Julius Caesar Notes PDF

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Notes provide information and analysis on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with professor Ameer Sohrawardy....

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Julius Caesar Notes Cassius falsifies letters acting as a crowd (because they are fickle) in order to persuade Brutus Caesar blew off the soothsayer when told to beware the Ides of March Caesar initially believed Calpurnia about her dream until Decius convinced him not to believe her Just because something is factually verified, doesn’t mean it tells us the truth of the entire thing They want the assassination to be public because they feel it is best for Rome Antony notices that all conspirators have different intentions for killing Caesar Cassius warns Brutus to not let Antony speaks because he has a way with words Brutus has the power of the crowd ○ Mentioned that men wouldn’t be free if Caesar ruled ○ Mentioned he loved Caesar ○ Appeal is based on his honorability and relies that his actions was better for Romans and Rome in general Antony begins his funeral speech similarly to Brutus ○ Called them countrymen and friends instead of lovers because he knows they already love Rome ○ Constantly points out that Brutus is an honorable man ■ However, mentions before that Caesar was not ambitious and declined the crown thrice ○ Keeps giving evidence as to how Caesar was not ambitious ○ Mentioning that Brutus is an honorable man is making the crowd question if Brutus is truly honorable ○ Every time their minds go to “Caesar wasn’t ambitious,” Antony links it with “Brutus was an honorable man” ■ Weakens the word “honorable” in order to make it seem like Brutus isn’t honorable, that “honorable” won’t mean what it once did ○ Uses rhetorical strategies ○ Uses himself as an object to be looked at so everyone sees how he’s feeling ○ Antony shows the will and says he won’t read the will because they will get mad, in order to prepare them to get mad

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○ Tells everyone to circle Caesar so that eyes are on Caesar, not Antony while listening to Caesar’s will (words) ○ His speech worked because he appealed to emotion and let the commoners think for themselves (they feel empowered to act), gave his speech AFTER Brutus (which helps because Brutus cannot speak and try to change Antony’s word), and engages them by diverting the attention to Caesar and uses their imagination (makes them imagine the stab wounds are mouths saying this was done honorably) Commoners kill Cinna the Poet simply because his name is Cinna (which was the name of a conspirator) There are rumors that Cassius killed Caesar for money and took bribes to do so Antony is an ambitious man when talking about Lepidus and talking to Octavius (4.2) What happens to Cassius happens to Brutus Brutus and Cassius died the same way (stabbed themselves in the chest, making it the same deed, making their death the same way they have killed) ○ Brutus runs into his own sword ■ Knew his death was for him (willing to meet death) ○ Cassius had someone run into him with a sword ■ Had someone else do it because he couldn’t do it himself (willing to receive it) Reading the outset of the play may determine what Shakespeare will write about, and a possible theme Common man favors Caesar Leaders have some discontent towards Caesar Leaders consider commoners as hypocrites You can tell personalities by the way they speak of others Cassius’s discontent arises from the fact that Caesar isn’t any better ○ Cassius mentions this by using Caesar’s lowest points in his life to prove he isn’t better Cassius is envious of Caesar (personal nature) Brutus’s discontent arises from the fact that he is not too keen to see Caesar as king due to his love for Rome, thinking he wouldn’t be fit to rule it (political, general nature), looks for the greater good Brutus loves Caesar, just doesn’t find him fit for emperor Brutus wants to do the honorable thing We learn in Julius Caesar that the relationship between the commoners and their leaders is extremely diverse in terms of class. One can see that the

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leaders are speaking in verse, and speaking to the commoners in a condescending manner, calling them names such as “idle creatures,” “saucy fellow,” and “naughty knave,” meant to insult the commoners of the way they are speaking to them. This illustrates that the leaders behave with a condescending manner towards the commoners using insults, likely to establish their class. The commoners, however, act sarcastic using jokes to irritate the leaders. This can help illustrate the diversity in class (as commoners would tend to be prose-like, flexible, and less professional, whereas leaders may feel they need to establish their dominance). One may argue that the relationship between the leaders and the commoners may have had some history due to the immediate reaction of the leaders towards the commoners. While the leaders may be establishing their dominance, they may have had to deal with the commoners before. Brutus starts to believe that now that Caesar rose to power, he will become a tyrant and destroy Rome. Brutus claims to have loved Caesar, but to have loved Rome more, and therefore assassinated him for the sake of Rome. Cassius is Brutus’s motivation throughout the play. Cassius tends to uplift Brutus and putting him above Caesar. Cassius’s discontent with Caesar may have rooted from Brutus’s initial discontent and therefore motivates Brutus even more by feeding his ego (claiming that Caesar isn’t a god, Caesar is no better than Brutus, etc.). Using this flattery, Brutus therefore has more motivation to assassinate Caesar. The relationship between Cassius and Brutus is strained. Cassius wants to control Brutus due to how easy he can be manipulated, and therefore uses flattery to steer Brutus into another direction. Cassius is the one who motivates Brutus to join the conspiracy despite Brutus possible feeling guilty for it (not being able to sleep at night) and therefore Brutus’s thoughts, actions, and emotions aren’t directly from him, but rather Cassius’s manipulation. The relationship is unfair and toxic. Prophecy is important in Julius Caesar because it determines that the main characters (Brutus, Caesar, Cassius, etc.) will end with a terrible fate. The soothsayer tells Caesar to “beware the ides of March,” telling Caesar to watch out for the 15th of March (Caesar’s assassination). Prophecy also predicted Brutus and the rest of the conspirators to fall, due to fear of being captured. It can be argued that Julius Caesar is a “man’s world” due to males being the leaders. However, Portia and Calpurnia, wives of Brutus and Caesar, are important to loving their husbands and caring for them. It is hard to say whether order was “restored.” Although the conspirators committed suicide to avoid capture after losing the war, one may say order

was restored because the conspirators passed after committing a crime. One may view this as the conspirators receiving their punishment....