Julius Caesar
by
William Shakespeare
Summary
The play, ‘Julius Caesar' opens with a
scene of class struggle, the plebeians versus the tribunes. The plebeians are
celebrating Caesar's victory over the sons of Pompey, one of the former leaders
of Rome. The tribunes verbally attack the masses for their fickleness in
celebrating the defeat of a man, who was once their leader.
Caesar enters Rome with a crowd of his
supporters and citizens. It is the feast of Lupercalia, February 15, a day when
two men run through the street and strike those, they meet with goatskin
thongs. Caesar orders Mark Antony to strike his wife, Calpurnia, to cure her
infertility.
A fortune-teller warns Caesar against
the ides of March, March 15. Caesar ignores the man and dismisses him as a
dreamer. Seeing Cassius, Caesar informs Antony, that he will be surrounded by
men, who are happier, than the men like Cassius. He is worried of Cassius,
because he "thinks too much". Antony tells him not to worry about
Cassius.
Meanwhile, Brutus and Cassius meet and
talk about how much power Caesar has gained. During their conversation they are
interrupted, three times, by cheers from the crowd. Cassius informs Brutus,
that he is plotting against Caesar and wants Brutus to join him. Brutus tells
him, that he cannot do anything immediately. Casca soon joins them, and informs
them, that the cheers they had heard were Caesar turning down the crown.
According to Casca, Antony crowned Caesar three times, and three times he
refused it.
Casca meets with Cicero and tells the
orator, that many strange things are happening that night in Rome, such as a
lion in the streets and an owl screaming during the day. Cicero tells him that
men construe omens the way they see fit. Cassius eventually arrives and learns
from Casca, that the senators are planning to make Caesar, a king the next
morning. He starts telling Casca about the plot to kill Caesar, but Cinna shows
up and interrupts him. He hands over a few letters to Cinna to anonymously
plant at Brutus' house and invites Casca to dinner that night to convince her
to join the plot.
Brutus traces Cinna's letters, not
knowing who wrote them. He reads one of the letters and interprets it as a
request to stop Caesar from seizing power. Brutus attributes the letter to Rome
as a whole, saying, "O Rome, I make thee promise", implying that he
will carry out what he perceives as the will of the Roman people.
Brutus meets with Cassius and the other
conspirators and agrees to join their plot. He convinces them to kill only
Caesar, not his most loyal friend Antony, because he doesn't want them to
"seem too bloody". After the other men leave, Brutus is unable to
sleep. His wife Portia finds him awake and begs him to tell her what is
troubling him. At first, he refuses, but after she stabs herself in the thigh
to prove her strength and ability to keep a secret, he agrees to inform her.
Meanwhile, Caesar's wife Calpurnia
dreams of a statue of Caesar bleeding from a hundred wounds. Caesar, naturally
superstitious, orders the priests to kill an animal and read entrails to see,
if he should go to the Senate that day. The priest tells him, that the animal
did not have a heart, a very bad sign. However, Decius, one of the
conspirators, arrives and reinterprets Calpurnia's dream to mean that all of
Rome sucked the reviving blood of Caesar for its benefit. Caesar finally agrees
with him, that staying at home due to a dream is laughable. Other conspirators,
including Brutus and Cassius, arrive at his house to escort him to the Senate
House.
On the way to the Senate House, Caesar
is approached by the same soothsayer that previously warned him about the ides
of March. He again refuses to listen to the man and continues. A man named
Artemidorus then approaches him and tries to give him a letter revealing the
whole plot, but Decius cleverly tells Caesar that Trebonius has a suit, that he
would like Caesar to read. Caesar refuses to see what Artemidorus offers him,
on account of its being personal. He explains, "What touches us ourself
shall be last served".
The conspirators arrive at the Senate
House and Caesar assumes his seat. A man named Metellus kneels in front of him
and pleads to have his banished brother returned to Rome. Caesar refuses, but
is surprised when Brutus and then Cassius come forward and plead for the
brother as well. However, he refuses to change the sentence, even as all the
conspirators gather around him. On Casca's comment, "Speak hands for
me", the group attacks Caesar, stabbing him to death.
The conspirators, now led by Brutus and
Cassius, dip their hands in Caesar's blood and prepare to run on the streets,
crying out "peace, freedom, and liberty". Antony arrives and begs
them to let him take the corpse and give Caesar a public eulogy. Brutus agrees,
overcoming Cassius's misgivings about allowing Antony to speak. They set out on
the streets of Rome and Cassius and Brutus parted ways to talk to the
plebeians.
Brutus defends his murder of Caesar on
the grounds that he was removing a tyrant, who was destroying the freedom of
all Romans. He ends his speech by asking the crowd if they want him to commit
suicide for what he has done, to which they reply, "Live, Brutus, live,
live!". Next, Brutus allows Antony to speak and returns home.
Antony gives a speech and informs the
crowd that Caesar was a selfless man, who cared for Rome above everything. He
reads the Caesar's will and tells the citizens, that Caesar has given every
Roman a share of his inheritance, both in the land and the dachmas. The plebeians
now believe Caesar to have been great and good, seize his body and vow revenge
upon Brutus and the rest of the conspirators. Their riot develops into pure
anarchy. Antony comments that he has played his part in creating social
upheaval, and now must wait to see what happens.
Brutus and Cassius are forced to flee
the city, and meanwhile, the young general Octavius Caesar, loyal to Julius Caesar, arrives
and allies with Antony. He, Antony and Lepidus form a second triumvirate and
prepare to purge the city of anyone who is against them. They plan to scour the
city and make a list of the names of the people they want to kill, including
relatives and friends.
Cassius and Brutus set up camp in
Sardis, located in western Turkey. Cassius arrives at the campsite with his
army where Brutus is waiting for him, but is furious with Brutus for ignoring
the letters that told Brutus to release a prisoner. Brutus punishes the person
for taking a bribe, an act that provided a reason for Caesar's murder. Cassius
and Brutus argue until Cassius, in exasperation, takes out his dagger and tells
Brutus to kill him if he hates so. Of course, Brutus refuses. Two people hug
and forget their differences.
After this, Brutus sadly tells Cassius
that his wife Portia is dead. After Antony and Octavius took over, she swallowed live embers.
When two servants enter the tent, Brutus stops talking about Portia and focuses
on the military matters at hand. In fact, when a man asks him about his wife,
he refuses to listen to any news about her. Brutus convinces Cassius during the
strategy meeting that it would be best for them to march to where Antony and
Octavius are located in Philippi (near modern Greece) in order to defeat them
before they get too strong, gaining additional soldiers on their march. Cassius
reluctantly agrees to Brutus' plan and departs for the night.
Brutus calls some men to his tent, in
case he needs to send them as messengers during the night. He makes them sleep.
He keeps reading himself, but is troubled by the ghost of Julius Caesar who
appears. The ghost tells Brutus that he is his "evil spirit”, and that he
will be on the battlefield in Philippi. Brutus is so shaken by this image that
he wakes up all the men in his tent and sends them to Cassius with the order
that Cassius depart before him, the next morning.
On the battlefield in Philippi, Antony
and Octavius agree with their battle plans. They meet with Brutus and Cassius
before entering the battle, but only exchange insults. The fight is imminent.
All four men return to their armies to prepare for war.
In the midst of the fight, Brutus sees
a chance to destroy Octavius's army and rushes away to attack it. He leaves
Cassius behind. Cassius, less militarily adept, quickly loses to Antony's
forces. Worse still, Pindarus misleads him, telling him that Titinius has been
taken by the enemy near Cassius's tents. Hearing this news, Cassius orders
Pindarus to kill him. Pindarus runs away after completing the task. Brutus
arrives, finds his friend dead and remarks, "O Julius Caesar, thou art
mighty yet".
Cato is quickly killed, and Lucillius,
a man pretending to be Brutus, is soon captured and handed over to Antony.
Antony recognizes him and asks his soldiers to keep attacking, until Brutus is
captured. Brutus, now almost completely defeated, begs several of his soldiers
to kill him. They all refuse and leave him instead of carrying his blood on
their hands. In the end, Strato accepts Brutus' request. Brutus runs into his
sword as Strato holds it for him, killing himself.
Antony and Octavius arrive and find
Brutus dead on the ground. Antony remarks, "This was the noblest Roman of
them all". Octavius ends the play, saying, "So call the field to
rest, and let's away / To part the glories of this happy day"
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