For Your Consideration


Week One: March 1-7:
Act I:
Scene i:
"You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!
O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome."
  • 1. Do you understand the opening scene?
    Flavius and Marullus both view the common Roman citizens differently, and both are slow to grasp the cobbler's puns ( such as withal: "with awl"). Marullus considers the crowd ungrateful "this ingratitude," and Flavius thinks they can stop Caesar by taking down a few decorations and dispersing the crowd: "These growing feathers plucked from Caesar's wing
    Will make him fly an ordinary pitch..."
    a. This is our first glimpse of the Roman "Man in the Street," how does he fare against the Tribunes of the Republic?
    b. What dramatic purpose is served by this scene?
    c. How many puns or instances of figurative language are present in this short scene?
    d. Do you consider the Roman citizens to be "ungrateful?"
    e. What unwitting role do the Tribunes give to the common man? Is it carried out throughout the play? Is it a refutation of the fears of the Conspirators?

    Cicero     		Scene ii:
    "For who so firm that cannot be seduced?"
    "And this man
    Is now become a god, and Cassius is
    A wretched creature..."

    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 dishonorable graves."
  • 2. The perusasion of Brutus by Cassius has to be one of the most powerful scenes in all literature, but IS it the conquest of evil over idealism?
    a. Cassius says he will be Brutus's mirror:
    --what does he reveal about himself in the process?
    --What of Brutus is revealed in Cassius's "glass?"
    --What one part of Cassius's speech seems to appeal to Brutus the most?
    --Does Brutus seem to have a weakness? If so, what is it?
    --Was Cassius's speech enough in itself to bring Brutus over to the Conspirators?
    b. Are you convinced that Brutus is operating from a position of honor? Is anything he does dishonorable? What are his apparent considerations or deliberations? What's his biggest hang up? What should be his biggest hang up?
    c. What appears to motivate Cassius the most?
    d. What evidence does either Cassius or Brutus give of Caesar's fault or "ambition?"
    "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
    But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
  • 3. Cassius reveals in this statement his understanding of fate versus man's ability to fashion his own destiny, an idea repeated later in the play. Would Caesar's fate have been different if he had heeded any of the portents ("Beware the Ides of March") or his own misgivings about Cassius:

    "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous."
    "He reads much,
    He is a great observer, and he looks
    Quite through the deeds of men."
  • 4. Caesar seems to be able to see through Cassius pretty clearly. Why does he then seem to put aside his concerns, stating, "but always I am Caesar?"

    a. What does this statement show about Caesar's character?
    b. Why does Brutus, who seems to know Cassius better than Caesar does, not seem to be able to see through him as well? What does his lack of understanding Cassius's possible motive show about Brutus's character?
  • 5. What do you make of Caesar's thrice refusing the crown offered by Antony? Why do you think this event takes place offstage?


    •       Lucius Junius Brutus, our Brutus's famous ancestor: (right)


    Scene iii:
    " But men may construe things after their fashion,
    Clean from the purpose of the things themselves."
  • 6. Signs and portents:
    a.. What does Cassius's interpretation of the raging heavens and signs and portents in scene iii show about him? How is it different from Casca's?
    b. . What does the repetition of the word "monstrous" as in "monstrous state" and "monstrous quality" allude to?
    c. What evidence in Act I indicates that Caesar is superstitious?




    Pompey's Porch (Click to enlarge)
    With permission of Suzanne Cross

    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