JULIUS CAESAR

ACT ONE SCENE 1

Shakespeares opening scenes are masterpieces. This scene shows the popularity of Caesar and the jealousy of
the tribunes. The fickle-minded mob plays a major role in the play. The scene opens in a street in Rome. The
workmen are rejoicing in Caesars triumph over the sons of his old rival Pompey. The Tribunes rebuke them and
order them to return to their work. They drive the crowd off the streets and set about removing all the street
decorations so that Caesars procession will seem a failure.

This is a richly evocative (suggestive) scene. It introduces 2 sections of the Roman Society one for
Caesar and one against Caesar.
The reprimand of the tribunes is obvious. They show resentment towards the enthusiasm of the
commoners for the arrival of Caesar.
The cobbler shows easy humor, Marullus continuously exhibits calculated reprimand and the words of
Flavius carry deep sarcasm.
All the characters go off the stage before the next scene.
The crowd disperses
The tribunes go forward to strip all the decorations off the streets.
The crowd will re-appear in Act 3 after the murder of Caesar
In Act 3 Scene 2 the crowd listens to the orations of Brutus and Antony.
In Act 3 Scene 3 Shakespeare exposes us to the agitated mob.
Thus before the entry of Caesar, the setting is laid out. There are 2 antithetical feelings; one is of
resentment and suspicion and the other is of public celebration. (Not only for Caesars arrival but also
the feast of Lupercal.)
The crowd is shown to be fickle-minded, witty as well as good humored.

EXTRACT 1 (IOC 1)
MARULLUS
Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?
What tributaries follow him to Rome,
To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels?
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!
O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
5
Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft
Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops,
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
The livelong day, with patient expectation,
10
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome:
And when you saw his chariot but appear,
Have you not made an universal shout,
That Tiber trembled underneath her bank s,
To hear the replication of your sounds
15
Made in her concave shores?

And do you now put on your best attire?

And do you now cull out a holiday?
And do you now strew flowers in his way
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood?
Be gone!
Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague
That needs must light on this ingratitude.
FLAVIUS
Go, go, good countrymen, and, for this fault,
Assemble all the poor men of your sort;
Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears
Into the channel, till the lowest stream
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.

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25

Exeunt all the Commoners.

See whe'er their basest metal be not moved;
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness .
Go you down that way towards the Capitol;
This way will I. Disrobe the images,
If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies.
MARULLUS
May we do so?
You know it is the feast of Lupercal.
FLAVIUS
It is no matter; let no images
Be hung with Caesar's trophies. I'll about,
And drive away the vulgar from the streets:
So do you too, where you perceive them thick.
These growing feathers pluck'd from Caesar's wing
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch,
Who else would soar above the view of men
And keep us all in servile fearfulness.
Exeunt

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35

40
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The opening scene is expository. It establishes the time and place and gives the audience an indication of what
happened before the play began. It shows the political climate in Rome and the conflict surrounding Caesar.
Rome, once ruled by three men (a triumvirate consisting of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar) is now in the hands of
only one, Caesar, whose ambitions include becoming king. The citizens, once loyal to Pompey, one of the
triumvirate, now form the base of Caesars power. Others, represented by Flavius and Marullus, are opposed to
Caesar and the threat he represents to the Roman Republic.
Flavius and Marullus drive the crowd from the streets. This shows how easily the crowd can be manipulated and
controlled. Flavius and Marullus are concerned about the welfare of the Roman state and the negative impact
that Caesars lust for power will have on its citizens. Yet the crowd seems unconcerned about politics. They are
only interested in having a holiday from work, and it does not seem to matter if the celebration is for Pompey or
for Caesar.
This fickleness of the commoners will surface several times throughout the play. Ultimately the commoners are
used as a force to affect the politics of Rome. This will become a significant factor later in the play.
Also significant are the issues of interpretation and subjectivity. Throughout the play a characters judgment is
affected by another characters interpretation of events. In this scene Flavius and Marullus are able to influence
the actions of the crowd by their accounts of Pompey and how good he was for Rome. This may or may not
have been true, but their perception prevails in the scene. Look for other indications of this subjective
interpretation of events as Brutus considers if he should kill Caesar, the interpretation of the meaning of omens
in the play, and even Pindarus report to Cassius of the capture of Titinius in Act V.
Note Shakespeares use of the pun, a play on words, in the opening lines of this scene. I am / but , as you
would say, a cobbler. (1011) The word cobbler meant bungler as well as shoemaker. Later the character says,
all that I live by is with the / awl. (2425) Since Shakespeares audience was often noisy and rowdy, he opens
the scene with humorous wordplay to focus his audiences attention, make them laugh, and get them to listen.
Once that has been done, he returns to the essential information in the scenethe developing conflict
surrounding Caesars growing ambition.