Common Test 1

• Unseen Poetry (25m)

– Answer all questions (part i and part ii)

• Julius Caesar (25m)

– Act One Passage Based Questions

– 3 Questions

• 2 questions – 10 marks

• 1 question – 5 marks

ACT ONE

Agenda

• Character Map: who’s who in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

• Introduction of Julius Caesar: Act One

• Julius Caesar: the politician, the man and the friend

Character Map

• Julius Caesar has a lot of characters with names which are quite difficult to remember.

• To make it easier, before we start into Act One we’ll look at the characters and some of their motivations in the play

Character Map

• Instructions:

–Look at the hand-out that you have been given

–Fill in the missing names of the characters in the play

–Paste it into your journal for safekeeping!

Character Map

Introduction of Act One

• Essential Question: Perspectives - What we see vs what we choose or want to see. (Reality vs choice) – Throughout Julius Caesar we witness moments in

the play where we see characters caught between two points:

• making their own decisions

• Or being persuaded or forced into certain situations

Theory

• Perspectivism: Theory by Friedrich Nietzsche

– The truths and ideas about the world are created through people’s perspectives.

–What we see is very different from what we choose to see.

– It is the different perspectives that we have that decides the truth of the world.

Theory

• Perspectivism: Theory by Friedrich Nietzsche

– Eg. What a victim of an accident perceives is very different from a bystander’s perspective

– Similarly, what the person who hit the victim perceives will be very different

– Those attitudes shape the truth and history of the event as we know it

Theory

• Perspectivism: Theory by Friedrich Nietzsche

– Similarly in Julius Caesar we will be studying the different perspectives of Caesar that the characters in the play have about him

– The common people

– The politicians

–His friends, his enemies and Himself

Essential Question

• Our task as Literature students is to study these moments and decide the following:

• Politicians’ Perspective

– Or is Caesar a power hungry tyrant that seeks to use the people’s favour for his own gain to rule Rome and become emperor? (Politicians’ perspective of Caesar)

Essential Question

• Caesar’s Perspective

– Caesar sees himself as one who is unafraid of anybody or person. He refuses to hide from danger and is confident in his position and authority

– He is also rather proud (to the point of arrogance)

• Common People’s Perspective

– Is Caesar a great leader who brings glory to Rome and is worthy of admiration and respect? (Commoner’s perspective of Caesar)

Essential Question

• Readers’ Perspective (as Students of Literature) – Or is Caesar in fact neither of those roles?

– Or is he both of them?

– We have to study the play to decide our own perspective and view of Caesar

– It can be argued that he is capable of both of these actions and is both good and evil (or perhaps just human)

Keep these perspectives in mind as we study Julius Caesar!

Themes in Julius Caesar

• Themes in Julius Caesar:

–Power & Politics • Power is a constant issue in Julius Caesar as

the characters strive to increase their power

• (eg. The other senators who fear Caesar’s rise to power)

• How do they retain their power?

• How do they increase their power?

• Why do they need power?

Themes in Julius Caesar

• Themes in Julius Caesar:

– Individual Choice vs Choice made for you (Free will vs no control) • This theme is related to the issue of power.

• There are characters who have the power to choose and decide their actions

• But there are also characters who are persuaded to make certain decisions

• So is it better to choose or is it better for others to choose for you?

Act One

• So before we finally start Act One, here’s a quick summary of what we’ve gone through: – Character Map

– Essential Question: Perspectives (What we see vs what we choose to see)

– The different perspectives of Julius Caesar

– Important Themes in the play

Act One: Summary of Scene 1

• Scene 1 (p.23-31) – We see the commoners reactions to Caesar’s

great military victory

– But we also see the tribunes (minor government officials) very different reaction to Caesar

Act One: Scene 1

• Scene 1 (p.23-31)

• Commoner’s love for Caesar

– Cobbler, a commoner, (p.27, Scene 1, Line 33-34): “we make holiday to see Caesar, and to rejoice in his triumph”

• The common populace celebrating Caesar’s victory in war

Act One: Scene 1

• Scene 1 (p.23-31)

• Politicians’ Fear of Caesar

– Marullus, a tribune, (p.29, Scene 1, Line 35-38): “Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? What tributaries follow him to Rome, To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels? You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!”

Act One: Scene 1

• Scene 1 (p.23-31)

– There is a huge difference in perception of Caesar between the people and the politicians

– The people love him

– The politicians fear him

–Why?

Act One: Scene 2

• Scene 2 (p.33-57) – We see how Caesar is perceived by the politicians

and the people around him and we also see Caesar’s impression of himself

– We are introduced the several key characters, Brutus, Mark Antony and Cassius

– We see Cassius’ envy and fear of Caesar and how he plants a seed of doubt in Brutus’ mind about his friend Caesar

Act One: Scene 2

Caesar as he sees himself

• Soothsayer warns Caesar of danger to his life but Caesar ignores him

– “He is a dreamer; let us leave him” (1.2.25)

• Caesar says of himself: “I rather tell thee what is to be feared than what I fear; for always I am Caesar” (1.2.213-214)

Act One: Scene 2

The Danger of Caesar (Politician’s Fear)

• Cassius persuading Brutus of Caesar’s danger

– “it is very much lamented, Brutus that you have no such mirrors as will turn, your hidden worthiness into your eye, that you might see your shadow. I have heard, where many of the best respect in Rome – except immortal Caesar – speaking of Brutus and groaning underneath this age’s yoke have wishes that noble Brutus had his eyes” (1.2.56-63)

Act One: Scene 2

• As Cassius and Brutus talk, the crowd keeps shouting and exclaiming in the background – Flourish and shout (p.41: 1.2.79)

– Shout. Flourish. (p.45: 1.2.133)

– With each shout, Cassius’ words grow heavier on Brutus as he hears the power that Caesar wields over them

• Brutus says: – I do believe that these applauses are for some new

honours that are heaped on Caesar (p.45: 1.2.134-5)

Act One: Scene 2

• Cassius (continuing to persuade Brutus): – “Why man he doth bestride the narrow world like

a Colossus and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves. Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings.” (p.45: 1.2.137-142)

Act One: Scene 2

• We later learn from Casca that the shouts are of Caesar refusing the crown thrice – P.51: “I saw Mark Antony offer him [Caesar] a

crown … twas one of those coronets. He put it by once (rejected the crown) … then he offered it to him again; then he put it by again … and then he offered it the third time; he put it the third time by” (1.2.245-9)

Act One: Scene 2

• P.53: “the rabblement hooted and clapped their chapped hands and threw up their sweaty night-caps and uttered such a deal of stinking breath because Caesar refused the crown” (1.2.245-9)

– Each time Caesar refuses, the people love him more and more

Act One: Scene 2

• P.53 “the tag-rag people did not clap him and hiss him according as he pleased and displeased them as they use to do players in the theatre I am no true man” (1.2.259-262) – Casca says that Caesar is manipulating the people

as an actor would manipulate the audience in a theatre

Act One: Scene 2

• P.55 “if Caesar had stabbed their mothers … they would have forgave him with all their hearts” (1.2.273-5) – Caesar’s unshakeable grip over the people’s

loyalty and admiration

• We see the difference in the way the people treat him and the way the politicians look at his actions

Act One: Scene 3

• Scene 3 (p.59-71) – Cassius and Casca conspire against Caesar and

seek to gain Brutus’ support as well as the other important members of the Roman senate

Conclusion

• Conclusion: – We also looked at the themes and concerns of the

play

– Act One: we are introduced to the main characters in the play

– We see the difference in perceptions of the different classes in society (People/Politicians/Caesar)

– We see what different perspectives show about Caesar as well