Julius Caesar Flashcards
Who is Mark Antony?
He is a roman politician
- made the second triumvirate
- played a role in the transition from Roman
Republic to Empire
- friend of Caesar
- spoke at Caesar’s funeral
- has position of power once Caesar dies
- vows revenge
Who is Brutus?
He is a roman politician
- was a good speaker
- easy to manipulate
- killed Caesar
- was torn between loyalty to Caesar or to Rome
- was a conspirator
Who is Calpurnia?
She was the third or fourth wife of Caesar
- was married to Caesar when he was assassinated
- tried to stop Caesar from going to the Senate
- she dreamed of his death
Who is Cassius?
He was a politician
- manipulative
- used Brutus’ good nature to turn him against
Caesar
- wrote letters to Brutus pretending to be from
citizens
- an old friend of Brutus
- wanted to overthrow Caesar
Who is Julius Caesar?
He was the Roman general
- politician
- named himself dictator of the Roman Empire
- Married to Cornelia, Pompeia, and Calpurnia
- died because he was a bad ruler
- wanted the crown he didn’t deserve
- came back as a spirit to get revenge
Who is Octavius Caesar?
Caesar’s great nephew
- chosen heir
- ruled Rome after Caesar dies
- Joins Antony against Cassius and Brutus
- ruler of Rome when Caesar dies
Who is Portia?
Brutus’s wife
- daughter of a patrian and married to a senator
- Has privilege and status in ancient Roman society
- commits suicide
- can’t handle ciaos and absence of Brutus
- Intelligent
- Can’t be tricked by Brutus
Who is the soothsayer? What is a soothsayer?
Spurinna was the soothsayer
- warned Caesar about danger
- predicted the future
- “beware the ides of march” March 15th Julius was
assassinated
What is a catastrophe?
final action that completes a spiral into a large tragedy
- final action that unravels the plot
- when something goes wrong
- Caesar’s friends turning against him, and killing
him
-Brutus = Caesar’s spirit coming back for revenge
What is a climax?
the most important or intense part of a story
- rising action
- turning point
- there can be multiple
- Antony’s speech on Caesar’s accomplishments
- repeats Brutus is an honorable man
What is a conflict?
serious disagreement or argument
- a character wanting something, but someone gets in the way
- Cassius’ plot to kill Caesar
- Brutus and Cassius arguing
What is a motif?
Repeated pattern- image, sound, word, or symbol that comes back again and again within a story
- letters, secrets —- death
- thunder — decisions being made, bad decisions
being made
- prophecies — lead to death
- ex. ides of march
- going to phillipi
What is a resolution?
the end of the story
- occurs after the climax
- when you learn what happens to the characters
after the conflict resolved
- to resolve the conflict, they fight at philippi
What is a rising action?
comes after the opening of the story
- known as the exposition
- made up of a series of events
- always leads to the climax
- pushes the plot
- builds tension
- Brutus’s attempt of killing Caesar or not
What is a soliloquy?
passage of speech that is delivered while focused on a character
- Brutus late at night, comtemplating whether or not he should kill Caesar
What is theme?
a central, unifying idea
- the bigger issue that emerges as characters
pursue their goal
- listen to warnings —- prophecies lead to death
- soothsayer —- Caesar
What is tragedy?
branch of drama
- sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual
- Cassius manipulating Brutus to kill Caesar
- Julius is a tragedy
What is tragic error?
a personality trait that leads to his or her downfall
- Brutus needs to be noble and kind — error in
judgement on killing Caesar
- leads to citizens turning against him
- weaknesses
What is a tragic hero?
person of noble birth with heroic or potential heroic qualities
- Brutus in his siloquies we learn of his soldiers
- Kills Caesar which leads to his death
- powerful position, honorable man — kills Caesar
which leads to his death
Two major plots that exist in Julius Caesar…..
Conspirators convince Brutus to join their assassination plot against Caesar
Confict between Caesar and Brutus
Brutus kills Caesar so Caesar comes back as an apparition to haunt his killers
- Brutus didn’t believe that Caesar was loyal
- Brutus must decide if killing his friend for the sake
of Rome is worth it
Confict between Brutus and Brutus
Brutus has many sleepless nights trying to determine if it is the right thing to kill Caesar or not
- Dealing with the guilt of killing Caesar
- Should I kill Caesar or should he live and harm
Rome more
- Debate to Brutus
Conflict between Caesar and Cassius
Cassius created the plan to kill Caesar so in return Caesar also came back to haunt Cassius
- Cassius wanted to overthrow Caesar
- Cassius plots to kill Caesar, gets people involved
- Cassius puts the plan in action
Conflict between Brutus and Antony
Antony doesn’t agree with the death of Caesar and he thinks Brutus portrays him wrong
- the battle at Phillipi
- Brutus portrays Caesar as an awful person
- both Brutus and Antony had speeches
- Antony’s speech was better
- initially Brutus saved Antony from getting killed
Conflict between Brutus and Octavius
Octavius wants Brutus to die to avenge the death of Caesar
- Octavius doesn’t like Brutus
- Octavius is the heir of the throne
Explain the use of the climax in this play and indicate where the final climax exists
When Antony and Octavius get the upper hand in battle
- Cassius kills himself and Brutus does later in the
book
- highest dramatic tension this scene shows the
killers of Caesar getting their karma
- Antony’s speech
Explain a major theme of Julius Caesar
Listen to warnings and prophecies – lead to death
- what you do has consequences
- Brutus and Cassius kill Caesar —- they end up
dead
- fate and arrogance in the face of power
- not taking advantage of the situations that you
have
Explain two motifs that are used
A. Prophecies —– lead to death
- ides of march - warnings
- dreams about Caesar -going to philippi
- ghost of Caesar
B. Letters
- Every time someone receives a letter, death
always comes up behind
- secrets lead to death
Two tragic heroes of Julius Caesar. What are their flaws? When do you see those flaws?
A. Brutus-
- flaws = easily manipulated
Cassius uses Brutus’ good nature to manipulate him into killing Caesar
- Disorganized
B. Caesar-
- Caesar is arrogant and doesn’t listen to
anything
- flaws = arrogance, bad ruler, was warned
tries to accept the crown, even though he’s a corrupt ruler/leader = gets killed
How do we know that Rome is in political disarray at the beginning of the play?
Monarchy is tyrant like
- dictatorship —- Caesar
What were the motives for killing Caesar?
He is a corrupt ruler, selfish, and he tries to become king
Explain who won the battle of the sililoquies and how.
Brutus when he’s deciding if Caesar is worth killing
