In the continuation of our series of summaries and analysis of ‘Julius Caesar’,let us move on to Act II.
The Act opens with Scene 1.
Here we see Brutus is in his garden. He has made up his mind-Caesar must die! He believes Caesar will abuse his power and chiefly because he has ascended too rapidly.
Lucius,a servant of Brutus brings a letter to him. He has found it in Brutus’ private room. The letter provokes him. The first line of the letter reads, "Brutus, thou sleep'st. Awake, and see thyself" (2.1.46). Brutus apparently interprets or in this case, misinterprets the letter as if it were a request from all of Rome to slay Caesar and restore the republic.
Brutus asks Lucius what day it is, and he informs his master that it is the ides of March, or March 15th. Lucius goes to answer a knock on the door. Alone, Brutus recalls he has not slept since Cassius first incited him against Caesar.
The conspirators against Caesar assemble and go to Brutus’ house. These included Assius,Casca,Decius, Cinna, Metellus and Trebonius. All are invited in. Brutus takes Cassius aside. After that, he rejoins the group and starts to shake their hands, a sign that he has joined the conspiracy. They also wonder whether they should invite Cicero, a great orator to join in. Brutus influenced them that it is unwise. Cassius also suggested that Mark Antony be killed as well along with Caesar but Brutus again convinces them it would be too bloody and an overkill.
The group decides to murder Caesar at the Senate at 8 am that morning. It was 3 am when they made this decision. There is some worry that Caesar may not attend the Senate because he has become increasingly superstitious over the past few months. Decius convinces the group that he knows how to overcome this by flattering Caesar. He assures them he will convince Caesar to go to the Senate. Cassius and his followers then depart, leaving Brutus alone.
Portia, Brutus’ wife appears. She shows her unhappiness as Brutus has left her alone in bed and had been unfriendly lately. She wants to know why he is upset. He lies by telling her that he is sick. Portia replies that his sickness is more to do with his mind. A strong-willed women, she chided Brutus and tells him that she is build from sterner stuff. “Think you I am no stronger than my sex, / Being so fathered and so husbanded?" (2.1.295-6). To demonstrate her courage, she stabs herself in the thigh. Brutus agrees to tell her what has been disturbing him. He sends her away without an explanation as they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Enters a co-conspirator, Ligarius, who pretends to be sick. He tells Brutus that he could be cured if only Brutus had a noble undertaking in mind. Brutus tells him that he does, and Ligarius promises to follow Brutus on his bidings.
Let us now look at what transpires in Scene 2.
Terrified by a dream his wife, Calpurnia, had, in his nightgown, Caesar orders a servant to go to the priests and have them sacrifice an animal in order to read the entrails for predictions of the future. He is much disturbed by the cries of Calpurnia who has rented out in her bad dream, “"Help, ho! They murder Caesar!"
Calpurnia then comes to tell him she is fearful to leave the house that day. Caesar assures her that there is nothing to be scared off and if he is to die, be it.
At this juncture, the servant returns and tells him that the sacrificed animal did not have a heart, a very bad omen. Vehemently,Caesar insists on misinterpreting the omen. Calpurnia begs him to blame her for his absence from the Senate, to which he finally agrees.
Decius soon arrives to fetch Caesar to the Senate House but Caesar tells him he will not be coming. He then tells him about Calpurnia’s dream. Decius says the dream has been misinterpreted. In re-assuring language, he spins his interpretation that the fountains of blood pouring from Caesar’s body which Calpurnia saw actually reflects new life Caesar is giving to Rome, and not a sign of his death.
Decius then diverted Caesar’s attention by asking him if the Senate should dissolve until a better time when Calpurnia has more favorable dreams. Caesar tells Calpurnia that he was acting foolishly, and agrees to go to the Senate. Cassius and the other conspirators then arrive to accompany him to the Senate. Antony also appears and joins the group of men who then escort Caesar out of his house.
We are now at Scene 3.This is a very short scene-almost a scene in transit. Artemidorus stands on a street in the Capitol waiting for Caesar to pass his way. In his hand is a letter listing the names of all the conspirators. He hopes to be able to give it to Caesar.
Next, we come to Scene 4. We are back at Brutus’ house. Portia orders the servant Lucius to go to the Senate House. He wants to know what he should do there but Portia is so distracted that she is unable to tell him the purpose. This is borne out by her remarks to the audience, "I have a man's mind, but a woman's might. / How hard it is for women to keep counsel!" (2.4.7-8).
This indirectly tells us that Portia knows what Brutus is up to and intends to let out the secret. The soothsayer who previously warned Caesar about the ‘Ides of March’ sees her and speaks with her. He tells Portia that he will attempt once more to warn Caesar.
Let us now do the analysis.
We noticed that Brutus alone suffers from a lack of sleep. This can be inferred from what he says: "Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar / I have not slept" (2.1.61) He adds to this that his mind, "Like to a little kingdom, suffers then / The nature of an insurrection" (2.1.68-9).
His insomnia represents his struggle and anguish as to whether to betray a good friend for the greater good of Rome. His struggle foreshadows the civil war that eventually breaks out in Rome. In was on one of these insomniac moments that he encounters Caesar’s ghost.
The other issue to be aware of is that women has marginal roles in Rome during such times. We find that both Calpurnia and Portia are just confined to domestic roles and chores. Of the two women, Portia the first to appear, attempts to convince Brutus that she is worthy of his confidence. Kneeling before him, she begs him to share his secrets, and then shows him that she is stronger than what others think of her sex. She states, "Think you I am no stronger than my sex, / Being so fathered and so husbanded?" (2.1.295-6), and then stabs herself in the thigh to prove her strength. Brutus capitulates to Portia, acknowledging her strength. In contrast, Caesar ignores and spurns his wife Calpurnia's warnings against attending Senate. At first, her dream of his death keeps him home, but crafty Decius is able to turn the tables to convince him that his wife is silly. Clearly, Calpurnia is not as influential or powerful a woman as Portia. However, both women do play their wifely roles, going to extreme, to attempt to sway their husbands from doing things they think is wrong or risky.
Ironically, Calpurnia's dream of a Caesar statue bleeding from a hundred holes with which Romans bath their hands is an accurate prediction of Caesar's death, which occurs in Act 3. Decius first mocks the dream, saying, "Bring up the Senate till another time, / When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams" 2.2.98-99). He then brilliantly creates an alternate interpretation of the dream, saying, "Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, / In which so many smiling Romans bathed, / Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck / Reviving blood" (2.2.85-88). Caesar falls for it.
Brutus, contrary to the way he tries to present himself, is a vain man, easily manipulated by Cassius. Cassius first compares Brutus to Caesar by comparing their names, and subsequently tells Brutus he represents the best qualities of Caesar without the flaws. Next, Cassius drafts letters to Brutus which he has Cinna deliver by tossing them through the window or leaving them where Brutus will find them. Brutus' fatal flaw is revealed when he interprets the first letter he receives according to his personal bias. [Thus, like Malvolio in ‘Twelfth Nights’ Brutus misconstrues the letter's meaning to fulfill his desire for power.]
Give me me much light that I may read by them.
[He]opens the letter and reads
Brutus thou sleep’st.awake ,and see thyself
Shall Rome, et cetera? Speak, strike, redress
Such instigations have been often dropped
Where I have took them up.
'Shall Rome, et cetera?' Thus must I piece it out.
Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, Rome?
'Speak, strike, redress.' Am I entreated
To speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise,
If the redress will follow, thou receivest
Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus."
Brutus is so driven by his inner turmoil that when he reads the letter, he fills in the blanks with, "Shall Rome stand under one man's awe?" He further misunderstands the letter by attributing it to Rome, as if this were a call from the people without checking the authenticity, integrity or validity of it. He so taken by the letter because he wants to believe that he could be the one to right a potential mortal wrong the sake of all of Rome. That an intelligent man can be fooled by a mere note written by Cassius will normally be beyond comprehension. Not in this case, however. Here, Brutus is desperately looking for an excuse ‘to tip’ him over to the ‘other side’. He found his reason to act. The letter was timely, a provocation that meets his mindset and a just Brutus has been looking for a reason to act, and the letter provides that provocation and stimulus to act. Up to this point, Brutus has indeed hesitated, not because he has no intention to do away with Caesar but more because he is unwilling to act against Caesar until he gets some form of endorsement, encouragement and support of the Roman citizenry. However, the letter, which he believes to be from Roman citizens, provides him with an excuse to act. In this sense, we do see clearly that Brutus, not unlike any commoner, is easily convinced as long as it meets with his hidden desire and lust for power.
Brutus is actually a much confused man. His greatest error is using foul means to achieve noble intentions. By murdering, he is breaking Rome’s’ own law. He cannot be deemed innocent as much as he wants to justify the greater good of murder. Just look at the lofty language he uses to differentiate their murder of Caesar. A murder is a murder, be it by a butcher or someone else. Nothing can justify it, be it a civilized method or manner of killing.
He tells Cassius:
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit,
And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make
Our purpose necessary and not envious:
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers.
Yet "murderers" is exactly what Antony will call the conspirators. Brutus falsely tries to divide the indivisible by pretending killing Caesar is not murder, when it clearly is. There is no such thing as a sacrificial murder. Brutus is totally misplaced in his perverted thinking.
As for the great Caesar, his greatest achievement is his ability to outlive mortal death. Alluding to this in the third person, “we”, he remarked that ’Caesar should be a beast without a heart" (2.2.42), "And Caesar shall go forth" (2.2.48). Caesar's use of the third person creates a sense of permanence, as do the images Caesar invokes of Mount Olympus and the Colossus. These references foreshadow the power Caesar will continue to hold, even after his death.
This contrasts with Brutus' use of "I", and his eventual defeat:
"That you do love me I am nothing jealous.
What you would work me to I have some aim.
How I have thought of this and of these times
I shall recount hereafter. For this present,
I would not, so with love I might entreat you"
