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Julius Caesar Study Guide: Act I
Vocabulary: Write down the definition for each of the following vocab words from Act I.
1. barren (adj)
2. blunt (adj)
3. conspirator (n)
4. countenance (n)
5. encompass (v)
6. infirmity (n)
7. portentous (adj)
8. servile (adj)
9. soothsayer (n)
10. torrent (n)
Directions: Answer each of the following questions based on your reading of Act I.
1. Explain why the working men are celebrating in the first scene. Why does Marullus reproach them?
2. What is the setting of Scene 2? What warning does the soothsayer give Caesar, and what is Caesar’s
response?
3. Explain what Cassius want to convince Brutus of in Scene 2?
4. Why does Caesar, in Scene 2, think Cassius is dangerous? What qualities disturb him?
5. Describe what happens when Caesar is offered the crown, according to Casca?
6. Caesar stands astride the world as a powerful ruler, yet he suffers many personal weaknesses. Various
characters will us what these are, and they say that a man who is as human as anyone else would not act life a
god and rule the world. What exactly are Caesar’s infirmities and weaknesses?
7. At the end of Scene 2, how does Cassius say he will pursue his plan to involve Brutus in the conspiracy against
Caesar?
8. Believing that nature mirrors the disorders in human lives, Shakespeare heightens the atmosphere of terror as
the conspirators gather to discuss their plans. What details in Scene 3 do you think evoke this sense of danger
and terror?
9. Who is the moving force, the protagonist, who drives the action, in Act I? By the act’s end, what steps has he
taken to achieve his goal?
10. How would you describe the play’s conflict as it is established in Act I?
11. Shakespeare uses even minor conflicts and events to set up the basic situation of the play and to foreshadow
future conflicts and events. Explain what you learn from this act about the moods and loyalties for the Roman
mob.
12. A healthy republic requires a reasonably intelligent and responsive citizenry. Throughout this play people of
Rome are described as “trash” or worse. Point out passages in Act I where various nobles express their contempt
for the common people. How does this make you feel about these characters? Do the people seem to deserve a
republic?
13. Cassius tell Brutus several anecdotes about Caesar in Scene 2. What is Cassius implying through these
stories?
14. Do you have any conflicting feeling about Caesar during this act? Describe your impressions of his character,
based on what you observe of his speeches and actins and on what other characters say about him.
Act II
Vocabulary Words:
1. taper (n)
2. spurn (v)
3. base (adj)
4. augmented (adj)
5. insurrection (n)
6. visage (n)
7. affability (n)
8. redress (n)
9. constancy (n)
10. imminent (adj)
1. What is the setting of Act II, Scene 1? (date, time, place)
2. What reasons does Brutus have for thinking that Caesar should be killed even though Caesar has not done
anything wrong yet?
3. What letter does Lucius bring to Brutus? What does it say?
4. How are Cassius and Brutus related?
5. Why is it suggested that Cicero not be asked to join the conspiracy?
6. Why does Brutus say that the conspirators should not kill Antony? (2 reasons)
7. Why does Portia suspect that something is wrong with Brutus?
8. What reason does Brutus give Portia for his strange behavior?
9. Portia tries to convince Brutus to tell her his secret. How does she try to convince him?
10. Who comes to see Brutus at the end of scene 1? Why does Brutus want to talk to him?
11. In scene 2, who else has had trouble sleeping? Why?
12. What does Calpurnia want to convince Caesar to do? What are her reasons?
13. Who arrives at Caesar’s house? Why is he there?
14. What is Calpurnia’s dream? How does Decius interpret it?
15. Identify an instance of dramatic irony at the end of scene 2.
16. In scene 3, what does Artemidorus’ letter say?
17. Whom does Portia meet in scene 4? What is he doing?
18. What task does Portia give to Lucius at the end of Scene 4?
Quotations:
Identify who said each of the following quotes. Also make sure you know what the speaker is talking about.
“In the early stages of ambition, that humility is a ladder,
on which the climber mounts with his face turned upward.
Once he gets to the top rung, however,
He turns his back to the ladder.”
“O let us have him, because his silvery hair
will win us everyone’s good opinion
and buy men’s speeches to praise our deeds.”
“Antony is only a limb of Caesar.”
“We shall be called purgers, and not murderers.”
“I have made strong proof of my constancy,
Giving myself a voluntary wound
Here in the thigh.”
“I am not sick any longer if Brutus has
some action worthy of the name of honor.”
“What do you mean to do, Caesar? Are you thinking of going out?
I won’t allow you to stir from the house today.”
“Adjourn the Senate to another time
when Caesar’s wife has better dreams.”
“Beware of Brutus; take heed of
Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna…”
“How weak a thing the heart of woman is!”
Act III
Vocabulary
1. valiant (adj)
2. firmament (n)
3. malice (n)
4. apprehensive (adj)
5. censure (v)
6. interred (adj)
7. legacy (n)
8. orator (n)
9. plebeians (n)
10. beseech (v)
1. In scene 1, there is still a chance that the conspiracy might be foiled. Explain why Artemidorus fails to get
Caesar to read his warning.
2. What petition serves as an excuse for the conspirators to gather around Caesar immediately before the
assassination?
3. In scene 1, why does Cassius argue against allowing Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral?
4. In order to make a compromise, what rules does Brutus give Antony about what he can and cannot do in his
speech at Caesar’s funeral?
5. How does Antony’s speech at the end of scene 1 (lines 254-275) reveal his true feelings about the assassins?
6. For a moment after the assassination, the action seeps to stop since the protagonists (the conspirators) have
achieved their goal. However, a new protagonist appears who will drive the action for the rest of the play. Who is
he, and what is his goal?
7. In scene 2, how does the crowd react to Brutus’ speech at the funeral?
8. Antony’s funeral oration in Scene 2 is one of the most famous pieces of rhetoric in literature. How is Antony
able to follow the rules that Brutus gave him while still ruining the conspirators’ reputations?
9. What are four rhetorical devices that Antony repeatedly uses in his speech?
10. What does Antony disclose to the crowd concerning Caesar’s will? How does the crowd react?
11. How has the crowd’s attitude changed from the beginning of scene 2 to the end?
12. How were the mob’s madness and the murder of Cinna foreshadowed earlier in the play?
13. How do you feel about Brutus in this act? Is he still an admirable character or not? Is he a victim or a villain?
Explain.
14. How do you feel about Antony in this act? Has he surprised you in any way? Be specific.
Act IV
Vocabulary
1. nimbleness (n)
2. contaminate (v)
3. bait (v)
4. chastisement (n)
5. choleric (adj)
6. covetous (adj)
7. rash (adj)
8. repose (n)
9. apparition (n )
10. overbearing (adj)
1. What is a triumvirate? Who is in the triumvirate in Act IV?
2. What plans is the triumvirate making in Scene 1?
3. How will Antony make sure that he will not take the blame for unpopular decisions?
4. Why is Cassius upset with Brutus in Scene 3?
5. What does Brutus accuse Cassius of doing in Scene 3?
6. How does Portia die? How does Brutus respond to her death?
7. Why does Cassius suggest that their army stay where they are?
8. Why does Antony suggest that the army go to Greece and fight Antony there?
9. Who wins the disagreement?
10. What does the ghost say to Brutus?
11. Why do you think Shakespeare had the ghost appear in this scene?
12. Think back to the first three acts. How has your opinion of different characters changed in Act IV?
Character
Antony
Brutus
Cassius
Before I thought that he was…
Now I think that he is…
Act V
Questions: answer the following questions.
Scene 1:
1. About what do Octavius and Antony argue?
2.
What is significant about this day for Cassius?
3.
What are two things Brutus says he will never do, even if he loses the war?
Scene 2:
4. How does Brutus feel about the battle at this point?
Scene 3:
5. Who wins the first battle?
6.
What does Cassius send Titinius to do?
7.
Why does Cassius decide to kill himself?
8.
How does Cassius’s death help Pindarus?
9.
What mistake caused Cassius’s death?
10.
What does Titinius do when Messala goes to inform Brutus of Cassius’s death?
Scene 4:
11. What happens to Cato?
12. Who does Lucilius pretend to be?
13.
What happens to Lucilius?
Scene 5:
14. What does Brutus ask Clitus, Dardanius, and Volomnius to do?
15. How does Brutus die?
16. According to Marc Antony, why is Brutus better than the other conspirators?