Name: ______

Guided reading questions to help you comprehend

and annotateJulius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Roman Vs. Arabic Numbers Key:

I / 1
V / 5 / IV / 4
X / 10 / IX / 9
L / 50 / XL / 40
C / 100 / XC / 90
D / 500 / CD / 400
M / 1000 / CM / 900

Act I:

I, i:

  1. What does the first scene of a Shakespeare play always establish?
  2. What are the men arguing about?
  3. What is the point of Marullus’s speech? What is he accusing the men of doing? What does he tell them to do?
  4. What does Flavius command?
  5. What is the date? Why is this significant?
  6. What metaphor does Flavius use to describe a main character? Why?

I,ii:

  1. What does the second scene establish?
  2. Significance of the holiday?
  3. What does the soothsayer say? Why?
  4. What does Cassius notice about Brutus?
  5. How does Brutus explain his behavior?
  6. What does Brutus suspect is the reason for the shouting?
  7. What doe Brutus love more than he fears (death)?
  8. Epic simile/Allusion?
  9. Lines 135-161: What is Cassius’s monologue message?
  10. What does Brutus agree to after this monologue?

I, iii:

  1. What sort of weather and strange happenings has Casca encountered?
  2. What does Casca believe is the cause of the storm? What does Cassius think?
  3. Why has Caesar been able to take power, according to Cassius?
  4. What does Casca vow to Cassius?
  5. Why does the group need Brutus and how do they plan to persuade him to their cause?

Act II:

II, i:

a)What does Brutus think is the only way to preserve the common good?

b)Brutus worries that Caesar’s nature will change when what happens?

c)To what does Brutus compare Caesar?

d)What has Lucius found and given to Brutus?

e)What does the letter urge Brutus to do?

f)What is the date/time?

g)What does each of the conspirators wish, according to Cassius?

h)What does Cassius propose? How does Brutus react?

i)Whom else does Cassius propose they kill?

j)How does Brutus respond?

k)How will the plot look to the common eye according to Brutus?

l)What will Decius do if Caesar refuses to come out?

m)What concerns Portia?

n)What does Portia demand?

II, ii:

a)What has Calphurnia cried out in her sleep?

b)What omens does Calphurnia report?

c)What does Calphurnia beg of Caesar? How does Caesar respond?

d)What had Calphurnia dreamed?

e)How does Decius interpret this dream?

f)What does Caesar ultimately decide to do?

II, iii:

a)What does Artemidorus lament?

b)What message does he intend to give to JC?

II, iv

a)Why is Portia upset? What does the soothsayer tell her?

b)What message does she ask Lucius to give to Brutus? How is she similar to her

husband in this scene?

Act III:

III, i:

a)What does Metellus Cimber request and why? What purpose does it serve in the play?

b)What is Caesar’s response?

c)What is the significance of Caesar’s last words?

d)Why does Antony shake the conspirator’s “bloody” hands?

e)How does Antony fear that he will be perceived?

f)What are the conditions of the funeral speeches?

g)What does Antony say will happen as result of Caesar’s death?

h)Who is coming to Rome? What message does Antony send him?

III, ii:

a)What do the plebeians demand? How will Brutus and Cassius fulfill this demand?

b)What does Brutus say would have happened had Caesar not been killed? What was Caesar’s crime?

c)What does Brutus offer the people? How do they respond?

d)What is the crowd’s opinion of Caesar after Brutus’s speech?

e)What doe Antony say is the purpose of his speech? What does he say will live on after Caesar dies, and what will be buried with Caesar?

f)What three reasons does Antony give to “disprove” the charge that Caesar was ambitious? What phrase does he repeat?

g)What does Antony say when the plebeians insist on hearing Caesar’s will?

h)What is the crowd’s opinion of the conspirators now?

i)What does Antony show the crowd (around line 155)?

j)What does Antony now call the conspirators?

k)What does Antony say he did not mean to do? According to Antony, how does he differ from Brutus?

l)What has Caesar left to the people in his will?

m)What does the mob leave to do?

n)Who has arrived in Rome? Where are Brutus and Cassius?

III, iii

a)What dream did Cinna the poet have?

b)What happens to him and what is the purpose of this scene in the play?

Act IV:

IV, i:

a)How much time has passed since the end of Act III?

b)What triumvirate is now in charge in Rome? Who are these men?

c)What decisions are Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus making? What is ironic about this?

d)What does Octavius think of Lepidus? What is Antony’s assessment of Ledipus? How does he plan to use him?

e)What are Brutus and Cassius doing? What must Antony and Octavius do?

IV, ii:

a)What does Brutus say Cassius has done? How has Cassius changed?

b)What does Brutus urge Cassius to do?

IV, iii:

a)In what way has Brutus “wrong’d” Cassius? Of what does Brutus accuse Cassius?

b)Why is Brutus especially outrages that Cassius would accept bribes or defend others who do so?

c)What do Brutus and Cassius argue now?

d)What new compliment does Brutus have about Cassius? How does Cassius respond?

e)What does Cassius urge Brutus to do? Why?

f)How do Brutus and Cassius resolve their fight?

g)What has happened to make Brutus so quick to anger and so given to emotion?

h)How did she die? How do you know?

i)What news does Brutus receive about Octavius and Antony?

j)What is Cassius’s opinion about marching to Philippi to meet Antony and Octavius?

k)To what does Brutus compare the success in life of some people and the failure?

l)What do the two men decide to do?

m)What apparition appears before Brutus? What does it tell him?

Act V:

V, i:

a)How does Octavius feel about Brutus and Cassius coming to Philippi to challenge Antony and him?

b)What do Antony and Octavius argue about?

c)For what does Cassius tell Brutus he has himself to thank?

d)What evil omen did Cassius witness? What does this omen seem to foretell

e)What does Brutus vow not to do if they lose the battle?

V, iii:

a)What is happening to Cassius’s army?

b)What news do Titinus and Pindarus give Cassius?

c)What does Pindarus say has happened to Titinus?

d)Draw a scene of the battle to make sense of the character’s positions as they are described in scene iii.

e)What does Cassius order Pindarus to do?

f)What is the result of the day’s battle? How would Cassius feel about this result?

g)Who were the men Pindarus has seen surrounding Titinius and shouting?

h)What does Titinius do?

V, iv:

a)Whom does Lucilius pretend to be?

b)What happens to him?

V, v:

a)What has Brutus seen twice? What does this vision mean to him?

b)What does Brutus ask of Volumnius? Why?

c)How does Brutus die? What are his dying words, and to whom does he address them?

d)According to Antony, what set Brutus apart from the other conspirators?