from julius caesar by william shakespeare

The conspirators distract Mark Antony, who would come to Caesar’s aid if he were present. Caesar ignores warnings from soothsayers, priests, and even his wife Calpurnia, who dreamed of his death. He almost decides to stay at home that day, the 15th of March, but ultimately decides it would be weak of him to stay at home due to bad omens alone. As the conspirators decide how they will kill Caesar, Caesar himself feels a sense of foreboding. He ultimately decides that killing Caesar is the only way to save Rome from possible tyranny. Although they are close friends and Brutus believes Caesar is a good man, he wonders if power will go to Caesar’s head.

He manipulates the other senators who are unsure, like Brutus and Casca, to join the conspiracy.īrutus is ambivalent about getting rid of Caesar. Cassius is the instigator behind the assassination plot. Fearing the public’s reaction to his ascension to the throne, Caesar denies the crown three times when Mark Antony presents it to him. Although Caesar secretly wants to rule Rome as a monarch, he presents himself as uninterested in becoming king. He and his fellow Roman senator conspirators are nervous over what Caesar would do with more power they believe his ambition makes him dangerous to the future of Rome as a free republic. Meanwhile, Roman Senator Caius Cassius plots Caesar’s assassination. As he parades through the city, a soothsayer-a person who tells the future-tells Caesar to “beware the Ides of March,” meaning the 15th of March, a holiday which represented the paying off of debts. This guide was written using The Norton Shakespeare, second edition.Ĭaesar marches into Rome after defeating Pompey’s sons in battle. Its cultural impact is evidenced by its many oft-repeated lines including “Beware the ides of March” “Friends, Romans, countrymen” and “Et tu, Brute?” It is also one of the most famous and most often performed of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Julius Caesar is one of four Shakespearean tragedies set in Ancient Rome, alongside Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Titus Andronicus.

From julius caesar by william shakespeare