Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Cassius: Then, if we lost this battle, You are contented to be led in triumph Through the streets of Rome? Brutus: No, Cassius, no: think not, thou noble Roman, That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome; He bears too great a mind. but this same day Must end that work the Ides of March begun; And whether we shall meet again I know not. Therefore our everlasting farewell, take: Forever, and forever, farewell, Cassius If we do meet again, why, we shall smile; If not, why then, this parting was well made.

1. Why does Brutus say, ‘No, Cassius, no’?
   What conditions may force Brutus to go bound to Rome?
   Brutus says, ‘And whether we shall meet again I know not’. What do these words imply?
2. To what does Brutus refer when he says, ‘The work which the Ides of March begun’?
   How was ‘that work’ begun?
   What political change would take place in Rome if Brutus and Cassius lose this battle?
3. Earlier in this scene, Cassius had confided to Messala a strange occurrence that he had observed when his army was on its way from Sardis to Philippi. Describe this strange occurrence.
4. How does Brutus die?
   How does his manner of dying contradict the philosophy by which he had lived his life?
5. At the end of the play, Antony calls Brutus, ‘the noblest Roman of them all’. Why does he say this? What does this reveal of Antony’s character?

Answer 1

1. Brutus says ‘No, Cassius, no’ because he refuses to be taken as a prisoner and paraded through the streets of Rome. This could happen if they lose the battle and are captured by Antony and Octavius. His words ‘whether we shall meet again I know not’ show that he realises this may be their final meeting and that death may be near.
2. ‘The work which the Ides of March begun’ refers to the political struggle that began with Caesar’s assassination. It was begun when Brutus, Cassius and the other conspirators killed Caesar on the Ides of March. If Brutus and Cassius lose the battle, Antony and Octavius will gain control of Rome and the republican cause of the conspirators will fail.
3. Cassius tells Messala that two mighty eagles had accompanied their army from Sardis and fed from the soldiers’ hands. On the morning of the battle, the eagles flew away and were replaced by ravens, crows and kites circling overhead. Cassius takes this as a bad omen predicting defeat and death.
4. Brutus dies by asking Strato to hold his sword while he runs upon it. His death contradicts his earlier Stoic philosophy because he had once criticised suicide as cowardly and believed that a person should patiently endure whatever fate brings. In the end, however, he chooses suicide rather than capture and humiliation.
5. Antony calls Brutus ‘the noblest Roman of them all’ because Brutus alone joined the conspiracy not out of jealousy or personal hatred, but because he sincerely believed he was acting for the good of Rome. This shows that Antony is fair-minded and generous enough to recognise Brutus’ honour and good intentions even though Brutus had been his enemy.