Julius Caesar Shakespeare Unlocked

Will you go see the order of the course?

Not I.

I pray you do.

I am not gamesome, I do lack some part of that quick spirit that is in Antony,

let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires so I will leave you.

Brutus.

I do observe you now late, I have not from your eyes that

gentleness and show of love as I was wont to have.

You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand over your friend that loves you.

Cassius, be not deceived, if I had veiled my look

I turn the trouble of my countenance merely upon myself,

vexed I am of late with passions of some difference, conceptions

only proper to myself which gives some soil perhaps to my behaviours.

But let not therefore my good friends be grieved

among which number, Cassius, be you one.

Nor construe any further my neglect than that poor Brutus

with himself at war forgets the shows of love to other men.

Then Brutus have I much mistook your passion.

By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried thoughts of great value

worthy cogitations. Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?

No, Cassius, for the eye sees not itself

but by reflection by some other things.

'Tis just.

And it is very much lamented, Brutus, that you have no such

mirrors as will turn your hidden worthiness into your eye

that you may see your shadow.

I have heard where many of the best respect in Rome

except in mortal Caesar speaking of Brutus and groaning underneath

this age's yoke have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes.

Into what danger house would you lead me, Cassius, that you

would have me seek into myself for that which is not in me?

Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear

and since you know you cannot see yourself

so well as by reflection I your glass will modestly discover

to yourself, that of yourself which you yet know not of.

DISTANT CHEERING

What means the shouting?

I do fear the people choose Caesar for their king.

Ay, do you fear it, then must I think you would not have it so.

I would not, Cassius. Yet I love him well.

But wherefore do you hold me here so long,

what is it that you would impart to me,

if it be aught towards the general good, set honour in one eye

and death in the other, then I will look on both indifferently

for let the god so speed me as I love the name of honour

more than I fear death.

I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, as well as I do

know your outward favour.

Well, honour is the subject of my story.

I cannot tell what you and other men think of this life

but for my single self I had as lief not be

as live to be in awe of such a thing as I myself.

I was born free as Caesar, so were you.

We both have fared as well

and we can both endure the winter's cold as well as he.

For once upon a raw and gusty day

the troubled Tiber chaffing with her shores

Caesar said to me, "Darest thou, Cassius

"now leap in with me into this angry flood."

Upon the word, accoutred as I was I plunged in and begged him follow.

So indeed he did. And the torrent roared and we did buffet it

with lusty sinews, throwing it aside and stemming it with hearts of controversy.

But ere we could arrive the point proposed,

Caesar cried, "Help me, Cassius, or I sink"

And this man has now become a god and Cassius is a wretched creature

and must bend his body if Caesar carelessly but nod on him.

He had a fever when he was in Spain and when the fit was on him,

I did mark how he did shake.

'Tis true this god did shake, his coward lips

from the colour fly and that same eye whose bend of all the world

did lose his lustre. I did hear him groan, ay,

and that tongue of his

that begged the Romans mark him and write his speeches in their books,

alas it cried, "Give me some drink,"

as a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me.

A man of such a feeble temper should

so get the start of the majestic one and bear the palm alone.

DISTANT CHEERING

Another general shout.

I do believe these applauses are for some new honours

-that are heaped on Caesar.

-Why man,

he does bestride the narrow world like a Colossus

and we petty men walk under his huge legs

and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves.

Men, at some times are masters of their fates.

The fault, dear Brutus,

is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings.

Brutus and Caesar, what should be in that Caesar,

why should that name be sounded more than yours? Write them together

it is as fair a name, sound them, it doth become the mouth as well.

Weigh them. It is as heavy, come jump with them.

Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar.

Now in the name of all the gods at once, upon what meat

doth Caesar feed that he has grown so great?

Age thou art shamed. Rome, thou has lost the breed of noble bloods.

When went there by an age since the great flood

but it was famed with more than with one man.

And could they say till now they talked of Rome that her wide walls

encompassed but one man?

Now is it Rome indeed

and Rome enough when there is in it but one only man.

But 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 be in further moved.

Shakespeare's written quite a poignant story of two men who

although they are very different emotionally,

one keeps his emotions or tries to keep his emotions in control,

Brutus, and another who wears his heart on his sleeve.

I think the two of them complement each other really well.

Good Brutus, be prepared to hear,

and since you know you cannot see yourself so well

as by reflection I, your glass, will modestly

discover to yourself that of yourself which you yet know not of.

Cassius has shared the dream of the republic with Caesar

and has witnessed him

running ahead of the pack and taking power for himself

and he feels very strongly

that something needs to be done about that.

Because Cassius is the main driving force of the scene,

I would like to see you use that to really press Brutus.

Charm, will you go see the order of the course.

Block, not I,

Warm, I pray you do.

Avoid, I am not gamesome.

Brutus tries to remove himself from the situation as quickly as possible.

-Run. I will leave you.

-Brutus.

Cassius then somewhat uses emotional blackmail to coax him back in.

Accuse, I have not from your eyes that gentleness

and show of love as I was wont to have.

Pin, you bear too stubborn

and too strange a hand over your friend. Embrace, that loves you.

What is great about it is because you are reacting

almost from each thing that comes at you.

Yeah.

In detail as opposed to as I just hear the splurge of you

trying to make me feel guilty basically.

Because it then becomes very specific,

if you find that to cajole doesn't quite get what you wanted

out of the sentence, you know, you entice.

Cassius says these are the reasons why he must die, this, this,

this and this, he is a dictator.

-So why don't we go for Brutus' pride.

-Shall we do it?

Yeah, let's have a go.

Wherefore do you hold me here so long? What is it that you would impart to me?

If it be aught toward the general good,

set honour in one eye and death in the other

and I will look on both indifferently.

What was curious about that is how much pride

'I could get and actually it's still there when I play it,

'there was always a touch of it,'

but it was really like in the background and now I touch it,

I really make it hit me.

For let the gods so speed me

as I love the name of honour more than I fear death.

I know that virtue to be in you

as well as I do know your outward favour.

Well, honour is the subject of my story.

The thing that Roman men had to do in their lives

was to die with a noble name,

with an honourable name to do something, to make a mark.

Now, you needed to be ambitious but you needed not to be ambitious, to be seen to be ambitious for yourself.

It had to be for the republic.

But you try and separate - I'm going to do this for the republic

and I am doing this for my own glory from a human being... Impossible.

I love the name of honour more than I fear death.

Cassius has shared the dream of the republic with Caesar

and has witnessed him taking power for himself

and he feels very strongly that something needs to be done about that.

And he starts setting up a plan of action to rid Rome of this tyrant.

So the main emphasis of this particular exercise

is to find those moments where it feels as if Cassius' words

are striking a chord with Brutus and...

We're sitting on the chairs and then moving around...

Yeah, so you start sat opposite each other and then furthest away

and then slowly see how the scene brings you closer or kind of...

Am I allowed to leave the room when he repels me?

HE LAUGHS

Will you go see the order of the course?

Not I.

-I pray you do.

-I am not gamesome.

I do lack some part of that quick spirit that is in Anthony.

Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires, I will leave you.

Brutus.

One character is clearly trying to do something to the other character,

so Cassius was trying to get close enough to Brutus

trying to align him towards this issue,

how Julius Caesar should be dealt with.

Cassius says, "I have not from your eyes that gentleness

"and show of love as I was wont to have," as I used to have.

To which Brutus says, "Cassius, no, don't be, don't be deceived,

"that's not what's happening, what's happening is that I am not as friendly as I was

"because I've got stuff going on."

Vexed I am of late with passions of some difference,

conceptions only proper to myself

which gives some soil perhaps to my behaviour,

but not therefore my good friends be grieved,

among which number, Cassius, be you one.

In our production, we've used the charm and the mimicry

and the togetherness of a sheer bond of school.

HE SINGS: For the eye sees not itself...

BOTH: But by reflection, by some other things.

It is just.

In rehearsals, I started sort of sing-songing it

and then Cyril joined in and I thought it was brilliant,

because then it shows that we were probably at school together

and that teacher that we remember,

he give us those philosophical quotes by rote,

so that's how that came about.

We don't really know why Cassius is talking in these couched terms

about there are many of the best respect in Rome

who think that you are a pretty cool guy

and that you should think more of yourself than you do.

So we're all going... He's not saying anything, he's not being overt.

And then you get to the nitty gritty of the word Brutus and Caesar,

what's the difference between these two names.

Write them together, it is as fair a name.

Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well.

Weigh them, it is as heavy.

Conjure with them.

Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar.

And then, Brutus gives away that he fears

that honours are going to be heaped on Caesar,

this is what the crowd is shouting about.

What means the shouting?

I do fear the people choose Caesar for their king.

Aye, do you fear it?

Then must I think you would not have it so.

I would not, Cassius.

Right, then I know I am safe to go ahead.

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus,

and we, petty men, walk under his huge legs

and peep about to find ourselves...

dishonourable graves?

And then, at the end of the scene, Cassius begins to touch on Rome,

what Rome was, what Rome has become, who Romans are

and he says something to Brutus that completely changes Brutus' focus.

Now, is it Rome indeed and Rome enough,

when there is in it but one only man.

'There can't be one only man in Rome.

'That's all we need to hear,'

Brutus is on side and he's on side because he is a Roman

and he's going to show himself to be a Roman.

What would be really nice, a really simple exercise

looking at the Colossus speech,

"Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world?"

And using this post-it

to try and pinpoint where the key points and ideas of that speech are.

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world...

..like a Colossus,

and we, petty men,

walk under his huge legs

and peep about to find ourselves...

..dishonourable graves?

In there,

for me the most important thing

is the dishonourable graves.

-Yeah.

-And, you know,

petty men...peep about words

that I've heard

and affect me but not as strongly as that.

When somebody is going, "You are just a coward."

-Yeah.

-It's very different to say "You're a coward," it passes you by.

You might react to it,

but not in the same way as if somebody pointedly gives that to you.

-So that's a good exercise, we're just lifting up words and what they're doing to you.

-Yeah.

When we do that exercise,

you realise how many attacking words that there are,

emotional words that there are within Cassius' speech to Brutus.

Men at some time are masters of their fates.

The fault,

dear Brutus,

is not in our stars,

but in ourselves,

that we are underlings.

It forces you to listen they kind of have to make sure

that they are always listening to what they're saying,

but then also what's being said to them and how, how that affects them.

There is a kind of pressure cooker that you put on me,

I feel it already when we work on it.

It's that at the beginning it's all about Caesar

and then, suddenly, you start being really specific

about you're not being a Brutus.

It touches on his pride,

the fact that his family were the ones who drove out people,

who wanted to be kings, and here he is, a nobody.

Probably going to die in a dishonourable grave,

as Cassius has only just put in his head.

Then you get to the nitty gritty of the word Brutus and Caesar,

what's the difference between these two things?

If I weigh them, to weigh these two names,

if I conjure with them, starting spirits,

all these things that are about rousing and getting up and getting at

and why is he choosing that word instead of another word which is maybe, might have been weaker?

In a way, hopefully, Cyril's gone away thinking,

"Right I can, I can use that speech a bit more,

"I can, I can definitely pinpoint certain words and ideas

"that I can use to really stir up an emotion."

That talked of Rome...

..that her wide walls encompassed

but one...

..man.

I don't know how he does it,

but the sort of secret way in which Shakespeare gets to,

gets under us and gets under our skin with a sort of... We're bombarded with words,

but, at the same time, there is only one or two of them that are really going to fire us up,

but Shakespeare keeps on at us in that way

and keeps on at Brutus in that way, to get him, to goad him to action.

ALL: Oh, Caesar!

What is now amiss?

Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar,

Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat an humble heart.

I must prevent thee, Cimber,

these couchings and these lowly cadencies

might fire the blood of ordinary men

and turn preordinance and first decree into the law of children.

Be not fond to think that Caesar bares such rebel blood

that will be thawed from the true quality

with that which melteth fools.

I mean, sweet words, low-crooked curtseys

and base spaniel-fawning.

Thy brother by decree is banished,

if thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him,

I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.

Know, Caesar doth not wrong,

nor without cause will he be satisfied.

Is there no voice more worthy than my own to sound more sweetly

in great Caesar's ear for the repealing of my banished brother?

I kiss thy hand...

..but not in flattery, Caesar,

desiring thee that Publius Cimber may have an immediate freedom of repeal.

What, Brutus!

Pardon, Caesar. Caesar, pardon.

As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall

to beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber.

I could be well moved, if I were as you.

If I could pray to move, prayers would move me,

but I am constant as the Northern Star,

of whose true fixed and resting quality

there is no fellow in the firmament.

The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks,

they are all fire and every one doth shine,

but there is but one in all doth hold his place.

So in the world, it is furnished well with men,

and men are flesh and blood and apprehensive.

Yet, in the number I do know but one

that unassailable hold on his rank,

unshaked of motion,

and that I am he.

Let me a little show it, even in this,

that I was constant Cimber should be banished,

and constant do remain to keep him so.

-Oh, Caesar!

-Hence! Wilt thou lift up Olympus?

Great Caesar...

-Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?

-Speak, hands for me!

HE SCREAMS

Et tu, Brute!

Then fall, Caesar.

THEY SCREAM

SCREAMS

SCREAMS

Liberty! Freedom!

Tyranny is dead! Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets.

Some to the common pulpits and cry out,

"Liberty, freedom, enfranchisement!"

People and senators, be not affrighted.

Fly not, stand stiff,

ambition's debt is paid.

Go to the pulpit, Brutus!

-And Cassius too.

-Where's Lepidus?

Here, quite confounded with this mutiny.

Stand fast together, lest some friend of Caesar's...

Talk not of standing, Lepidus, good cheer,

there is no harm intended to your person.

Nor to no Roman else, so tell them, Lepidus.

And leave us, Lepidus,

lest that the people, rushing on us, should do your age some mischief.

Do so, and let no man abide this deed,

but we, the doers.

Where is Anthony?

Fled to his house amazed -

men, wives, children stare, cry out and run as it were doomsday.

Fates, we will know your pleasures -

that we shall die, we know, tis but the time

and drawing days out, that men stand upon.

Why he who cuts off twenty years of life

cuts off so many years of fearing death?

Stoop.

Romans, stoop,

and let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood.

Up to the elbows,

and besmear our swords.

Then walk away forth,

even to the market place

and, waving our red weapons over our heads,

let's all cry, "Peace...

"..Freedom and liberty!"

HE LAUGHS

Stoop, then, and wash.

How many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over

in states unborn and accents yet unknown!

How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport that now lies here,

no worthier than the dust.

So oft as that shall be,

so often shall the knot of us be called...

..the men that gave their country liberty.

Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat an humble heart.

I must prevent thee, Cimber...

'Historically, Caesar was killed, so Shakespeare had to show Caesar'

in a, an unsavoury light, didn't he?

He had to show him as a kind of tyrant,

as a sort of dictator in order for the audience to feel,

"Yeah, they are justified in killing him if he's going to talk to people like that."

'Shakespeare set that up wonderfully.'

Thy brother by decree is banished.

If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him,

I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.

Know, Caesar doth not wrong,

nor without cause will he be satisfied.

'They are all pleading and there is Brutus even'

who is the most respected man and well-loved by Caesar.

I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar,

desiring thee that Publius Cimber may have an immediate freedom of repeal.

What, Brutus!

I think the reason

that they are doing this for me is simply to facilitate his death, simply to hold him here.

The fact is that he then says, "Without cause, I won't be satisfied,"

and is about to leave, that's when people have to come in and stop him.

Most mighty and most puissant Caesar...

I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery.

As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall

to beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber.

What seems to be happening is everything that is played out

is played out quite publicly.

What if we made the appeal by Cimber a private encounter?

Shall we have a go at that?

-OK.

-Great.

Mighty and most puissant Caesar.

Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat an humble heart.

I must prevent thee, Cimber,

these couchings and these lowly courtesies

might fire the blood of ordinary men

and turn preordinance and first decree into the law of children.

Be not fond to think that Caesar bears such rebel blood

that will be thawed from the true quality

with that which melteth fools.

I mean, sweet words, low-crooked courtesies.

I felt that you could really see the reasonable nature of Caesar.

What I felt was if Metellus had another something else to add

because Shakespeare doesn't give him,

perhaps Caesar could have changed his mind.

But then, there is no conspiracy, there's no reason for killing him.

It's not working at first because

Caesar is being reasonable in saying to him,

"I'm not just going to change the law cos you're begging me."

So that what we need is to fire him up, which we do

by Cassius coming and going even lower than Cimber.

As low as to thy boot thou Cassius fall

to beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber.

Which makes Caesar go, "This is ridiculous."

And that's really disrespectful.

And he's so outraged by this behaviour

that he, he, he disses him and tells him to clear off.

I could be well moved if I were as you.

If I could pray to move prayers would move me.

But I am constant as the Northern Star

of whose true fixed and resting quality

there is no fellow in the firmament.

And it makes us and the rest of the conspirators think that

this egotistical unapproachable man

definitely needs to be seen to, as it were, before, you know,

he gets absolute power when he becomes king.

Shakespeare is setting him up

to be assassinated by the next speech to, to Cassius.

But hang on, he's setting him up

in order for the audience to feel justified in this killing

and therefore the senate feels justified in doing this killing.

I do know but one that unassailable hold on his rank,

unshaped of motion, and that I am he.

Let me a little show it even in this

that I was constant Cimber should be banished

and constant to remain to keep him so.

Shakespeare dealt with gods, kings and men brilliantly.

But when any one of those

steps above where they can be or should be...

trouble ensues.

How do we know who, who goes in when, who stabs him when?

"Speak hands for me" is the first stab, and that's Casca's line

so I think we're locked into that.

It tells us that Casca is the first.

-I am the first.

-Right.

We know that Casca indeed is supposed to make the first thrust,

we know that Casca also is very close to Caesar

so therefore that's why he is able to make that first thrust.

Caesar would not be suspicious of him being so close to him.

I feel like it's more Casca's waiting for the right moment.

That's right.

The line "Casca be sudden" means use the element of surprise.

-Yeah.

-So he's waiting for the right moment.

When Casca starts, everybody has got to be in.

-Oh, Caesar.

-Hence! Wilt thou lift up Olympus?

Great Caesar.

Doth not Brutus, Brutus still stand?

Speak hands for me!

SHOUTING

It's so strong, that line. "Speak hands for me."

And so that I take my cue from that knowing that I sit back,

I wait and I wait for the right moment,

I allow Caesar to pontificate and puff himself up and then...

From all these brave honourable men the blow is a behind the back blow

which says something about the strength of Caesar

that he has to be behind him.

Well, it's Caesar. I mean, it's no small thing to stab Caesar.

Better make sure it works.

Yeah, but it means that he is also like a raging bull,

whatever, he is capable of defending himself it seems.

Speak hands for me!

SHOUTING

Et tu, Brute?

"Et tu, Brute?" And you, Brutus? Are you also going to kill me?

One of the most famous lines in all Shakespeare, isn't it?

It's like Caesar is saying "I loved you all

"and I thought you all knew that I loved you.

"But you? Especially you, Brutus."

In our production, his only hope, cos he is still standing there,

he hasn't gone down, he is very strong and they've all stabbed him

and his only hope would be Brutus, who is like a son to him.

"So well, if the person that I love the most is going to kill me,

"then I'd rather die than live."

Et tu, Brute.

Then fall, Caesar.

A-a-a-argh.

In our production, Caesar covered his head

and Brutus stabbed him in the private parts.

And there is no more violent act that I can think of.

A-a-a-argh!

It's a very visceral act, the stabbing of Caesar in that way.

A-a-a-a-argh!

Hu-u-urgh! H-u-u-urgh!

Liberty. Freedom.

Tyranny is dead.

Run hence, proclaim! Cry it about the streets!

Some to the common pulpits

and cry out, "Liberty, freedom, enfranchisement!"

The freneticism is shown in the language

in its jagged language in, you know, not quite having the plan in,

nobody quite knows when to act and as with these things

it goes way over the top.

There is no self-respecting human being within the audience

who would see them going at this savage act and go,

"Oh my God, you know, I completely support

"the way they carry out the action."

It is a play that touches heart strings.

it's not about the intellect,

it's about, "How do you feel about this, though?"

As an idea it sounded brilliant.

The way it's carried out, it's savage.

SHOUTING AND CHATTER

Be patient!

Till the last Romans, countrymen and lovers

hear me for my cause and be silent,

that you may hear, believe me for mine honour

and have respect to mine honour that you may believe.

Censure me in your wisdom

and awake your senses that you made a better judge.

If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's,

to him I say, Brutus love to Caesar was no less than his.

If then that friend demands why Brutus rose against Caesar

this is my answer. Not that I loved Caesar less...

..but that I loved Rome more.

Would you rather Caesar were living to die all slaves

or that Caesar were dead to live all free men?

As Caesar loved me, I weep for him.

As he was fortunate, I rejoice at it.

As he was valiant, I honour him, but as he was ambitious, I slew him!

There is tears for his love, joy for his fortune,

honour for his valour and death for his ambition.

Who is here so rude that would be a bond man?

If any, speak, for him have I offended.

Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman?

If any, speak, or him have I offended.

Who is here so vile that will not love his country?

If any, speak, for him have I offended.

I pause for reply.

-SHOUTING

-None, Brutus, none.

Then none have I offended.

Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony, who,

though he had no part in Caesar's death

shall receive the benefit of his dying,

a place in the commonwealth, as which of you shall not.

With this I depart,

that as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome

I have that same dagger for myself

when it shall please my country to need my death.

-ALL: Live, Brutus, live, live!

-Let him be Caesar!

My countrymen!

Good countrymen, let me depart alone,

and for my sake, stay here with Antony.

Do grace to Caesar's corpse and grace his speech

tending to Caesar's glories,

which Mark Antony, by our permission, is allowed to make.

I do entreat you, not a man depart save I alone.

Till Antony have spoke.

Stay, let us hear Mark Antony!

Noble Antony, go on!

For Brutus's sake I am beholding to you.

What does he say of Brutus? 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here!

CLAMOUR

We are blessed that Rome is rid of him!

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them,

the good is oft imparted with their bones.

So let it be with Caesar.

The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious.

If it was so,

it was a grievous fault

and grievously hath Caesar answered it.

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest.

For Brutus is an honourable man.

So an honourable man,

come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.

He was my friend...

..faithful and just to me.

But Brutus says he was ambitious,

and Brutus is an honourable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome

whose ransoms did the general corpus fill,

that this in Caesar seem ambitious.

When that the poor hath cried,

Caesar hath wept!

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff -

yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man.

You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him

a kingly crown - which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and sure he is an honourable man.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,

but here I am to speak what I do know.

You all did love him once.

Not without cause.

What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?

O, judgment!

Thou art fled to brutish beasts...

and men have lost their reason.

When I first read Brutus's oration just after the murder of Caesar,

I felt that this was a man who was justifying murder,

but he wasn't justifying it in order to manipulate the crowd -

he was justifying it in order to show them why he had done it.

Romans, countrymen and lovers.

Hear me for my cause,

and be silent that you may hear.

Believe me for mine honour,

and have respect to mine honour that you may believe.

When somebody talks to us, and everything they're saying,

inside we're going, "Mm, that's true. Actually, that's right..."

that feels to me what rhetoric is.

The person has sort of got your argument,

knows what you're feeling, or knows what you're thinking,

and sort of says what you're thinking, and then says something else that you go,

"Yeah. Actually, no, that IS the inevitable conclusion of my thoughts."

So, where do we think Brutus uses

pathos, ethos and logos -

the structures of rhetoric?

Well, the main thing that he uses is ethos -

"Who am I?" And the first thing he says is, "I'm a man of honour."

That's the first personal thing he says to them - "Who am I?

"I'm a man of honour. And you all know I'm a man of honour."

Believe me, for mine honour,

and have respect to mine honour that you may believe.

Logos, yes - he definitely uses words that are very clear.

At the very beginning

he says, you know,

"Hear me, believe me, censure me."

"Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses."

He then appeals to them, and appeals to their emotions, I suppose - pathos -

when he says, "If there's any here who loved Caesar...

"well, I'm just like them, I loved Caesar too."

But I think the main thrust of his argument

is logos, is the word -

is to give them the truth,

and to say to them

this is what happened, and this is WHY this happened.

As Caesar loved me, I weep for him.

As he was fortunate, I rejoice at it.

As he was valiant, I honour him -

but as he was ambitious, I slew him.

His lines are well-balanced,

but they're not overly emotional.

You could argue that he patronises them

by just speaking down to them slightly,

not getting down and dirty on their level -

but I think what he does is slightly more honest

in that he just delivers the truth and expects

that they'll be adult enough to, to accept that, and he is so wrong.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them,

the good is oft interred with their bones.

So let it be with Caesar.

He's just seen Brutus do a fantastic speech,

which actually HAS won over this crowd,

and by the end of it they've actually said,

"Build a statue for him. Let him be Caesar."

But I think Mark Antony knows that the audience is quite fickle.

Mark Antony immediately takes the pathos side of things,

and starts to be emotional.

And in his speech you see long lines, but you also see punch.

He has a great capacity to use visceral language -

he talks about the wounds of Caesar,

he talks about the wounds speaking poor, poor dumb mouths...

he talks about the fact that they loved him once.

He uses very emotional words, and it wins the crowd over, it woos them.

I think people won't believe you when you're emotional.

They'll actually just believe in just sort of dry rhetoric.

Which is what Brutus uses, he uses rhetoric without the emotion.

And it's a great argument - but it ain't good enough.

So let's try an exercise to pick out words within that speech,

and just stress a counter argument against Brutus's argument

of why they took out Caesar,

-and just do it with your eyes closed.

-OK.

-Great.

When that the poor hath cried, Caesar hath wept.

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff,

yet Brutus says he was ambitious.

-He's trying to break down ambition. What is ambition?

-Yeah, yeah.

Was this act ambitious? Or was that act ambitious?

Because it doesn't seem to me that

that seems like a man who's ambitious,

but by the end, you're kind of questioning,

"Are these guys honest?"

After hearing both speeches,

the fact that one's written in prose and the other in verse...

-Why?!

-Yeah, why do we think that is?

I often think that often in Shakespeare

what I've seen is that his honest -

as in, they're just going to tell it like it is -

characters tend to speak in prose.

It might be that Shakespeare's saying

-that Brutus is speaking straightforwardly.

-Yeah.

And that Antony is more structured, and more in control.

Bear with me.

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

and I must pause till it come back to me.

This guy is just ten times more astute than I am

about how to work a crowd.

When he's got them to real fever pitch...

he then raises up the will.

And then promises them law.

"This is what's in Caesar's will - he's promised you money."

Suddenly I've lost them, and I wanted to get up then and go

"Actually I've got some more to say..."

But it was too late. And that's the brilliance of Mark Antony

and the brilliance of Shakespeare,

to put those two speeches side by side.

Brutus says, "Why did I kill this man?

"I killed him to make you free.

"Not because I didn't like him,

"but because I loved you much more than I liked him."

And this is, you know,

political suicide, admitting the truth.

We're going to be looking at the role of the citizens

during the oration after Caesar's assassination,

and what would be nice is for you to stay up here

and just face out,

and the rest of you guys, if you just turn your backs on him

and when you feel as if

you're being swayed by Brutus's speech,

you just turn round and listen to him.

-Let's do it, yeah?

-OK.

BABBLE OF VOICES

Be patient till the last,

Romans, countrymen and lovers.

Hear me for my cause,

and be silent that you may hear.

Believe me for mine honour,

and have respect to mine honour that you may believe.

Censure me in your wisdom,

and awake your senses

that you may the better judge.

If there be any in this assembly,

any dear friend of Caesar's...

to him I say, Brutus's love to Caesar

was no less than his.

If then that friend demand

why Brutus rose against Caesar,

this is my answer.

Not that I loved Caesar less...

..but that I loved Rome more.

Would you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves...

..or that Caesar were dead to live all free men?

So, was there a particular phrase that made you turn?

For me it was the first word that really made me want to listen

and the repetition of the word "honour".

For me it was more, "Hear me, that you may the better judge."

Awake your senses, that you may the better judge.

Because my character continually says,

"Let us hear what they have to say. No, let us hear them -

"let's hear what they're going to say first of all,"

before actually making that decision at the end of the forum scene.

For me, yeah, "Would you rather Caesar live and be all slaves?"

Would you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves?

'I hadn't thought of myself as a slave'

and having less liberty and freedom

so that's the line that made me think.

The fact that he loves Rome.

Not that I loved Caesar less,

but that I loved Rome more.

He loves the people of Rome more than he loves the person leading it,

so that made me want to listen, it made me want to listen a bit more.

Once you'd kind of made your initial decision to turn to hear him,

was that enough to, kind of, hold you?

I... It lost me when he told me to listen to Antony

because he had... Because I did not want to hear him at first

and then he convinced me to listen to him and then he asked me

to listen to Antony and, you know,

I mean, it just didn't make any sense.

But his actual mistake in the whole play

is letting Antony speak at all.

-Yeah.

-I think if Brutus had been more of a political player

then he would have just gone, "I've got them,

"I'm just going to keep them. I am not going to let Antony -

"however rubbish I might think he is at oratory -

"have a go at these guys at all

"cos I've got them eating out of my hands,"

but he doesn't think that way. Unfortunately for him, politically.

He wants them to get to mob mentality

cos he wants them to actually rip the place apart

that's what it, you know... It's riots. That's what he wants.

What would be nice is to see whether we can mark those moments

when what Antony is saying is affecting the citizens

and they feel compelled to, kind of, move closer towards him,

and if there is anything that he says that you disagree with

also taking steps back out, OK?

And we'll just start from this wall over here.

The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious.

If it were so, it was a grievous fault

and grievously hath Caesar answered it.

Here on the leave of Brutus and the rest,

for Brutus is an honourable man -

so are they all, all honourable men -

come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.

He was my friend.

Faithful and just to me.

But Brutus says he was ambitious

and Brutus is an honourable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome

whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried,

Caesar hath wept.

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff,

yet Brutus says he was ambitious and Brutus is an honourable man.

How did that feel for you guys?

Were you affected more than perhaps with Brutus or less so?

-Brutus' version was Caesar's Assassination For Dummies.

-Right.

And Antony's version is actually...

I think you're intelligent enough to think about this a little bit more

and see the truth for yourself.

For me, I've just been talked to about Brutus

and I'm pretty much on Brutus' side.

I mean, I'm not just going to jump straight,

though he does give some very, very good, valid, interesting points.

You all did see that on the Lupercal

I thrice presented him a kingly crown

which he did thrice refuse.

Was this ambition?

I think it's the way it's constructed.

He asks a lot of questions.

But it's questions that you can't answer,

so he's kind of drawing it out of them to think for themselves.

You all did love him once.

Not without cause.

What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?

He's not presenting the argument as black and white,

he's saying, "But hang on you've seen this, you've seen this,

"you've seen Caesar do this and you loved Caesar once,"

and you're actually... It's almost as though

you're giving us a lot more credit from that point of view as Antony,

to allow us to come up with the conclusion on our own.

Even though what you're actually doing

is being very manipulative with it,

but for us it feels as though we are the ones in control.

The point that Brutus misses is that Brutus talks at people

whereas I think Mark Antony talks to people, with people,

and I think because of that there is a bigger connection.

Mark Antony and Caesar, they've come from, kind of, nothing

and built themselves up,

so they've got more of an identification with the people

so obviously that is what I use to my advantage.

How come it feels as if there's still the distance

between you and him? How come no-one got right behind him

to kind of say, "Hey, everyone, you know,

"he's making a lot of sense?"

I mean, I still feel instinctively

that there is more that he has to say.

Yeah, I think I'm quite the same actually.

At this point in the speech he said, "Bear with me,"

because he's got a bit emotional so I know there's more to come

so I am prepared to listen a bit more and find out

what else he's got to say about Caesar and the conspirators.

They only got halfway

because Mark Antony still had a lot more work to do

and Shakespeare has given him those speeches

to help him get them to rise up and mutiny and revolt

against Brutus and the rest of the conspirators.

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