Julius Caesar Act 1 Breakdown (Summary, Quotes, Answers)
Julius Caesar Exam Revie
Act 1 Scene 1
Loyalty
!
What To Know:!
• A tribune is an appointed officer in Rome to protect the rights of communists. They were more on Pompey’s side.!
• Flavius and Marullus are both tribunes. !
• A cobbler is a person who fixes shoes for a living
!
Summary:!
- The citizens have taken a day off to celebrate Caesar’s success & welcome Caesar to Rome
- 2 tribunes, Flavius and Marullus, are angry because the citizens are celebrating (they see it as dis-loyalty to Pompey)
- They go around telling people to go to work, trying to diminish Caesar’s victory
!
Marullus :What are you? (What is your job)
Second Commoner: I am a cobbler. “A mender of bad soles.”
Marullus: Go back to work
!
Questions:!
1) To be effective, a play’s opening scene must engage the audience or the reader’s attention. To what extent is Shakespeare successful here? What other functions are served by this first scene? We get information. Shakespeare uses puns and comedy. The first scene gives us information.
We get background so that we understand what is happening.
2) What is a pun? Explain the Second Commoner’s pun.
A pun is something with a double meaning. It is a play on words. The Second Commoner said
“I am a mender of bad souls”. He is talking about the soles in the shoe because he is a shoemaker and he is also talking about the soul, a person’s soul.
3) Why does Marullus call the commoners “you cruel men of Rome”?
Because they are fickle. They change their allegiance often and very quickly. Before they had been allies with Pompey, now with Caesar, and they are “cruel” because they are not loyal.
4) How did the commoners react to Pompey when he paraded through the streets of Rome? What does this tell us about the Roman mob?
They hailed and cheered him. The Roman mob is fickle. They are looking for the most exciting thing at that time. That is what they want. We learn that they will change their allegiance very
Act 1 Scene 1
Loyalty
!
What To Know:!
• A tribune is an appointed officer in Rome to protect the rights of communists. They were more on Pompey’s side.!
• Flavius and Marullus are both tribunes. !
• A cobbler is a person who fixes shoes for a living
!
Summary:!
- The citizens have taken a day off to celebrate Caesar’s success & welcome Caesar to Rome
- 2 tribunes, Flavius and Marullus, are angry because the citizens are celebrating (they see it as dis-loyalty to Pompey)
- They go around telling people to go to work, trying to diminish Caesar’s victory
!
Marullus :What are you? (What is your job)
Second Commoner: I am a cobbler. “A mender of bad soles.”
Marullus: Go back to work
!
Questions:!
1) To be effective, a play’s opening scene must engage the audience or the reader’s attention. To what extent is Shakespeare successful here? What other functions are served by this first scene? We get information. Shakespeare uses puns and comedy. The first scene gives us information.
We get background so that we understand what is happening.
2) What is a pun? Explain the Second Commoner’s pun.
A pun is something with a double meaning. It is a play on words. The Second Commoner said
“I am a mender of bad souls”. He is talking about the soles in the shoe because he is a shoemaker and he is also talking about the soul, a person’s soul.
3) Why does Marullus call the commoners “you cruel men of Rome”?
Because they are fickle. They change their allegiance often and very quickly. Before they had been allies with Pompey, now with Caesar, and they are “cruel” because they are not loyal.
4) How did the commoners react to Pompey when he paraded through the streets of Rome? What does this tell us about the Roman mob?
They hailed and cheered him. The Roman mob is fickle. They are looking for the most exciting thing at that time. That is what they want. We learn that they will change their allegiance very