Question

Read the following extract from Julius Caesar [Act III Scene 1] and answer the questions that follow:

CASCA - Speak hands for me!

1. Who is Casca? What duty has he been given? By whom? (Recalling)
2. What does Casca do to make his 'hands speak'? Why do you think it is a cowardly act? (Understanding & Analysis)
3. Who strikes Caesar last? What is his relationship with Caesar? What does Caesar cry out? What is the significance of his last words? (Recalling, Understanding & Analysis)
4. Where does Caesar fall? Explain the irony of where he lay dead. How does Caesar's assassination affect the story line of the play? (Recalling, Understanding & Analysis)
5. How do Cinna and Cassius react immediately after they have stabbed Caesar to death? How does Brutus try to appease the people? How does he show that he has performed an honourable act? What does it tell us about Brutus? (Recalling & Analysis)

Answer 1

1. Casca is one of the conspirators against Caesar. He is given the duty of striking Caesar first. The conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, assign him this role.
2. Casca makes his ‘hands speak’ by stabbing Caesar. It can be considered cowardly because Caesar is unarmed and surrounded by several conspirators who attack him together.
3. Brutus strikes Caesar last. He is Caesar’s close friend and a man whom Caesar trusts deeply. Caesar cries, ‘Et tu, Brute?—Then fall, Caesar!’ These words show his shock and heartbreak at being betrayed by Brutus.
4. Caesar falls at the base of Pompey’s statue. This is ironic because Caesar had defeated Pompey, yet he dies beneath Pompey’s statue. Caesar’s assassination becomes the turning point of the play, leading to Antony’s revenge, public unrest and civil war.
5. Cinna and Cassius immediately call for liberty and freedom after Caesar’s death. Brutus tries to calm the people by declaring that Caesar was killed for the good of Rome. He shows that he believes the act was honourable by presenting it as a sacrifice for liberty, not a personal murder. This reveals Brutus as idealistic, patriotic and sincere, but also politically naïve.