Question

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

"The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answered it."

(a) Who is the speaker? Who are 'you'?
(b) How did Caesar pay for being ambitious?
(c) What argument did the speaker give to show that Brutus was wrong in his judgement of Caesar?

Answer 1

(a) The speaker is Antony. ‘you’ denotes the citizens of Rome.

(b) Caesar was assassinated by the conspirators for being ambitious.

(c)​ To argue that Brutus was wrong in his judgement of Caesar, Antony reminds the Roman citizens how Caesar brought many captives to Rome so that ransom could be earned to control the financial situation of the people. He reminds them how Caesar had wept when the poor have cried. Antony also tells them that he himself presented the crown to Caesar thrice, but Caesar refused. He then shows the crowd Caesar's will, in which he had granted every Roman citizen seventy-five drachmas and land.