Julius Caesar
Questions on Julius Caesar
NOTE: I would like you to print these out and answer as many questions as you can. These will be the starting point for our discussion. You will not be asked to turn them in. I won’t grade them. However, I may check to see if you bothered to print them and bring them to class. This sheet should be useful for taking notes during the discussion. You should leave as much space as you think you’ll need for answers before you print.
*1. Leithart says the following is the overall structure of the play:
Acts 1-2: Formation of the Conspiracy
Act 3: Death and funeral of Caesar
Acts 4-5: Civil War culminating in the Battle of Philippi
2. Do you think Caesar was superstitious? (1.2.1-24)
3. Did envy play a part in the conspiracy?
(1.2.90-161)
4. Why did Cassius want Brutus to be part of the conspiracy? (1.3.157-164)
5. Of the two main conspirators, Cassius and Brutus, who do you think was the more noble?
6. What is Antony’s relationship to Caesar? (1.2.9-10; 1.2.190-214)
*7. Leithart thinks that Brutus referring to Caesar as an adder (2.1.14) and a serpent’s egg (2.1.32) has reference to the serpent in Gen. 3 in the Garden of Eden. Brutus thinks he’s being the faithful Adam and crushing the serpent instead of following him. He thinks of himself as the new Adam who brings peace and prosperity but instead he is the old Adam who thrusts the world into chaos. Cassius is the serpent that tempts Brutus. Up to this point Caesar has been miscalculating. Now Brutus becomes like him in his own miscalculations.
8. Once Brutus joins the conspiracy he becomes the leader. Was he a good or bad leader?
*9. Leithart points out the following interesting structure in 2.1-2:
A. Gathering of conspirators at house of Brutus
B. Brutus and Portia
B.’ Caesar and Calpurnia
A.’ Gathering of conspirators at house of Caesar
*10. What is significant about the discussion of where the sun will rise in 2.1.101-108?
The conspirators think they are going to bring in a new day for Rome when they can’t even agree on where geographical east is. “Casca’s pointing to the sun with his sword is ‘the political message of the play condensed into a metaphor,’ since the conspirators believe they can bring a new day for Rome by the edge of the sword.” (Leithart, p. 192)
11. How do the conspirators get close enough to Caesar to assassinate him?
12. What is the last thing Caesar says before he is killed?
13. Why did the conspirators wash their hands and weapons in Caesar’s blood?
14.Describe the funeral of Caesar.
15. What is the significance of 3.3?
16. What is the significance of the quarrel between Cassius and Brutus in 4.3.
17. How did Caesar’s ghost identify himself when he came to Brutus at Sardis (4.3.284)?
*18. Leithart thinks Octavius has also become like Caesar. Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus were all cruel and callous in picking who to kill (4.1) Then Octavius and Antony discussedOctavius though young was domineering and called all the shots, ignoring Antony if necessary. For instance at the battle of Philippi Antony told Octavius to go to the left and he went to the right (5.1.16-20)
*19. Leithart ends his discussion of Julius Caesar with the following. “The most penetrating answer to the religion of revolution is the insistence that there is only one sacrificial Victim whose blood revives and whose unleashed Spirit brings not strife but peace. Only those who trust this sacrifice can have confidence that, whatever their mistakes and errors, they will not, in the end, misconstrue everything.”
20. What miscalculations were made by characters in this play? Caesar miscalculated that it was safe to go to the Senate on the Ides of March. Others discussed above.
21. What famous quotations come from this play?
22. Is there anything about this play that youwould like to discuss?
23. What is significant about the Ides of March?
NOTE: I would like you to print these out and answer as many questions as you can. These will be the starting point for our discussion. You will not be asked to turn them in. I won’t grade them. However, I may check to see if you bothered to print them and bring them to class. This sheet should be useful for taking notes during the discussion. You should leave as much space as you think you’ll need for answers before you print.
*1. Leithart says the following is the overall structure of the play:
Acts 1-2: Formation of the Conspiracy
Act 3: Death and funeral of Caesar
Acts 4-5: Civil War culminating in the Battle of Philippi
2. Do you think Caesar was superstitious? (1.2.1-24)
3. Did envy play a part in the conspiracy?
(1.2.90-161)
4. Why did Cassius want Brutus to be part of the conspiracy? (1.3.157-164)
5. Of the two main conspirators, Cassius and Brutus, who do you think was the more noble?
6. What is Antony’s relationship to Caesar? (1.2.9-10; 1.2.190-214)
*7. Leithart thinks that Brutus referring to Caesar as an adder (2.1.14) and a serpent’s egg (2.1.32) has reference to the serpent in Gen. 3 in the Garden of Eden. Brutus thinks he’s being the faithful Adam and crushing the serpent instead of following him. He thinks of himself as the new Adam who brings peace and prosperity but instead he is the old Adam who thrusts the world into chaos. Cassius is the serpent that tempts Brutus. Up to this point Caesar has been miscalculating. Now Brutus becomes like him in his own miscalculations.
8. Once Brutus joins the conspiracy he becomes the leader. Was he a good or bad leader?
*9. Leithart points out the following interesting structure in 2.1-2:
A. Gathering of conspirators at house of Brutus
B. Brutus and Portia
B.’ Caesar and Calpurnia
A.’ Gathering of conspirators at house of Caesar
*10. What is significant about the discussion of where the sun will rise in 2.1.101-108?
The conspirators think they are going to bring in a new day for Rome when they can’t even agree on where geographical east is. “Casca’s pointing to the sun with his sword is ‘the political message of the play condensed into a metaphor,’ since the conspirators believe they can bring a new day for Rome by the edge of the sword.” (Leithart, p. 192)
11. How do the conspirators get close enough to Caesar to assassinate him?
12. What is the last thing Caesar says before he is killed?
13. Why did the conspirators wash their hands and weapons in Caesar’s blood?
14.Describe the funeral of Caesar.
15. What is the significance of 3.3?
16. What is the significance of the quarrel between Cassius and Brutus in 4.3.
17. How did Caesar’s ghost identify himself when he came to Brutus at Sardis (4.3.284)?
*18. Leithart thinks Octavius has also become like Caesar. Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus were all cruel and callous in picking who to kill (4.1) Then Octavius and Antony discussedOctavius though young was domineering and called all the shots, ignoring Antony if necessary. For instance at the battle of Philippi Antony told Octavius to go to the left and he went to the right (5.1.16-20)
*19. Leithart ends his discussion of Julius Caesar with the following. “The most penetrating answer to the religion of revolution is the insistence that there is only one sacrificial Victim whose blood revives and whose unleashed Spirit brings not strife but peace. Only those who trust this sacrifice can have confidence that, whatever their mistakes and errors, they will not, in the end, misconstrue everything.”
20. What miscalculations were made by characters in this play? Caesar miscalculated that it was safe to go to the Senate on the Ides of March. Others discussed above.
21. What famous quotations come from this play?
22. Is there anything about this play that youwould like to discuss?
23. What is significant about the Ides of March?
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