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The third citizen here says that because he misinterprets Brutus’ intentions for killing Caesar. His faith is aroused after Brutus says the powerful words “I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.” He feels that it was good that the ambitious Caesar died and thus, his position could be taken by the more worthy Brutus. He felt that if Brutus had welfare of the nation in his mind, he didn’t mind Brutus being throned as the new ruler.

Marcus Brutus, was a good friend of Julius Caesar and had an inspiring personality. He was a political idealist and was highly patriotic. He was among the conspirators but was the only conspirator who was acting without any selfish purpose. He was more of a philosopher than a statesman. Unlike Mark Antony, he was not a good orator and so was unsuccessful in instigating the mob. He killed Caesar because he thought that it was for the betterment of his country thus he was a great patriot also who sacrificed his friendship for the sake of his country.

All the leading conspirators, Cimber, Cassius and Brutus put a petition before Caesar. They request him to revoke the order of Pubilus Cimber’s exile from Rome. Cimber’s ‘couchings’ and ‘low courtesies’ fail to influence Caesar. Even Cassius and Brutus fail to convince him. Caesar boasts of being fixed and constant like the Pole Star. He warns Cimber to stop these ‘low courtesies’, otherwise he will spurn him away like a dog.

Value Points :

Nightmare - Caesar’s statue spouting blood, Romans dipping hands in Caesar’s blood, a lioness giving birth to cubs on the street, conflict in the heavens, graves giving up the dead.

Detailed Answer :

Calpurnia had a nightmare. She saw Caesar’s statue in her dream. Blood was spouting out of it and Romans were dipping their hands in Caesar’s blood. Then she overheard a watchman say that a lioness had given birth to cubs on the street which was weird. There was a conflict in the heavens and graves seemed to have opened up, showing the dead buried inside. All of thus scared Calpurnia.

Decius Brutus is a part of the conspiracy. He has been deliberately sent to persuade Caesar to go to the Capitol. He employs flattery, conceit and temptation in persuading Caesar. First, he gives a flattering interpretation to Calpurnia’s dream. Secondly, he taunts that Caesar will become a stock of laughter if he yields to his wife’s foolish fears. Lastly, he tells Caesar that the Senate has decided to offer him the crown that day.

Calpurnia is a devoted wife but her bad dream and ill-omens fail to impress Caesar’s ego and arrogance. 

Decius proved to be more successful in persuading Caesar to go to the Senate House. He interpreted the dream in a positive way making Caesar realise that the dream was a good omen and he must go to the Senate House. Decius told him that the Senators had decided to crown him. He flattered Julius Caesar with his oratorical skills and ultimately won. According to him, Caesar’s blood as seen by Calpurnia in her dream was in fact the blood which would infuse Rome with a new life. Hence, Caesar should not listen to Calpurnia. This was the final blow.

The interpretation of dream by Decius as an auspicious dream changed Caesar’s mind and he went to the Senate House where he was brutally assassinated by Casca, Brutus, Cassius and others.

The Roman mob, like any other mob anywhere, is volatile, restive and fickle minded. At one time it can be with Brutus and at the other, Antony may direct it against the conspirators. The mob’s mentality is different from the individual. The mob belongs to him who can touch and move its heart. Cold logic and ideology don’t keep their interest for long. Their love and loyalty are always shifting. Once they worshipped Pompey, then they worshipped Caesar. Brutus with his logic is able to justify why they murdered Caesar. The mob seems to be convinced with Brutus. One of them demands that Brutus should be made ‘Caesar’. No one understands the mob’s mentality better than Antony. He knows that the people are swayed by basic passions and not through cold logic and arguments. He directly targets his audience. He can draw their sympathy for Caesar and direct their anger against the conspirators at will

Calpurnia believed in omens and portents. She has seen and heard about strange sights. This superstitious woman had a bad dream about her husband. She saw Caesar being murdered. She dreamt that Caesar’s statue was spouting forth blood in showers like a fountain with many spouts. Many happy and brave young citizens of Rome came flocking there with smiling faces and washed their hands joyfully in this flowing blood. She feared that the dream was an evil omen and a warning of coming danger to Caesar. She was terrified by unnatural and extraordinary things which she thought were portents danger to Caesar’s life.

Mark Antony was indeed a wonderful orator. His funeral speech is a masterpiece of eloquence and oratory. He straightaway targeted the audience. He aroused their passions by showing Caesar’s cloak and wounds on the dead body. His master stroke was his ironical use of the word ‘honourable’. His speech achieved both the purposes. It was able to create sympathy for the dead Caesar and it aroused the mob’s fury and anger against the conspirators. He aroused sympathy for Caesar by reading his will. Caesar opened all his parks and orchards for public use. Then Antony proved that Brutus and others were liars. Caesar was not ambitious. He refused the crown that was offered to him thrice. All these instances in the play prove that Antony was a matchless orator. His speech contained all the elements that made a perfect orator. His pungent remarks, irony and mockery made the desired effect on the masses.

Mark Antony is nearest to Caesar’s heart. He is a true friend and confidant of Caesar. It is Mark Antony who offers the crown to Caesar thrice on the Lupercal. He loves sports, music and revelry. He is genuinely grieved at Caesar’s death. Antony’s greatest traits are his manipulative and oratorial skills. He is shrewd enough to make peace with the conspirators. He was not in a position to challenge them. He grabs the opportunity that the idealist Brutus gifts away to him. Left alone with the Roman mob, he creates pity for Caesar after showing his wounds. He then creates sympathy for him. He is successful in proving that Caesar was not ambitious. 

Mark Antony can feel the pulse of the people. He knows that the mob is swayed not by the cold logic but by arousing their basic passions. He turns the table against the conspirators by directing the anger and hatred of the mob against them.

As per conspiracy Julius Caesar was taken to Senate House. Metellus Cimber threw himself before him and pleaded to repeal the banishment of his brother. Caesar prevented him from pleading. He told him that he would not do anything wrong. Cassius also requested for the same but Julius Caesar declared that he was constant as the North Star and would not repel Cimber’s brothers banishment at any cost. Then Casca stabbed Julius Caesar followed by the other conspirators and Brutus. When Brutus stabbed him he fell dead.

After giving a flattering interpretation of Calpurnia’s dream, Decius puts a psychological pressure on Caesar. He very cleverly taunts Caesar. Caesar will become a stock of laughter among the senators by yielding to the foolish fears of his wife. In the end, he comes out, with the biggest bait. He tells that the senate has concluded to give that day ‘a crown to mighty Caesar’. These arguments put forward by Decius Brutus convince Caesar to go to the Capitol.

Value Points :

• Antony - moved words after witnessing Caesar’s dead body

• He is reminded of Caesar’s noble qualities and the trust he reposed in their relationship. 

• As a tribute to Caesar’s nobility and their friendship, he seeks revenge by inciting the mob, recounting Caesar’s good qualities, reading his will and appealing to their emotions, provoked civil war/mutiny.

Detailed Answer :

Mark Antony is clever statesman and a good friend of Caesar. He is foresighted enough. It is upto him to turn the tide, which threatens to flow on the side of the conspirators. Antony proves to be strong in all the ways Brutus proves to be weak. His impulsive, improvisatory nature serving him perfectly to persuade the conspirators that he is on their side, thus gaining leniency. Throughout his speech, he keeps repeating, ‘Brutus is an honourable man.’ “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him,” whereas he does just the opposite. He is able to persuade the plebeians of the conspirators’ injustice and gains mass support. He contradicts the charges of Brutus that Caesar was ambitious by pointing out that Caesar had refused the crown thrice, had filled the coffers of Rome and wept for all Romans. Antony proves himself to be a consummate politician, using gestures and rhetoric to his advantage. He graphically displays all the stabs, Brutus and others have inflicted on Caesar’s body and uses Caesars’ body to exploit the plebeians emotionally. He deliberately thrusts the words’ mutiny’ and ‘riot’ at them and gets the desired results.

 As a tribute to Caesar’s nobility and their friendship he seeks revenge by inciting the mob, recounting caesar’s good qualities, reading his will and appealing to their emotions, proved the civil war. Antony never separates his private affairs from his public actions. So Antony’s eulogy at Caesar’s funeral is a master-stroke, and the mention of Caesar’s will that leaves money and his property to all Romans, acts as the final nail in the coffin of the conspirators. So Antony’s speech is a combination of wit, irony, sarcasm, pathos and satire.

Calpurnia dreamt seeing Caesar’s statue with an hundred spouts like a fountain. Through the spouts pure blood did run. Many young and vigorous Romans bathed their hands in Caesar’s blood. She thinks that such horrid sights are warnings and omens for evils imminent.

Decius, deliberately, gives a flattering interpretation to Calpurnia’s dream. He says that Caesar’s blood will fill Rome with a new life, vitality and strength. People will honour Caesar as a saviour and will preserve things belonging to him as holy relics, mementos or badges of honour.

17th July Wednesday,

10 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Today, I attended the funeral oration of Antony and realised that Julius Caesar was the greatest and the most powerful among Roman generals who could have led Rome to glory and prosperity. Julius Caesar was referred to as the foremost man in all the world. He had conquered and defeated powerful kings and brought wealth and prosperity to Rome. He compared himself to the North Star, had he been a little flexible, things would have been different today. His insensitivity and high-handedness had humiliated several members of the senate. He was a philanthropist who donated generously and believed in charity, he left his private parks and orchards for our recreation. But sometimes I feel that success had made him haughty and arrogant, his confidence had consumed his wisdom, he should have paid heed to the soothsayer. If he had stayed home due to the entreaties of his wife, may be he could have been safe. I am worried about Rome’s future now. What if a worse ruler comes in his place ? We must take charge of the situation before things go out of hand. Lets’ hope for the best.

Amit 

Decius Brutus was one of the conspirators and was sent to Caesar with a definite mission. Decius took it upon himself the responsibility of bringing Caesar to the Capitol. The other conspirators were in ambush there. Decius knew Caesar’s temperament and his weaknesses. First of all, he gave a flattering interpretation of Calpurnia’s dream. He told that her dream was fair and auspicious. Caesar’s blood would give a new life, vigour and vitality to Rome. The Romans would worship Caesar as a hero, martyr and saint. He called it fair and auspicious. Then, he touched the inflated ego of Caesar. He asked Caesar not to become a stock of laughter for other senators by yielding to his wife’s unfounded fears. In the end he threw a bait. He gave the news that the Senate was going to offer him the crown that day. If he didn’t go, they might change their decision. Decius’s strategy clicked. Caesar chided himself for yielding to Calpurnia’s foolish fears. He was ready to go to the Capitol.

(a) ambition.

Decius Brutus is more successful than Calpurnia in persuading Caesar. He has good oratorical skills, gives a flattering interpretation to Calpurnia’s dream. He also tells Caesar that the senators have planned to offer him the crown. If he does not go to the Senate, they might change their minds.

Calpurnia tries to convince Caesar that heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. The most horrid sights seen by the watchman and her bad dreams are things ‘beyond all use’. These most unnatural happenings frighten her. These bad omens signal the happening of some inauspicious and tragic events. Therefore, Calpurnia tries to convince Caesar not to venture out of home and go to the senate-house.

Calpurnia sees a fearful dream of Caesar. She saw Caesar’s statue was running pure blood from ‘an hundred spouts’ like a fountain. ‘Lusty’ Romans came smiling. They bathed their hands in Caesar’s blood. She considers that such warnings and omens signal the advent of death and disaster. She fears that some great calamity is going to befall Caesar. Therefore, she begs on her knees that he should not go to the Capitol that day.

Value Points :

• loyal friend

• shocked and grieved at the murder

• proves charges against Caesar as baseless

• incites / enrages / instigates the mob to revolt against the conspirators violence and war follows / mutiny

• avenges Caesar’s death

Detailed Answer :

Loyalty and friendship are two sides of the same coin where one can’t do without the other. Mark Antony is a good example of a loyal friend who avenges the hurt caused to his friend, Julius Caesar through his address to the mob. He convinced everyone listening to him that a wrong had been done to Caesar by assassinating him and he had been unjustly killed. He praised Caesar for all the noble deeds he had done. He highlights the noble deeds of Caesar. He tells them that Caesar had brought captives to Rome after the war and had filled the treasury. He instigates the mob by showing the blood-stained corpse of Caesar, leading out his will where in he had given seventy five drachmas to each Roman and had left his walks, orchards etc. for the Romans. He praises Caesar by telling him he had been offered the crown thrice but he refused it. On hearing his provocative speech, the mob takes torches and leaves the place to burn the houses of conspirators. Thus, Antony proves his loyalty to Julius Caesar by bringing the conspirators to justice.

Value Points :

Decius Brutus interpreted Calpurnia’s dream as fair and fortunate - if Caesar did not go to the Senate, their minds might change on crowning him king that day - kindled Caesar’s ambitions.

Detailed Answer :

Decius Brutus is more successful than Calpurnia in persuading Caesar. He has good oratorical skills, gives a flattering interpretation to Calpurnia’s dream. He reinterprets the dream as fair and fortunate. He also tells Caesar that the Senators have planned to offer him the crown. If he does not go to the Senate, they might change their minds on crowing him king that day.

Value Points :

Vision misinterpreted-vision actually fair and fortunate, a good sign; Caesar, a source of inspiration for all the Romans; citizens will keep his hair and their handkerchiefs dipped in his blood as relics for their children and grandchildren; people would inherit Caesar’s nobility and greatness.

Detailed Answer :

Brutus interprets Calpurnia’s dream as fair and fortunate. According to him, it was a vision misinterpreted. It, in fact, was a good sign which indicated that Caesar was a source of inspiration for all the Romans. Those who were washing their hands in the blood spouting from Caesar were deriving inspiration from him. Citizens would keep his hair and their handkerchiefs which they dipped in his blood as relics for their children and grandchildren.

Calpurnia saw a horrible dream in which she saw Caesar’s statue with a hundred spouts or openings—gushing out blood like fountain. The Romans were bathing their hands in Caesar’s blood. She tried to prevent Caesar from going to the Capitol but didn’t succeed, Decius Brutus deliberately gave a flattering interpretation of the dream and said the dream was auspicious according to him. Caesar’s blood would give new life, vigour and vitality to Rome. Romans would worship Caesar, Caesar’s ego and ambition were touched on hearing the interpretation of Brutus.

Decius told Caesar—Senate would present him the crown that day. This was the last blow and Caesar decided to go to the Senate making Calpurnia unsuccessful in her attempt to stop him from going there.

Value Points :

saw visions and heard of unnatural happenings around the city which portended something bad could happen to Caesar bad omens - feared for his life.

Detailed Answer : Calpurnia believed in omens and portents. She had seen and heard about strange sights. This superstitious woman had a bad dream about her husband. She saw Caesar being murdered. She dreamt that Caesar’s statue was spouting forth blood in showers like a fountain with many spouts. Many happy and brave young citizens of Rome came flocking there with smiling faces and washed their hands joyfully in this flowing blood. She feared that the dream was an evil omen and a warning of coming danger to Caesar. She was terrified by the unnatural and extraordinary things which she thought as portents of danger to Caesar’s life.

Calpurnia believed in omens and portents. She has seen and heard about strange sights. This superstitious woman had a bad dream about her husband. She saw Caesar being murdered. She dreamt that Caesar’s statue was spouting forth blood in showers like a fountain with many spouts. Many happy and brave young citizens of Rome came flocking there with smiling faces and washed their hands joyfully in this flowing blood. She feared that the dream was an evil omen and a warning of coming danger to Caesar. She was terrified by unnatural and extraordinary things which she thought were portents danger to Caesar’s life.

(a) Calpurnia is Caesar’s wife.

(b) The disturbance in the sky indicates some mishappening.

(c) Yes indeed, Caesar was murdered.

(d) Because she had seen a terrible dream.

(a) Caesar was consoling Calpurnia because she had seen a nightmare and she was very much worried about the wellbeing of her husband.

(b) Brave, courageous and heroic.

(c) Those who fear death may die many times in a day but those who are brave die only when their actual death comes. 

(d) Valiant 

(a) Calpurnia.

(b) He should not go to the Senate.

(c) Whelping of the lioness, opening of graves and walking of the dead.

(d) Given birth

(a) Brutus had consented to Antony’s request to allow him to produce Caesar’s body at the market place and speak at his funeral as was expected of a friend.

(b) Cassius warned Brutus saying that they could never know how much the people would be affected by what Antony spoke. 

(c) Brutus said that he would first go to the pulpit to explain the reason for Caesar’s murder and would also announce that Antony was speaking with his permission. 

(d) Agree

(a) Calpurnia was afraid because she had seen a nightmare that had many ill omens for Caesar.

(b) Caesar decided to go to the Senate House at the Capitol.

(c) The world yield means to give in/agree with/ succumb to/accede to.

(d) Decins Brutus

(a) Imminent.

(b) Caesar speaks these lines.

(c) Decius Brutus.

(d) The speaker should stay at home because his wife Calpurnia has had a horrible dream threatening danger to his life.

(a) Cowards are always obsessed with death. They die many times before their deaths. 

(b) The brave taste of death only once in life. 

(c) cowards

(a) Caesar will not stay at home. He will not pay any heed to Calpurnia’s warning or advice. 

(b) Danger knows fully well that Caesar is more dangerous and terrible than him. 

(c) forth

(a) Caesar is planning to go to the Senate house at the Capitol.

(b) The things refers to unpleasant and unnatural happenings/Calpurnia’s dream. 

(c) The word vanished means disappear/go away/stop threatening/cease to threaten.

(d) Arrogance /overconfidence.