Julius Caesar: Four Character Studies
Assignment
Resources
I: Cassius: "Masters Of Their Fates" SpeechBackground
Group 1
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 dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
Group 2
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that 'Caesar'?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Group 3
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with 'em,
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar.
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed,
That he is grown so great?
Group 4
Age, thou art shamed!
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods!
When went there by an age, since the great flood,
But it was famed with more than with one man?
Group 5
When could they say till now, that talk'd of Rome,
That her wide walls encompass'd but one man?
Now is it Rome indeed and room enough,
When there is in it but one only man.
Group 6
O, you and I have heard our fathers say,
There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome
As easily as a king.
Discussion Questions: Detail + Citation + Commentary
1. What can you tell about either Cassius’ beliefs about himself, or his beliefs about government, from this passage?
2. Explain Cassius’ motives behind the choices he makes; why is he acting this way?
3. Explain the role of persuasion in Cassius’ development throughout the play; in other words, how does Cassius persuade others, especially Brutus, to join him in killing Caesar?
II: Caesar: "Would He Were Fatter" SpeechBackground
Group 1
Would he were fatter!
But I fear him not:
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius.
Group 2
He reads much;
He is a great observer
and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men:
Group 3
he loves no plays
As thou dost, Antony;
he hears no music;
Seldom he smiles,
Group 4
and smiles in such a sort
As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit
That could be moved to smile at any thing.
Group 5
Such men as he be never at heart's ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous.
Group 6
I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd
Than what I fear; for always I am Caesar.
Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf,
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him.
Discussion Questions: Detail + Citation + Commentary
1. What can you tell about either Caesar’s beliefs about himself, or his beliefs about government, from this passage?
2. Explain Caesar’s motives behind the choices he makes; why is he acting this way?
3. Explain the role of persuasion in Caesar’s development throughout the play; what kind of arguments does he make?
III: Brutus: "Our Course Will Seem Too Bloody" Speech
Background
Group 1
Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards;
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar:
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
Group 2
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit, And not dismember Caesar!
Group 3
But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it!
And, gentle friends, Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Group 4
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide 'em.
Group 5
This shall make
Our purpose necessary and not envious:
Which so appearing to the common eyes, We shall be called purgers, not murderers.
Group 6
And for Mark Antony, think not of him;
For he can do no more than Caesar's arm
When Caesar's head is off.
Discussion Questions: Detail + Citation + Commentary
1. What can you tell about either Brutus' beliefs about himself, or his beliefs about government, from this passage?
2. Explain Brutus' motives behind the choices he makes; why is he acting this way?
3. Explain the role of persuasion in Brutus' development throughout the play; what kind of arguments does he make?
IV: Antony: "Lend Me Your Ears" SpeechBackground
1st period
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.
2nd period
The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest—
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men—
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
4th period
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
5th period
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
6th period
Which he did thrice refuse:
was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
7th period
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.
Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
Discussion Questions: Detail + Citation + Commentary:
1. What can you tell about either Antony’s beliefs about himself, or his beliefs about government, from this passage?
2. Explain Antony’s motives behind the choices he makes; why is he acting this way?
3. Explain the role of persuasion in Antony’s speech; what literary or rhetorical techniques does he use?
Resources
I: Cassius: "Masters Of Their Fates" SpeechBackground
Group 1
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 dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
Group 2
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that 'Caesar'?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Group 3
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with 'em,
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar.
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed,
That he is grown so great?
Group 4
Age, thou art shamed!
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods!
When went there by an age, since the great flood,
But it was famed with more than with one man?
Group 5
When could they say till now, that talk'd of Rome,
That her wide walls encompass'd but one man?
Now is it Rome indeed and room enough,
When there is in it but one only man.
Group 6
O, you and I have heard our fathers say,
There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome
As easily as a king.
Discussion Questions: Detail + Citation + Commentary
1. What can you tell about either Cassius’ beliefs about himself, or his beliefs about government, from this passage?
2. Explain Cassius’ motives behind the choices he makes; why is he acting this way?
3. Explain the role of persuasion in Cassius’ development throughout the play; in other words, how does Cassius persuade others, especially Brutus, to join him in killing Caesar?
II: Caesar: "Would He Were Fatter" SpeechBackground
Group 1
Would he were fatter!
But I fear him not:
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius.
Group 2
He reads much;
He is a great observer
and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men:
Group 3
he loves no plays
As thou dost, Antony;
he hears no music;
Seldom he smiles,
Group 4
and smiles in such a sort
As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit
That could be moved to smile at any thing.
Group 5
Such men as he be never at heart's ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous.
Group 6
I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd
Than what I fear; for always I am Caesar.
Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf,
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him.
Discussion Questions: Detail + Citation + Commentary
1. What can you tell about either Caesar’s beliefs about himself, or his beliefs about government, from this passage?
2. Explain Caesar’s motives behind the choices he makes; why is he acting this way?
3. Explain the role of persuasion in Caesar’s development throughout the play; what kind of arguments does he make?
III: Brutus: "Our Course Will Seem Too Bloody" Speech
Background
Group 1
Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards;
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar:
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
Group 2
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit, And not dismember Caesar!
Group 3
But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it!
And, gentle friends, Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Group 4
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide 'em.
Group 5
This shall make
Our purpose necessary and not envious:
Which so appearing to the common eyes, We shall be called purgers, not murderers.
Group 6
And for Mark Antony, think not of him;
For he can do no more than Caesar's arm
When Caesar's head is off.
Discussion Questions: Detail + Citation + Commentary
1. What can you tell about either Brutus' beliefs about himself, or his beliefs about government, from this passage?
2. Explain Brutus' motives behind the choices he makes; why is he acting this way?
3. Explain the role of persuasion in Brutus' development throughout the play; what kind of arguments does he make?
IV: Antony: "Lend Me Your Ears" SpeechBackground
1st period
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.
2nd period
The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest—
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men—
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
4th period
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
5th period
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
6th period
Which he did thrice refuse:
was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
7th period
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.
Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
Discussion Questions: Detail + Citation + Commentary:
1. What can you tell about either Antony’s beliefs about himself, or his beliefs about government, from this passage?
2. Explain Antony’s motives behind the choices he makes; why is he acting this way?
3. Explain the role of persuasion in Antony’s speech; what literary or rhetorical techniques does he use?