Directions: Answer each question using a complete sentence.
Make sure to answer all parts of the question!
1. Explain the disagreement in Act V, Scene i, between Octavius
and Anthony. Antony predicted that Brutus and Cassius would not
come to Philippi because they had a more advantageous position.
Octavius had disagreed and is proven correct.
2. What happens during the parley among the four leaders before
the battle? They begin a petty, childish quarrel, one side against
the other, and hurl personal accusations.
3. In Scene iii, how is the battle going for Brutus and Cassius?
Brutus is defeating Octavius’s army, while Cassius’s troops are
being routed by Antony’s. What does Cassius think has happened
to Titinius? He thinks that Titinius has been captured. What has
actually happened to him? Actually Titinius is surrounded by
troops on his own side.
4. What significance does Cassius see in the fact that the battle of
Philippi occurs on his birthday? He takes it as a sign that his life
has come full circle and that he is about to die. Describe his death.
He offers his slave Pindarus freedom if he will help him to kill
himself. Pindarus stabs Cassius with his own sword, and Cassius
dies.
5. How does the course of the battle change later in the day? The
tide turns against Brutus. Why does Lucilius impersonate Brutus
in Scene iv? He impersonates Brutus to protect him from capture
by Antony’s troops.
6. What reasons does Brutus give in Scene v for killing himself,
and how does he do it? He feels that the battle is lost and that it is
nobler to kill himself than to be captured. He feels his life is over
and is ready to rest. He asks Strato to hold his sword while he runs
on it. What does he say as he dies? He says: “Caesar, now be
still;/ I killed not thee with with half so good a will.” (Reminds
one of what Romeo says to Tybalt when he kills himself in the
Capulet vault.)
7. Describe the reactions of Antony and Octavius to Brutus’s
death. What does Antony say about Brutus? They both speak of
him with respect. Antony calls Brutus “the noblest Roman of them
all” and the only one of the conspirators who acted in the public
interest.
8. What is being decided at the battle of Philippi? The battle’s
outcome will determine how Rome will be governed. Does
Shakespeare portray one side as more deserving of victory than the
other? Explain… Shakespeare does not strongly favor one side
over the other. However, because we see most of the battle from
the perspective of Brutus and Cassius, their side seems more
sympathetic.
9. What is the meaning of the words that Brutus addresses to
Caesar as he kills himself? Brutus says that he is happier to kill
himself than he ever was to kill Caesar. What do these words
indicate about Brutus’s attitude toward Caesar and his
assassination? Toward his own life? Brutus’s words imply that he
has lost all desire to live and has been haunted by killing Caesar.
(“Caesar, now be still.”) His words suggest that he never
wholeheartedly participated in the conspirators’ plot.
10. What does Antony mean in his final comments about Brutus?
He means that Brutus is the only conspirator who acted selflessly.
Antony describes Brutus’s character as combining strengths and
virtues so well that who could be regarded as an ideal man. Do
you agree with Antony’s description of Brutus? Why or why not?
What is your final impression of Antony? Brutus is shown to be
gentle, just, and noble throughout the play, even if his decision to
kill Caesar may be difficult to accept. Some, however, may feel
that Brutus does not exemplify “the ideal man” because of his
naivete, poor judgment, and betrayal of a man who trusted him.
Antony’s respect for Brutus at the play’s end gives his character
some depth and stature; however, his earlier statements about
Brutus and his actions seem to contradict his later eulogy. Antony
seems to remain a bit of a chameleon – changeable and
inconsistent.
11. Octavius says that the triumvirs will “part the glories of this
happy day.” In light of the future conflict between Antony and
Octavius, why might this line be ironic? Part means both “share”
and “divide.” The play thus ends by hinting at their future conflict.
12. Why does Shakespeare give the last line in the play to Octavius
and not Antony? That Octavius has the last word hints at his
ultimate victory over Antony several years later. In addition, the
crowing of Octavius as the emperor Augustus meant the death of
the Roman republic, which Julius Caesar had been killed to
preserve.