1. Asyndeton: Friensda, Romans, Countrymen
2. Polysyndeton: Romans, Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my
cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me
for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that
you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and
awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my
cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me
for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that
you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and
awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
3. Anadiplosis: And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,
4. Antimetobote: Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
5. Isocolon: There is tears for his love; joy for his
fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his
ambition.
Julius Caesar Study Questions
p. 222, #15; p. 225, # 9; p. 229, #6; p. 238 #4 a-d, g,
15. On his arrival at the Senate, Caesar has 30 lines (Act III Scene 1, lines 35-48; 58-73) to speak before Casca strikes his first blow. Find examples in those lines of:
a. his pomposity
Might fire the blood of ordinary men, And turn pre-ordinance and first decree
Into the law of children
b. his vanity
That will be thaw'd from the true quality
With that which melteth fools
c. his arrogance
Hence! wilt thou lift up Olympus?
d. his affection
If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him,
I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.
e. his pride
Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause
Will he be satisfied
9. In his address to the mob in the forum (Act III Scene 2, lines 12-44), Brutus speaks in prose, not blank verse. His words have been described as �a lecture�.
a. Show from the speech that Brutus knows he enjoys the respect of Roman citizens.
Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my
cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me
for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that
you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and
awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
Brutus knows that if he goes up and give a speech it will make him look better in front of all the Roman People
b. Show that he believes the crowd is capable of making rational and just decisions.
Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living anddie all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; in this quote he is showing that the crowd can make rational decisions because he sakes the crowed if they want to be living and die all slaves with Caesar living
or rather him be dead and live a free man.
He asks the people if they would rather be slaves or not to try and get them onto his side.
c. Show that his speech is based on an appeal to reason and logic.
Had you rather Caesar were living and
die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live
all free men?
Brutus does not care about emotion at all. He just uses what could have happened if Caesar were still alive to persuade the people on to his side.
d. Show that he is proud of his patriotism and his republicanism.
As Caesar loved me, I weep for him;
as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I
slew him.
This shows that he is not patriotic just toward Caesar but to Rome as a whole.
e. Show that he wishes to act magnanimously. Comment on the wisdom of his approach and assumptions. Do you think it is reasonable to describe him as politically na�ve?
If any, speak; for him have I offended.
Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If
any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so
vile that will not love his country? If any, speak;
for him have I offended. I pause for a reply
-Yes, I think he is na�ve because he knows that Antony is going to speak next and that he is going to inform the citizens what really went down when Brutus, Casca, Cassius, and all the others killed Caesar.
6. In Act II Scene I, in which Cassius wins over Brutus to the conspiracy, show evidence of
a. his tact
Yes, every man of them, and no man here
But honours you; and every one doth wish
You had but that opinion of yourself
Which every noble Roman bears of you
b. his ability to strike the right note when making his approach.
But it is doubtful yet,
Whether Caesar will come forth to-day, or no;
For he is superstitious grown of late,
Quite from the main opinion he held once
Of fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies:
It may be, these apparent prodigies,
The unaccustom'd terror of this night,
And the persuasion of his augurers,
May hold him from the Capitol to-day
c. His willingness to take a second place when it suits him.
The morning comes upon 's: we'll leave you, Brutus.
And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember
What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans
4. Antony shows a masterly control over the fickle nature of the common people.
a. Before Antony ascends to the Public Chair to make his oration, which remark typifies the commoners� dull-wittedness?
That he is their to just bury Caesar and not to praise Caesar
b. Whereas Brutus�s speech appealed to the intellect, Antony�s is emotional. He ends his opening remarks by choking back tears. How do the people react?
They believe him because he is so emotional about it.
c. Marullus says of the commoners, �You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things� (Act I Scene I, line 36). Antony says, �You are not wood, you are not stones, but men� (Act III Scene I, line 140). Explain why Antony�s oratorical approach shows a greater understanding of crowd psychology.
It shows that he knows how the commoners think and will tell them what they want to hear
d. Why does Antony mention the will to the crowd , but decline at first to read it?
So that they would switch sides and join Antony�s side if they knew they were on the will.
g. The commoners forget the will till Antony reminds them of it (line 236). What does this tell us of their powers of concentration?
This shows us that these people can not concentrate on one thing and are very forgetful and have very simple and weak minds.