 9. Both Brutus and Caesar exhibit evidence of certain inflexibility. Which man is the more inflexible? How does Shakespeare show this? Which man suffers most because of it?

  • 10. Who is the most responsible for Caesar's death?
  • Brutus.....Kylie and the Australian Cohorts, Meg
  • Cassius....
  • Decius.....Ginny
  • Caesar.....
  • Other......Marvelle

  • 11.   "and that great men shall press   For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance..." (II,ii, 93)

    What do these lines mean? Could they symbolize more than one thing? Why would Decius tell Caesar this interpretation?


    Alea Jacta Est....Caesar Crosses the Rubicon

    Questions ~ Act I Scene i

    Questions ~ Act I Scene ii

    Questions ~ Act II Scene i

    Questions ~ Act II Scenes ii, iii, iv

    Questions ~ Act III Scene i, ii, iii

    Questions ~ Act IV Scenes i, ii, iii

    Questions ~ Act V Scenes i, ii, iii, iv, v