Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Check your understanding!

Open Ended

A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe

conscience, which is indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.

_{(i) Who is the speaker?}

_{(ii) Who is the 'sir' that the speaker addresses?}

_{(iii) What is the play on words that the speaker makes?}

_{(iv) How does the person who hears these words react?}

Main Ideas

i. The cobbler is the speaker.

ii. Marullus is the ‘Sir ’ whom the speaker addresses.

iii. The pun is in the phrase, ‘a mender of bad soles/souls’.

iv. Marullus gets very angry and calls the cobbler a ‘naughty knave’.

Open Ended

What dost thou with thy best apparel on?

(i) Who asks this question?

(ii) To whom is the question addressed?

(iii) Why does the speaker ask the question?

Main Ideas

i. Marullus asks this question.

ii. The question is addressed to the citizens, and specifically to the carpenter.

iii. The speaker wants to know why these people are not at work (and on the streets) because he does not want them to welcome Caesar home.

Open Ended

Why does Marullus call the citizens 'blocks' and 'stones'?

Main Ideas

Marullus calls the citizens ‘blocks and stones’ because he feels that they are insensitive. He thinks they are fickle. At one time they supported Pompey and showed their love for him by welcoming him to Rome with great celebration. Now they have come to welcome Caesar who ‘triumphs over Pompey’s blood'.

Open Ended

Why do the citizens begin to feel guilty?

Main Ideas

Flavius and Marullus succeed in making the citizens feel guilty for their fickleness and ingratitude, and the switching of their allegiance to Caesar, when before their support was for Pompey.

Open Ended

Pompey was

Main Ideas

Pompey was Caesar’s enemy. We learn from Marullus that Pompey (once a great general) had brought riches from his conquests to Rome.

Multiple Select

What two special events are being celebrated in Act 1 Scene 1?

• The feast of Lupercal

• Pompey's death

• Julius Caesar's defeat

• Julius Caesar's victory

Open Ended

Why does Marullus get annoyed with the cobbler?

Main Ideas

Marullus misinterprets the cobbler’s punning replies; and the cobbler does not answer him directly. This annoys Marullus.

Open Ended

The workers were meant to carry

Main Idea

The workers were meant to carry tools of their trade.

‘Upon a labouring day’, they were meant to be working.

Flavius asks the cobbler why he leads the other citizens about the streets. What clever answer does the cobbler give? What does Flavius' words tell you about him? What does the cobbler's reply tell you about the cobbler?

Try answering this one...

Main Ideas

The cobbler tells Flavius that he leads people around the streets to ‘wear out their shoes’ and get himself more work.

Flavius feels that the cobbler (like all other labourers) is good for one thing, and one thing only—work. He should not be walking about the streets.

The cobbler realizes that Flavius (and Marullus) are people of rank, but can be made fun of. Hence the puns and the indirect answers

Marullus calls the citizens 'blocks' and 'stones'. What is his attitude like towards the citizens?

About Marullus' attitude

• Marullus calls the citizens ‘blocks and stones’ because he feels that they are insensitive.

• He thinks they are fickle. At one time they supported Pompey and showed their love for him by welcoming him to Rome with great celebration. Now they have come to welcome Caesar who ‘triumphs over Pompey’s blood.

Multiple Select

Who were the workers questioned by Flavius and Marullus?

• A tailor

• A carpenter

• A cobbler

• A mender of souls