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Take Note for Exam Success!
York Notes offer an exciting approach to English literature. This market leading series fully reflects student needs. They are packed with summaries, commentaries, exam advice, margin and textual features to offer a wider context to the text and encourage a critical analysis.
York Notes, The Ultimate Literature Guides.
Chapter 1:
* Cassius persuades Brutus to join a conspiracy against Julius Caesar, arguing that Caesar's growing ambition will lead to tyranny.
* Cassius cites several omens and prophecies that foreshadow Caesar's downfall.
* Example: Cassius claims to have heard a lion's growl during a storm, which he interprets as a divine warning.
Chapter 2:
* Caesar is warned by a soothsayer to beware the ides of March (March 15th).
* Calpurnia, Caesar's wife, has a prophetic dream in which Caesar is murdered.
* Caesar hesitates to attend the Senate, but Decius Brutus persuades him to go, saying that the omens are meaningless.
Chapter 3:
* Artemidorus discovers the conspiracy and plans to warn Caesar of the plot.
* Portia, Brutus' wife, anticipates danger and urges her husband to stay home.
* Example: Portia compares herself to a sheep that instinctively senses the approach of a wolf.
Chapter 4:
* The conspirators gather in the Senate and surround Caesar.
* Casca strikes the first blow, and the other conspirators follow suit.
* Caesar utters the famous line, "Et tu, Brute?" ("You too, Brutus?"), before falling to his death.
Chapter 5:
* Brutus addresses the crowd, explaining their reasons for killing Caesar.
* Mark Antony delivers an emotional eulogy that turns the crowd against the conspirators.
* Example: Antony uses Caesar's will to reveal that he had left a bequest to every Roman citizen, eliciting sympathy for Caesar and anger against the conspirators.
Chapter 6:
* Antony and Octavius form a triumvirate to hunt down the conspirators.
* Brutus and Cassius flee Rome and gather an army.
* The two armies clash in a battle at Philippi.
Chapter 7:
* Brutus is outnumbered and defeated.
* He commits suicide rather than fall into the hands of Antony and Octavius.
* Example: Brutus' death symbolizes the crushing of the republican cause and the rise of imperial Rome.
Chapter 8:
* Antony and Octavius emerge victorious and crown themselves co-rulers of Rome.
* The play ends with a tribute to Caesar, who despite his tragic end, is remembered as a revered figure.
