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William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Act II

English 421

Summary: Act II, Scene i

• Brutus is in his orchard. It is night and he calls impatiently for his servant, Lucius, and sends him to light a candle in his study.

• When Lucius has gone, Brutus speaks one of the most important and controversial soliloquies in the play. He says that he has "no personal cause to spurn at" Caesar, except "for the general," meaning that there are general reasons for the public good.

• Thus far, Caesar has seemingly been as virtuous as any other man, but Brutus fears that after he is "augmented" (crowned), his character will change, for it is in the nature of things that power produces tyranny.

• He therefore decides to agree to Caesar's assassination: to "think him as a serpent's egg, / Which, hatched, would as his kind, grow mischievous, / And kill him in the shell."

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Summary: Act II, Scene i• Lucius re-enters and gives Brutus a letter that has been thrown into his window. The

various conspirators — Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus Cimber, and Trebonius— now arrive.

• Cassius proposes that they all seal their compact with an oath, but Brutus objects on the ground that honorable men acting in a just cause need no such bond.

• When Cassius raises the question of inviting Cicero into the conspiracy, Brutus persuades the conspirators to exclude Cicero from the conspiracy. Cassius then argues that Mark Antony should be killed along with Caesar; Brutus opposes this too as being too bloody a course, and he urges that they be "sacrificers, but not butchers.“

• It is the spirit of Caesar, he asserts, to which they stand opposed, and "in the spirit of men there is no blood."

Summary: Act II, Scene i• When the conspirators have departed, Brutus notices that his servant, Lucius, has fallen

asleep. At this moment, Portia, his wife, enters, disturbed and concerned by her husband's strange behavior. She demands to know what is troubling him.

• She asserts her strength and reminds Brutus that because she is Cato's daughter, her quality of mind raises her above ordinary women; she asks to share his burden with him. Deeply impressed by her speech, Brutus promises to tell her what has been troubling him.

• Portia leaves, and Lucius is awakened and ushers in Caius Ligarius, who has been sick, but who now declares that to follow Brutus in his noble endeavor, "I here discard my sickness." They set forth together.

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Look Who’s Talking: Act II, Scene i Readers

• We need to fill our cast of characters with readers from the room. So we’re going to need some volunteers to each read a character’s lines.

• Brutus

• Lucius

• Cassius

• Decius

• Casca

• Cinna

• Metellus

• Trebonius

• Portia

• Ligarius

Summary: Act II, Scene ii

• The scene is set in Caesar's house during a night of thunder and lightning, and Caesar is commenting on the tumultuous weather and upon Calphurnia's having dreamed of his being murdered.

• He sends a servant to instruct his augurers, men designated to interpret signs and appease the gods, to perform a sacrifice. Calphurnia enters and implores Caesar not to leave home for the day. She describes the unnatural phenomena that have brought her to believe in the validity of omens. Caesar replies that no one can alter the plans of the gods and that he will go out.

• When Calphurnia says that the heavens proclaim the deaths of princes, not beggars, Caesar contends that the fear of death is senseless because men cannot avoid its inevitability.

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Summary: Act II, Scene ii• The servant returns with information that the priests suggest Caesar stay at home today

because they could not find a heart in the sacrificed beast. Caesar rejects their interpretation, but Calphurnia does finally persuade him to stay at home and have Antony tell the senators that he is sick.

• Decius then enters, and Caesar decides to send the message by him; Decius asks what reason he is to give to the senators for Caesar's failure to attend today's session, and Caesar says to tell them simply that he "will not come. / That is enough to satisfy the Senate." Privately, however, he admits to Decius that it is because of Calphurnia's dream in which many "smiling Romans" dipped their hands in blood flowing from a statue of him.

• Decius, resorting to the flattery to which he knows Caesar is susceptible, reinterprets the dream and says that Calphurnia's dream is symbolic of Caesar's blood reviving Rome; the smiling Romans are seeking distinctive vitality from the great Caesar. When Decius suggests that the senate will ridicule Caesar for being governed by his wife's dreams, Caesar expresses shame for having been swayed by Calphurnia's foolish fears. He declares that he will go to the Capitol.

Summary: Act II, Scene ii

• Publius and the remaining conspirators — all except Cassius — enter, and Brutus reminds Caesar that it is after eight o'clock. Caesar heartily welcomes Antony, commenting on his habit of partying late into the night.

• Caesar then prepares to leave and requests that Trebonius "be near me" today to conduct some business. Trebonius consents, and in an aside states that he will be closer than Caesar's "best friends" would like for him to be.

• In another aside, Brutus grieves when he realizes that all of Caesar's apparent friends are not true friends.

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Look Who’s Talking: Act II, Scene ii Readers

• We need to fill our cast of characters with readers from the room. So we’re going to need some volunteers to each read a character’s lines.

• Caesar

• Servant

• Calpurnia

• Decius

• Publius

• Antony

• Trebonius

Summary: Act II, Scene iii

• Artemidorus enters a street near the Capitol reading from a paper that warns Caesar of danger and that names each of the conspirators. He intends to give the letter to Caesar and he reasons that Caesar may survive if the fates do not ally themselves with the conspirators.

• This short scene is tinged with irony. Artemidorus, a teacher of rhetoric, capable of grand and complex flourishes of speech, speaks most clearly and directly. His note to Caesar contains only facts, but has one great fault: For Caesar to acknowledge the facts, he has to admit that he is not a god, providing bloody sustenance to all of Rome, but a mere mortal. That he could never do.

• This scene allows you to see another opinion of Caesar. Artemidorus is a Roman who loves Caesar and sees the conspirators as traitors. From this man's viewpoint, the reader gets a hint of the greatness that was once Caesar.

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Look Who’s Talking: Act II, Scene iii Readers

• We need to fill our cast of characters with readers from the room. So we’re going to need some volunteers to each read a character’s lines.

• Artemidorus

Summary: Act II, Scene iv

• Portia and Lucius enter the street in front of Brutus' house, where Portia is extremely excited. She suggests that Brutus has told her of his plans (in fact, he has not had an opportunity), and she repeatedly gives Lucius incomplete instructions concerning an errand to the Capitol. She struggles to maintain self-control and reacts violently to imagined noises that she thinks emanate from the Capitol.

• A soothsayer enters and says that he is on his way to see Caesar enter the Senate House. Portia inquires if he knows of any plans to harm Caesar, and he answers only that he fears what may happen to Caesar. He then leaves to seek a place from which he can speak to Caesar.

• Portia sends Lucius to give her greetings to Brutus and to tell him that she is in good spirits, and then to report back immediately to her.

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Look Who’s Talking: Act II, Scene iv Readers

• We need to fill our cast of characters with readers from the room. So we’re going to need some volunteers to each read a character’s lines.

• Portia

• Lucius

• Soothsayer

Act II Study Questions

1. In scene II Caesar prides himself on being constant and resolute. To what extent do you think this self-assessment is true? Provide evidence to support your opinion.

2. In scene II based on what you have seen of Caesar so far, in your opinion how superstitious is he? Explain.

3. For scenes III & IV – What primary purpose is served by these two short scenes?

4. What does scene IV reveal about Portia’s state of mind and character? If you were her friend, what advice would you give her to help her cope with this situation?

5. Explain the metaphor about the serpent’s egg.

6. Who comes to visit Brutus in the middle of the night?

7. What are the results of the sacrifice by the augurers? How does Caesar interpret these results?

8. What was Calpurnia’s dream?

9. What does Decius tell Caesar that convinces him to go to the Senate House?

10. Who is Artemidorus and what is he trying to do with his letter?