Act 5

Act 5 scene 1

Brutus and Cassius make a military mistake.
Cassius regrets letting Antony live.
Octavius and Antony compete for control.

The final Act concerns the final conflict between the two sides and is compressed into 5 fairly short scenes.  Again Shakespeare compresses time for dramatic purposes.  There were actually 2 battles at Philippi and they were about 3 weeks apart.  Shakespeare merges these into one continuous battle and brings Antony and Octavius face to face with...

Act 4

Act 4 scene 1

Antony and Octavius plan their revenge.

This scene contrasts with the previous one in that the result of Antony’s victory over Brutus at the funeral is shown as political – the deliberate, cold-bloodied drawing up of a list of conspirators who must die.  According to Plutarch the list ran to 300 names. 

Antony’s opening line is flat and unemotional in contrast to the grisly subject.  Octavius and Lepidus then try to bargain for the lives of various...

Act 3

Act 3 scene 1

Caesar reaches the senate but is surrounded by the conspirators.
Caesar is stabbed by all the conspirators, finally by Brutus.
Antony meets the murderers and is given permission to speak at the funeral of Caesar.

This is the pivotal scene of the play.  The scenes in both previous Acts have been building to this moment and it provides the motives for the actions in the rest of the play.

Caesar is surrounded by the conspirators – Artemidorus and the soothsayer...

Act 2

Act 2 scene 1

Brutus considers the murder of Caesar.
Brutus reads one of the false letters and is visited by Cassius.
The decision is taken not to harm Antony or any of Caesar’s other followers.

The storm from the previous scene is continuing and Brutus refers to the darkness in the opening speech.  Darkness is symbolic in this scene – it represents the darkness and confusion in Brutus’ mind.  The conspirators arrive in darkness later in the scene which adds to the feeling...

This guide has been written to help teachers in their reading, preparation and teaching of the play. Julius Caesar can be taught as a part of several exam board English Literature units:

• AQA GCSE English Literature 4710 | Unit 4: Approaching Shakespeare & the English Literary Heritage
• AQA GCSE English 4700 | Unit 3 Understanding and producing creative texts
• OCR GCSE English Literature | 2.1 Unit A661: Literary Heritage Linked Texts
• OCR GCSE English | Unit A641 Reading literary texts
• Edexcel GCSE English Literature | Unit 3: Shakespeare and...