Act+III




 * __ Summary __**

**Act three is a crucial part of Julius Caesar. It can basically be viewed as the turning point that set the rest of the story in motion. Act three leads to the death of Caesar, and goes into the events that follow. In these events, we see the funeral of Caesar, where we hear the conspirators justification for their actions. However, because they had foolishly trusted Mark Antony to help them explain their actions, the conspirators had given him the perfect chance to avenge Caesars death. In his speech, Antony had cleverly pitted/manipulated the public against the conspirators. The Public's anger had eventually led to a civil war, which is the main topic of the next two acts, and the rest of the story.**


 * __Modern Interpretations of Act Three__**

D-Block's Act III movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ6XrPG7Urg&feature=player_embedded media type="youtube" key="jKeWM04tJ9I" height="344" width="425"

Julius Caesar Act III reenactment from Block A


 * Modernized script of Act III from one of the various groups of block D.**

__**Did you know?**__
 * **The characters who are in nobility such as Caesar and Brutus talk in iambic pentameter, while lower characters such as servants do not.**
 * **The real Antony was a drunkard.**
 * **The real Julius Caesar dated Cleopatra.**
 * **Sometime after the real battle at Philippi, Antony went to Egypt and dated Cleopatra, just as Caesar did.**
 * **When Caesar dated Cleopatra, they read poetry and talked about the meaning of life.**
 * **When Antony dated Cleopatra, they played pranks on people and had burping contests.**
 * **Caesar was an illeist.**
 * **Julius Caesar was born through C-section, which is where the term "Caesarean section" comes from.**
 * **Julius Caesar had epilepsy, causing him to have seizures. Some historians believe that this might be the reason why he walked straight into the trap that the conspirators had planned for him: to die a noble death and not be remembered as some spastic old man.**
 * **The little Caesars pizza place was named after Julius Caesar**

Some interesting questions: Why did the mob kill Cinna the poet? Were they just angry?

Julius Caesar-Act 3, Scene 1: "I must prevent thee Cimber. These crouchings 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 curtsies, 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." (Pg. 48; lns. 35-48)
 * __Famous Quotes/Speeches:__**

Casca-Act 3, Scene 1: "Speak hands for me!" (Pg. 49; ln.76)

Antony-Act 3, Scene 1: "O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, That I am meeke and gentle with these butchers! Thou art the ruins of the noblest man That ever lived in the tide of times. Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood! Over thy wounds now do I prophesy (Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue), A curse shall light upon the limbs of men; Domestic fury and fierce civil strife Shall cumber all the parts of Italy; Blood and destruction shall be so in use, And dreadful objects so familiar, That mothers shall but smile when they behold Their infants quartered with the hands of war, All pity choked with custom of fell deeds; And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, With Ate by his side come hot from hell, Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of war, That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial." (Pg. 56; lns. 254- 275)

Antony-Act 3, Scene 2: "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. The noble Brutus (85) Hath told you Caesar was ambitious; If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest— For Brutus is an honorable man; So are they all, all honorable 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 honorable 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 honorable 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 honorable 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 judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason. Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me." (Pg. 61-62 lns. 74-108)

Cinna the Poet- Act 3, Scene 3: "I dreamt tonight that I did feast with Caesar, And things unluckily charge my fantasy. I have no will to wander forth of doors, Yet something leads me forth." (Pg. 68 lns. 1-4)


 * Sources**