Preview

Julius Caesar - Summary of Act I-V Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
811 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Julius Caesar - Summary of Act I-V Essay Example
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a play about loyalty, betrayal, love, and deception. There are many characters with fairly in-depth personalities. Some of the main characters are Cassius, the crafty, deceptive, witty man who is the leader of the conspiracy that killed Caesar. Brutus, the noble, honest, honorable man who is one of the key members of the conspiracy. There is also Antony, who is Caesar's right hand man. He is shrewd and ruthless man, willing to do anything to get revenge for Caesar's death.

Act I is centered around introducing the play and some of its characters. The play opens around a crowd of people waiting for Caesar's return after his victory over Pompey's sons. As the parade marches by, a soothsayer bids Caesar to "beware the ides of March." Later in Act I, Cassius persuades the frightened Casca to join the conspiracy during a violent storm. They both plan to visit Brutus later with fake petitions to help persuade Brutus to join the conspiracy.

Act II opens with Brutus contemplating whether to join the conspiracy or not when Lucius brings Brutus one of Cassius's petitions. Cassius and five other conspirators enter. Brutus agrees to become a conspirator, but refuses to take and oath, including Cicero in the conspiracy, and killing Mark Antony. Brutus then leaves with Caius Ligarius for the Capitol. Later in the morning, Caesar's wife, Calpurnia, begs Caesar not to go to the Capitol. He is finally persuaded to go by Decius. Mark Antony and the conspirators enter, and they all leave for the Capitol together. On the way, Artemidorus tries to warn Caesar of his impending death with a letter, which never makes it to Caesar. Portia sends her servant, Lucius, to the Capitol for news while she speaks with a soothsayer who will try to warn Caesar a second time.

In Act III, Caesar, along with the conspirators, makes his way to the Capitol. The soothsayer and Artimedorus both try to warn Caesar to no avail. He is killed at the Capitol,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    6. To which event in act 4 of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar does this statement refer?…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Clitus said he would not kill Brutus or help him kill himself. Next, Brutus asks Volumnius to kill him. He says that he knows his time has come and does not want to surrender to Antony’ army. Volumnius also tells Caesar he will not do it. Finally, Brutus asks Strato, another one of his men, to hold a sword that Brutus can run into to kill himself. Strato’s only request is that he says goodbye to Brutus properly because he respects and loves Brutus, as a commander, and wants to be say goodbye properly. After Brutus dies, Octavius and Antony enter the scene. Octavius treats the conspirators with respect, which creates a trust and immediate peace between the people. In the play’s final lines, Antony and Octavius honor Brutus through their final orations through complimenting his character. Antony goes as far as calling Brutus “the noblest Roman of them all”. They promise Brutus full funeral rites and thus the play closes. Antony and Octavius final speeches reveal a personal revelation that has occurred among them that Brutus was fighting to preserve Rome. They acknowledge this change of heart through praising Brutus and giving him full burial rites, something they would not have done they still considered him a…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, his assassination and the defeat of the conspirators. Although the title of the play is Julius Caesar, Caesar is not the central character in its action; he appears in only three scenes, and is killed at the beginning of the third act. The protagonist of the play is Marcus Brutus, and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honor, patriotism, and friendship.…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    2. Soothsayer tells Caesar to beware of March 15 in scene 2, and Caesar ignores his warning.…

    • 278 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Julius Caesar Timeline

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages

    |supported Pompey, attempt to |Caesar returns and mentions to Antony his |allowed to continue to rule, and when Cinna|…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Act II Julius Caesar is barraged with warnings to stay home and not go to the Senate, but he ignores them. Calpurnia, his spouse, tells of a dream she had and fears for Caesar's safety. The priests also warn Caesar. However, Decius is able to persuade Caesar to go to the Senate that morning. Considering his actions and thoughts in Act II, Caesar is a ruler who rejects superstitions and is concerned about how he is perceived by others.…

    • 1892 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare wrote many things. One of his greatest was his play Julius Caesar. The most known part about Caesar is how he dies, stabbed in the back by his best friend. Yet the night he was killed Calphurnia, Caesar’s wife, had warned Caesar not to go. But, Decius, a member of a group of conspirators, tries to persuade Caesar to go to the Senate where they plan to kill him. They both use rhetorical devices to try and sway Caesar their way, but Decius’s wins him over.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He goes so far as to say that “it must be by his [Caesar’s] death… he would be crowned… think him as a serpent’s egg (which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous) and kill him in the shell” (pages 41-42). In stark contrast to the harsh nature of planning of the murder, Brutus is portrayed as a close friend of Caesar’s, a loving husband to Portia, a wise military leader to his men, and a kind master to Lucius, his servant. However, due to his ancestor’s key role in establishing the Roman Republic and his own sense of justice, Brutus feels responsible to ensure the continued stability of the republic by any means – even if that details murdering Caesar. Antony calls Brutus’ stab the “unkindest cut of all” (page 101), showing how Caesar is betrayed by his most trusted friend. In the end, Brutus needs to weigh the republic’s existence against his friend, a man aspiring to be dictator. Choosing his city over Caesar, Brutus feels remorse for what he has done. Brutus’ guilt has so overrun him that it manifests itself into the “ghost of Caesar,” an ethereal being visible only to him, as the sole way for Brutus to acknowledge the dishonorable crime he has committed against his…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cassies Conspires

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, there are a few characters with great soliloquies, who have an extremely dramatic effect on the plot of the story. One of those characters happens to be Cassius, Caesar’s enemy. During Act I, scene ii, Cassius starts plotting against Caesar, as he is now the new leader of Rome. Although Cassius is the one going against Caesar, he manipulates Brutus, Caesar’s…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Brutus was an honorable man, as many have said. High in power, he always spoke the truth to the people of Rome, saying he would kill himself for the good of it. He was Caesar's right-hand man and did what he thought was right. In this play he was tricked by He was tricked by Cassius and believed the only way to stop his rule was to kill him. In the play, Brutus was an honorable man, but trusted almost everyone. Still, Brutus killed himself believing his choice was right one. In Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, Brutus was seen as the tragic hero of the play.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar clearly presents conflicting perspectives of the assassination of Caesar, a powerful and respected leader, viewed by the conspirators as overly ambitious, but by Marc Antony as a loyal servant of Rome. Brutus and the conspirators believe that Caesar’s death is necessary in retaining democracy, whereas Antony regards the act as brutal murder.…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the beginning scenes of Julius Caesar, written by Shakespeare, the story line is about the leader of Rome, Julius Caesar, and a conspiracy that wants him dead. This conspiracy was started by a man named Cassius, who wanted to murder Caesar because he was gaining too much power. Cassius managed to get many people to join his conspiracy by appealing to people’s reason, flattery, and beliefs. After Brutus, a highly respected politician, joined the conspiracy, he became the leader, taking Cassius’s place, and along with a few other men, they planned the death of Julius Caesar.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The exposition of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare immediately presents the ideals that underpin the differing views of Caesar’s rising power through his two protagonists, Brutus and Cassius. Both characters posses different interpretations on Caesar’s reign on Rome, one being loyal to Rome and a love and respect for Caesar “I love him well” but the other being a spiteful and vitriolic towards a “feeble old tyrant.” This highlights the notion of Cassius’s selfish prejudice towards his own contentment, which is only shown behind closed doors. Brutus on the other hand is victim to Cassius’ vitriol and becomes the pawn as he is manipulated “poor Brutus, with himself at war,” Brutus is troubled emotionally, torn by his patriotism and his respect for Caesar, above all he has an undying love for Rome, “Brutus had rather be a villager than to repute himself a son of Rome.” It is this love for Rome that causes such internal turmoil for Brutus, through Shakespeare’s use of juxtaposition of characters, he is able to highlight to the audience, the lengths that man will go to in order to…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Julius Caesar Flaws

    • 2477 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Written by Shakespeare more than one thousand five hundred years after Julius Caesar’s death, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare’s well-known tragedy, is unique in that it contains two tragic characters, the senator Brutus and emperor Caesar. A play in five acts, Julius Caesar attempts to portray the assassination of Caesar, at that time victorious over Pompey’s sons, and the civil war that follows, culminating in the establishment of the Second Triumvirate. Although Caesar meets his end comparatively early in the third act, both Brutus and Caesar are adequately portrayed as men of high repute who, through flawed actions and decisions, meet an untimely end. In short, both are tragic heroes.…

    • 2477 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    10th Grade Julius Caesar

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages

    kill Caesar after Cassius convinces him to after Act I with fake letters, ”As if they came from…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays