Eng II – Julius Caesar – Guiding QuestionsName ______

Act 2, Scenes 1-4, page 1Date ______Hour ______

  1. 2.1.1. Brutus’s garden often has a set of steps in the back, set in a half-circle. Below the steps is a stone bench. On the right and left are the doorways of an impressive residence. The door to the left is the servants’ entrance, where Brutus directs his call to Lucius. Why is Brutus so anxious about the time?
  2. 2.1.10. Whom is Brutus talking about in this soliloquy?
  3. 2.1.34. According to Brutus, who is like a serpent’s egg, and why?
  4. 2.1.38. Whose letter is this?
  5. 2.1.40. Does Brutus know of the soothsayer’s warning?
  6. 2.1.58. A. What actions might Brutus engage in as he reads this message?
    B. What is his tone of voice at the end?
  7. 2.1.86. Describe what the stage looks like right now. From what is said of the conspirators, how would you imagine they are dressed?
  8. 2.1.100. How would you have the actors placed on stage as Brutus and Cassius huddle and the others talk?
  9. 2.1.152. Why do they decide not to ask Cicero to join them?
  10. 2.1.153. What kid of person does Casca seem to be?
  11. 2.1.170. How do you think the actor playing Brutus should look when he speaks this sentence?
  12. 2.1.180. What does Brutus want the public, or history, to think of him?
  13. 2.1.191. What do Brutus, Cassius, and Trebonius think of Antony?
  14. 2.1.211. According to Decius, what sort of man is Caesar? (What do you think of people like Decius?)
  15. 2.1.221. How would you use lighting here to suggest the time?
  16. 2.1.256. Where would Portia be standing?
  17. 2.1.260. Some directors have Portia come too close to Brutus, physically and emotionally, and have him break away here. What would Portia’s actions be?
  18. 2.1.270. What clue tells us what Portia does here? Is she becoming calmer or more agitated?
  19. 2.1.278. What is Brutus doing here?
  20. 2.1.300. A. What does Portia suddenly do to prove her loyalty and strength of character?
    B. How do you think Brutus should respond?
  21. 2.1.321. What action might he make with this line?
  22. 2.2.1. Thunder is a kind of actor in Shakespeare’s plays.
    A. What mood does it evoke?
    B. Would you have this thunder sound alone, or would you have it serve as background noise for these speeches?
  23. 2.2.26. Calphurnia can be played here as hysterical and overly emotional or as truly frightened by her husband. Which way do you think the part should be played?
  24. 2.2.31. What does Calphurnia mean?
  25. 2.2.37. How does Caesar feel about death? How does his tone change when he addresses the servant?
  26. 2.2.37. The augurers were very important in ancient Rome. Their duties were to tell from certain signs whether some action was favored by the gods. Signs were read in the flights of birds, in thunder, in the way sacred chickens ate their food, and in the conditions of organs of sacrificial animals. What is Caesar’s mood as he hears of the augury this morning?
  27. 2.2.48. Caesar could end this speech with pomposity, dignity, or even humor. How do you interpret his tone?
  28. 2.2.54. What is Calphurnia doing?
  29. 2.2.56. Here is a sudden change. Would a kiss between lines 54-55 explain it?
  30. 2.2.65. Is Caesar angry or gentle?
  31. 2.2.83. Remember what Decius is here for. We should sense his hungry absorption of Caesar’s dream. How should he explain the dream—is he confident, fawning, awed, nervous?
  32. 2.2.91. There should be a pause here. Caesar’s fate is about to be sealed. Does he seem relieved or amused?
  33. 2.2.101. A. What reaction from Caesar is Decius seeking when he refers to “Caesar’s wife?”
    B. How is Decius playing on Caesar’s fears?
  34. 2.2.107. Suddenly Caesar changes his mind. Decius has succeeded.
    A. How would Calpurnia react now?
    B. Do you think Caesar concedes because he foolishly believes Decius, or because he heroically accepts his fate?
  35. 2.2.108. What mood would the conspirators be in as they approach their victim?
  36. 2.2.113. Where else has Caesar mentioned that a character is lean?
  37. 2.2.117. How can the actors playing Antony and Caesar establish the fact that a deep friendship exists between them?
  38. 2.2.124. Asides are addressed to the audience, out of hearing of the other actors. How would this aside be spoken?
  39. 2.2.127. What irony do you feel here? (What do we know that Caesar is ignorant of?)
  40. 2.3.1. What is the point of having a single actor introduced for a very short scene?
  41. 2.3.10. Why would Artemidorus begin speaking prose and then change to iambic pentameter?
  42. 2.4.9. A. Is there a clue in this speech that Brutus has told Portia of the conspiracy to murder Caesar?
    B. Does the script provide an opportunity for him to tell her after their conversation in Scene 1?
    C. In “stage time” (the times at which the play’s events take place), could he have told Portia of the plot?
  43. 2.4.46. What is Portia’s state of mind? Why might she deliver line 45 after a pause?
  44. Summarize each scene of ACT II.