Julius Caesar
Name ________________________
Act V
Date _________________________
Discussion Questions
Period __________
5.1
1.
Reread the following lines taken from 5.1.44-48.
You showed your teeth like apes and fawned like
hounds
And bowed like bondmen, kissing Caesar’s feet,
Whilst damnèd Casca, like a cur, behind
Struck Caesar on the neck.
Identify each of the similes used in these lines. Then, explain what is being compared in
each simile and what each simile means.
Finally, explain why Antony uses these similes.
2.
Synecdoche is a literary tool in which a part is used to represent the whole (i.e., fifty sails
= fifty ships) or the whole is used to represent the part (i.e., society = high society).
Reread the following lines taken from 5.1.50-51: “This tongue had not offended so today
/ If Cassius might have ruled.”
Identify the synecdoche being used. What is being used to represent what? Why?
3.
What does Cassius reveal about himself in lines 5.1-78-96? How does he do so?
5.2
4.
What is the purpose of this scene?
5.3
5.
What happens to Cassius in this scene? Of which literary tool is this an example? Why?
6.
Reread the following lines taken from 5.3.67-72.
O setting sun,
As in thy red rays thou dost sink to night,
So in his red blood Cassius’ day is set.
The sun of Rome is set. Our day is gone;
Clouds, dews, and dangers come. Our deeds are
done.
Identify the various literary tools used in the above lines. Explain how they are being
used and why they are being used in this way.
7.
What ultimately happens to Titinius in this scene? Why?
8.
Explain how the following lines from 5.3.105-107 relate back to Act IV.
O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet;
Thy spirit walks abroad and turns our swords
In our own proper entrails.
What literary tool is being used here? How is it being used? Why is it being used?
5.4
9.
What trick does Lucilius play on the soldiers in this scene? Why does he do so?
5.5
10.
What has Brutus just done when he says the following lines from 5.5.56-57?
Caesar, now be still.
I killed thee not with half so good a will.
Why does Brutus say these lines?
11.
According to Antony’s final lines, how is Brutus different from the other conspirators?
What do Antony and Octavius seem to think of Brutus because of this difference? Why?