"Julius Caesar": My School Play Quiz

Answer: Calpurnia

Calpurnia, the third wife of Caesar, married him when she was only sixteen. In the play she had a premonition of her husband's death. She dreamt that she saw a statue of him with blood flowing from it and that many citizens were washing their hands in the blood. She begged Caesar not to go to out on the Ides of March as there had been other bad omens during the night but he wouldn't listen to her.

There is a wonderful parody of "Julius Caesar" called "Rinse the Blood off My Toga" in which Calpurnia is portrayed as a New Yorker, with a Bronx accent saying "Julie, don't go. Julie, don't go."

Answer: Brutus

Brutus was a conflicted man. He believed the lies and exaggerations that Cassius told him about Caesar and decided that he must put the good of Rome before his friendship. Mark Antony at Brutus's funeral called him "the noblest Roman of them all" but was he? It does seem arrogant of Brutus to decide that he was the man who knew what was the most moral course to take, particulary as it involved his killing a friend. He desired to be be seen by the Roman populace as the man who saved Rome. The fact that he took a leading part in the conspiracy once he had decided to act indicates that his desire for power to be no different to Caesar's.

I do hope that you don't think that I am overly critical of Brutus just because I didn't get the part.

Answer: The Senate

On his way to the Senate Caesar was again warned by the soothsayer, and a Roman, Artemidorus, tried to give him a document that he said was about a matter important to Caesar but he refused to take it. In the Senate he was approached by Metellus Cimber who pleaded that his brother's exile be revoked. This allowed the conspirators to gather around Caesar as they pretended to support Cimber's return. Casca struck first, then the others joined in and finally Brutus stabbed his friend. He was not ashamed of what he had done, but calls on the assassins to

"Stoop, Romans, stoop.
And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords;
Then walk we forth even to the marketplace,
And, waving our red weapons o'er our heads,
Let's all cry out 'peace, freedom, and liberty!'"

Answer: Cassius

Caesar did not trust Cassius. In the play he says

"Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous."

Caesar was right, for Cassius was the initiator of the plot to kill him. It was he who persuaded Brutus to join in the murder, giving the act a veneer of patriotism as Brutus was highly regarded for his morality.

Answer: Portia

Portia, the daughter of a nobleman, was worried when she came upon Brutus in his garden after he had made a pact with Cassius and the other conspirators to kill Caesar. She knew that he was troubled but he would not tell her why, thus cutting him off from discussing with this honourable woman whether he had taken the right course. Whether she would have dissuaded him from this act we cannot know. Later in the play she committed suicide while Brutus and his army were preparing to meet the forces of Octavian and Mark Antony at Philippi.

Answer: Mark Antony

The conspirators had planned to kill Mark Antony as well as Caesar, but Brutus persuaded them that it was not necessary. This was one of his greatest mistakes for it was Mark Antony who, with his clever speech to the Roman citizens, mustered their support against the assassins and they were chased out of Rome. Mark Antony, whose mother was Caesar's cousin, joined forces with Octavian, Caesar's adopted son and heir, and the general, Lepidus, to bring about their final defeat.

Answer: Octavian

Octavian, Caesar's stepson and nephew, had been abroad but returned to Rome after the assassination. Caesar's will named him as his heir. His part in the play is slight but his determination not to be ruled by Mark Antony is obvious as when the older man tried to direct the way that their respective troops were to be arraigned on the Plains of Philippi, Octavian made it plain that he would take command.

Answer: Sounds of battle

In Shakespeare's play there were many omens on the night before Caesar's death. Calpurnia had nightmares and warned her husband that many strange things had happened.

"A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead;
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;
The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets."

The backstage crew shrieked, made neighing noises and banged things together so loudly that it's a wonder I could be heard at all.

Answer: Julius Caesar

Waiting for the conflict with Caesar's avengers, Brutus received news that his wife was dead and then he had an argument with Cassius. Although they reconciled and decided that it was the right time to engage in battle, Brutus was unsettled and could not sleep. He saw a vision of Julius Caesar who told him that he was his "evil spirit" and that he would meet him again at Philippi.

Answer: Cassius and Brutus

Brutus died bravely, impaling himself on his sword saying that he did this more willingly than he had killed Caesar. In the end Cassius was a coward and could not fall on his sword as was the Roman way, but had his servant stab him while he held his cloak over his face.

I don't think that I would want to be Cassius after all.