Name______Date______Hour______
Julius Caesar
Act III
Study Guide
Vocabulary
Predict what the following words mean based on their context within the sentence/lines from the play.
1. Cassius: “Some to the common pulpits and cry out,
‘Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!’”
2. Brutus: “Our arms in strength of malice, and in our hearts
Of brothers’ temper, do receive you in
With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence.”
3. Brutus: “Only be patient till we have appeased
The multitude, beside themselves with fear,
And then we will deliver you the cause
Why I, that did love Caesar when I struck him,
Have thus proceeded.”
4. Brutus: “Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your
senses, that you may the better judge.”
Use a dictionary to define the following words.
1. enfranchisement
2. malice
3. appease
4. censure
Based on the previous four sentences, the dictionary definitions of vocabulary words, and your knowledge of Plutarch and the play, predict the events of Act III. This should be at least four sentences.
Questions: Scene 1
1. On what date does act III open?
2. How was Caesar already warned about his assassination (3 ways)?
3. At the beginning of act III, what happens to make the conspirators afraid that the conspiracy has been discovered?
4. How do the conspirators influence Caesar to disregard Artemidorus?
5. Who prevents Artemidorus from warning Caesar?
6. What reason does Caesar give for not reading Artemidorus’ letter?
7. Why do you think that Caesar rejects the many warnings that he received and allows himself to be influenced by the conspirators?
8. What does Metullus Cimber ask of Caesar? What is Caesar’s response?
9. Caesar says, “I am constant as the Northern Star” What does this line mean?
10. Caesar’s dying words express surprise at seeing which person among the assassins?
11. What does “Et tu, Brute?” mean?
12. Where was Caesar assassinated? Why is this ironic?
13. What were the jobs in the assassination of these conspirators?
Trebonious
Metellus Cimber
Casca
Brutus
14. What did the conspirators do as they stood over Caesar’s body?
15. Reread Mark Antony’s soliloquy in lines 254-275 of scene 1. What does this speech reveal about the motivation for Antony’s actions in the rest of act III?
16. Notice each time that blood is mentioned in act III. What might the blood symbolize specifically related to Caesar’s death-to the conspirators, to Antony, to the people of Rome, and to you as a reader?
17. Paraphrase these lines from Antony.
“That I did love thee, Caesar, O’ tis true!
If then thy spirit look upon us now,
Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death
To see thy antonym making his peace
Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes-
Most noble!-in the presence of thy course.”
18. Why does Antony send a servant to Brutus immediately after Caesar’s death?
19. What does Antony want to do?
20. Why does Cassius not want Antony to speak at the funeral?
21. Who is Octavius Caesar? Where is he, and why is he coming to Rome?
22. Name the three conditions under which Brutus allows Antony to give a funeral oration for Caesar?
Scene 2:
23. How does Brutus justify the assassination of Caesar?
24. What does Brutus offer at the end of his speech?
25. What is the mood of the crowd as Brutus finishes his speech?
26. What is Antony’s most effective technique? Why do you think so?
27. Reread lines 70-104 on pages 1146-1147 and pay attention to Antony’s repetition of the words ambitious and honorable . What does he emphasize through the repetition of these words?
28. Reread lines 137-157 on page 1148. What does Antony’s use of rhetorical questions suggest about his relationship with the crowd?
29. How and why does Antony focus on Brutus? How does he want people to feel?
30. Identify examples of rhetorical devices in Antony’s funeral speech, lines 70-194. What is ironic about his claim in lines 118-124?
31. What document did Antony read at the funeral?
32. What has Caesar bequeathed the Romans in his will?
33. How does the crowd react to Antony’s speech?
Scene 3:
34. What happens to Cinna the poet? Why?
35. Explain the significance of Cinna the poet being attacked by the citizens. What was Shakespeare’s purpose in including this scene?
36. Why was it a mistake for Brutus to allow Antony to bear Caesar’s body into the forum for the funeral?
37. What do Brutus and Cassius do after Antony’s speech? Why?
38. The novelist and critic E.M. Forster wrote that Brutus “cannot realize that men seek their own interests, for he has never sought his own, he has lived nobly among noble thoughts, wedded to a noble wife.” How is this limitation reflected in Brutus’ words and actions in act III?