Question

Good countrymen, let me depart alone,

And, for my sake, stay here with Antony

i. Identify the speaker of the above lines.

ii. When and where were the above lines spoken?

iii. Bring out the irony in the above extract.

Answer 1

(i) The speaker of the above lines is Brutus.

(ii) The above lines were spoken when Brutus was speaking at Caesar's funeral. As Brutus was about to step out of the pulpit, he spoke these words.

(iii) It is ironical that Brututs tells the citizens to listen to Antony for Brututs' sake because it was Brutus who had a hand in Caesar's murder and Antony took Caesar's revenge by unearthing Brutus's conspiracy.

Answer 2

i. Decius Brutus is the speaker of the above stated lines.

ii. The lines were spoken by Decius Brutus to the Roman mob at the funeral of Julius Caesar.

iii. The irony in the above extract is that Brutus expected Anthony to speak in his favour. Anthony began speaking on similar lines, but he hinted that the conspirators had slain a good man. He made the Romans realise that Brutus and the others were cruel and Caesar was an honourable man.