Julius Caesar Case

The play opens with Flavius and Murellus, noticing scores of Roman civilians loitering the streets, neglecting their duties in order to engage and witness the triumphal parade of Julius Caesar, who defeated the sons of the deceased Roman general Pompey- his archrival in battle. The two tribunes holler at these citizens for abandoning their work, while removing frivolous decorations from Caesar’s statues. Caesar enters the scene followed closely by his entourage; military and political figures- Brutus, Cassius and Anthony. A seer beckons to Caesar “beware the Ides of March,” however Caesar ignores the soothsayer and continues immersing himself with the victory celebrations.

Cassius and Brutus two pivotal characters, with close relations to Caesar, converse. Brutus reveals that he fears that the people will want Caesar to stand as king, which as a result will overturn the republic. Cassius agrees by suggesting that Caesar is subject to unnecessary godly treatment despite his humanistic form making him no greater that Brutus or Cassius. Cassius continues by recalling situations of Caesar’s physical weakness and he marvels at how such an imperfect, frail man has become so powerful. Brutus considers the words of Cassius as Caesar returns. (Brutus is a character that is moralistically just and his actions aim to reflect what is right in terms of the values and views society idolises). Caesar upon seeing Cassius confides in Anthony telling him he severely distrusts Cassius.

Caesar exits the scene and the politician, Casca, is introduced. He educates Brutus and Cassius of Caesar’s denial of the crown (from Anthony) on more than one occasion during the celebration. The civilians had cheered for this offering, however Caesar still refused. He reports that Caesar then fell to the ground and had some kind of seizure before the crowd; his demonstration of weakness, however, did not alter the plebeians’ devotion to him. Brutus goes home to consider Cassius’s words regarding Caesar’s poor qualifications to rule, while Cassius hatches a plot to draw the loyal Brutus into a conspiracy against Caesar.

That night, Rome is plagued with violent weather and a variety of bad portents. Brutus finds letters in his house apparently written by Roman citizens worried that Caesar has become too powerful. The letters have in fact been forged and planted by Cassius, who knows that if Brutus believes it is the people’s will, he will support a plot to remove Caesar from power. Brutus fears based on his moral code the possibility of a dictator-led empire, worrying that the populace would lose its voice. Cassius arrives at Brutus’s home with his conspirators, and Brutus, who has already been won over by the letters, takes control of the meeting. The men agree to lure Caesar from his house and kill him. Cassius wants to kill Antony too, for Antony will surely try to hinder their plans, but Brutus disagrees, believing that too many deaths

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