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Julius Caesar: Act III, Scene 2

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Julius Caesar
Act III, Scene 2

The Forum.

Julius Caesar at the Globe, Mark Antony's oration

Julius Caesar at the Globe, Mark Antony's oration

Illustration for "Shakespeare's Theatre"

C. Walter Hodges, 1964

  1. Enter Brutus and Cassius with the Plebeians.

All Plebeians

1
  1. We will be satisfied! Let us be satisfied!

Brutus

2 - 8
  1. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends.
  2. Cassius, go you into the other street,
  3. And part the numbers.
  4. Those that will hear me speak, let ’em stay here;
  5. Those that will follow Cassius, go with him;
  6. And public reasons shall be rendered
  7. Of Caesar’s death.

First Plebeian

9
  1.                    I will hear Brutus speak.

Second Plebeian

10 - 11
  1. I will hear Cassius, and compare their reasons,
  2. When severally we hear them rendered.
  1. Exit Cassius with Second Plebeian and some of the Plebeians.
  1. Brutus goes into the pulpit.

Third Plebeian

12
  1. The noble Brutus is ascended; silence!

Brutus

13 - 33
  1. Be patient till the last.
  2. Romans, countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my cause, and be
  3. silent, that you may hear. Believe me for mine honor, and
  4. have respect to mine honor, that you may believe. Censure me
  5. in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the
  6. better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear
  7. friend of Caesar’s, to him I say, that Brutus’ love to
  8. Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why
  9. Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I
  10. lov’d Caesar less, but that I lov’d Rome more. Had you
  11. rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that
  12. Caesar were dead, to live all freemen? As Caesar lov’d me, I
  13. weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he
  14. was valiant, I honor him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew
  15. him. There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honor
  16. for his valor; and death for his ambition. Who is here so
  17. base that would be a bondman? If any, speak, for him have I
  18. offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If
  19. any, speak, for him have I offended. Who is here so vile
  20. that will not love his country? If any, speak, for him have
  21. I offended. I pause for a reply.

All Plebeians

34
  1. None, Brutus, none.

Brutus

35 - 45
  1. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar
  2. than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is
  3. enroll’d in the Capitol: his glory not extenuated, wherein
  4. he was worthy; nor his offenses enforc’d, for which he
  5. suffer’d death.
  6. Enter Mark Antony and others with Caesar’s body.
  7. Here comes his body, mourn’d by Mark Antony, who, though he
  8. had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his
  9. dying, a place in the commonwealth, as which of you shall
  10. not? With this I depart, that, as I slew my best lover for
  11. the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it
  12. shall please my country to need my death.

All Plebeians

46
  1. Live, Brutus, live, live!

First Plebeian

47
  1. Bring him with triumph home unto his house.

Third Plebeian

48
  1. Give him a statue with his ancestors.

Fourth Plebeian

49
  1. Let him be Caesar.

Fifth Plebeian

50 - 51
  1.                    Caesar’s better parts
  2. Shall be crown’d in Brutus.

First Plebeian

52 - 53
  1.                             We’ll bring him to his house
  2. With shouts and clamors.

Brutus

54
  1.                          My countrymen—

Third Plebeian

55
  1. Peace, silence! Brutus speaks.

First Plebeian

56
  1.                                Peace ho!

Brutus

57 - 63
  1. Good countrymen, let me depart alone,
  2. And, for my sake, stay here with Antony.
  3. Do grace to Caesar’s corpse, and grace his speech
  4. Tending to Caesar’s glories, which Mark Antony
  5. (By our permission) is allow’d to make.
  6. I do entreat you, not a man depart,
  7. Save I alone, till Antony have spoke.
  1. Exit.

First Plebeian

64
  1. Stay ho, and let us hear Mark Antony.

Fourth Plebeian

65 - 66
  1. Let him go up into the public chair,
  2. We’ll hear him. Noble Antony, go up.

Mark Antony

67
  1. For Brutus’ sake, I am beholding to you.
  1. Goes into the pulpit.

Fifth Plebeian

68
  1. What does he say of Brutus?

Fourth Plebeian

69 - 70
  1.                             He says, for Brutus’ sake
  2. He finds himself beholding to us all.

Fifth Plebeian

71
  1. ’Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here!
Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Mark Antony

Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Mark Antony

Karl August Büchel, 1914

First Plebeian

72
  1. This Caesar was a tyrant.

Fourth Plebeian

73 - 74
  1.                           Nay, that’s certain:
  2. We are blest that Rome is rid of him.

Third Plebeian

75
  1. Peace, let us hear what Antony can say.

Mark Antony

76
  1. You gentle Romans—

All Plebeians

77
  1.                    Peace ho, let us hear him.

Mark Antony

78 - 112
  1. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!
  2. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
  3. The evil that men do lives after them,
  4. The good is oft interred with their bones;
  5. So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
  6. Hath told you Caesar was ambitious;
  7. If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
  8. And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.
  9. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest
  10. (For Brutus is an honorable man,
  11. So are they all, all honorable men),
  12. Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.
  13. He was my friend, faithful and just to me;
  14. But Brutus says he was ambitious,
  15. And Brutus is an honorable man.
  16. He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
  17. Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill;
  18. Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
  19. When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept;
  20. Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
  21. Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
  22. And Brutus is an honorable man.
  23. You all did see that on the Lupercal
  24. I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
  25. Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?
  26. Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
  27. And sure he is an honorable man.
  28. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
  29. But here I am to speak what I do know.
  30. You all did love him once, not without cause;
  31. What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
  32. O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
  33. And men have lost their reason. Bear with me,
  34. My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
  35. And I must pause till it come back to me.

First Plebeian

113
  1. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.

Third Plebeian

114 - 115
  1. If thou consider rightly of the matter,
  2. Caesar has had great wrong.

Fourth Plebeian

116 - 117
  1.                             Has he, masters?
  2. I fear there will a worse come in his place.

Fifth Plebeian

118 - 119
  1. Mark’d ye his words? He would not take the crown,
  2. Therefore ’tis certain he was not ambitious.

First Plebeian

120
  1. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.

Third Plebeian

121
  1. Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with weeping.

Fourth Plebeian

122
  1. There’s not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.

Fifth Plebeian

123
  1. Now mark him, he begins again to speak.

Mark Antony

124 - 143
  1. But yesterday the word of Caesar might
  2. Have stood against the world; now lies he there,
  3. And none so poor to do him reverence.
  4. O masters! If I were dispos’d to stir
  5. Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
  6. I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong,
  7. Who (you all know) are honorable men.
  8. I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
  9. To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
  10. Than I will wrong such honorable men.
  11. But here’s a parchment with the seal of Caesar,
  12. I found it in his closet, ’tis his will.
  13. Let but the commons hear this testament—
  14. Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read—
  15. And they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds,
  16. And dip their napkins in his sacred blood;
  17. Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,
  18. And dying, mention it within their wills,
  19. Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
  20. Unto their issue.
Stage set for Julius Caesar, used at Her Majesty's Theatre

Stage set for Julius Caesar, used at Her Majesty's Theatre

John Jellicoe, circa 1898

Fifth Plebeian

144
  1. We’ll hear the will. Read it, Mark Antony.

All Plebeians

145
  1. The will, the will! We will hear Caesar’s will.

Mark Antony

146 - 152
  1. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it.
  2. It is not meet you know how Caesar lov’d you:
  3. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men;
  4. And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar,
  5. It will inflame you, it will make you mad.
  6. ’Tis good you know not that you are his heirs,
  7. For if you should, O, what would come of it?

Fifth Plebeian

153 - 154
  1. Read the will, we’ll hear it, Antony.
  2. You shall read us the will, Caesar’s will.

Mark Antony

155 - 158
  1. Will you be patient? Will you stay awhile?
  2. I have o’ershot myself to tell you of it.
  3. I fear I wrong the honorable men
  4. Whose daggers have stabb’d Caesar; I do fear it.

Fifth Plebeian

159
  1. They were traitors; honorable men!

All Plebeians

160
  1. The will! The testament!

Third Plebeian

161
  1. They were villains, murderers. The will, read the will!

Mark Antony

162 - 165
  1. You will compel me then to read the will?
  2. Then make a ring about the corpse of Caesar,
  3. And let me show you him that made the will.
  4. Shall I descend? And will you give me leave?

All Plebeians

166
  1. Come down.

Third Plebeian

167
  1. Descend.

Fourth Plebeian

168
  1. You shall have leave.
  1. Antony comes down from the pulpit.

Fifth Plebeian

169
  1. A ring, stand round.

First Plebeian

170
  1. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body.

Third Plebeian

171
  1. Room for Antony, most noble Antony.

Mark Antony

172
  1. Nay, press not so upon me, stand far off.

All Plebeians

173
  1. Stand back; room, bear back!

Mark Antony

174 - 202
  1. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
  2. You all do know this mantle. I remember
  3. The first time ever Caesar put it on;
  4. ’Twas on a summer’s evening, in his tent,
  5. That day he overcame the Nervii.
  6. Look, in this place ran Cassius’ dagger through;
  7. See what a rent the envious Casca made;
  8. Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb’d,
  9. And as he pluck’d his cursed steel away,
  10. Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it,
  11. As rushing out of doors to be resolv’d
  12. If Brutus so unkindly knock’d or no;
  13. For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s angel.
  14. Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar lov’d him!
  15. This was the most unkindest cut of all;
  16. For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
  17. Ingratitude, more strong than traitors’ arms,
  18. Quite vanquish’d him. Then burst his mighty heart,
  19. And in his mantle muffling up his face,
  20. Even at the base of Pompey’s statue
  21. (Which all the while ran blood) great Caesar fell.
  22. O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!
  23. Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,
  24. Whilst bloody treason flourish’d over us.
  25. O now you weep, and I perceive you feel
  26. The dint of pity. These are gracious drops.
  27. Kind souls, what weep you when you but behold
  28. Our Caesar’s vesture wounded? Look you here,
  29. Lifting Caesar’s mantle.
  30. Here is himself, marr’d as you see with traitors.

First Plebeian

203
  1. O piteous spectacle!

Third Plebeian

204
  1. O noble Caesar!

Fourth Plebeian

205
  1. O woeful day!

Fifth Plebeian

206
  1. O traitors, villains!

First Plebeian

207
  1. O most bloody sight!

Third Plebeian

208
  1. We will be reveng’d!

All Plebeians

209 - 210
  1. Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! Let not a
  2. traitor live!

Mark Antony

211
  1. Stay, countrymen.

First Plebeian

212
  1. Peace there, hear the noble Antony.

Third Plebeian

213
  1. We’ll hear him, we’ll follow him, we’ll die with him.

Mark Antony

214 - 234
  1. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up
  2. To such a sudden flood of mutiny.
  3. They that have done this deed are honorable.
  4. What private griefs they have, alas, I know not,
  5. That made them do it. They are wise and honorable,
  6. And will no doubt with reasons answer you.
  7. I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts.
  8. I am no orator, as Brutus is;
  9. But (as you know me all) a plain blunt man
  10. That love my friend, and that they know full well
  11. That gave me public leave to speak of him.
  12. For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
  13. Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech
  14. To stir men’s blood; I only speak right on.
  15. I tell you that which you yourselves do know,
  16. Show you sweet Caesar’s wounds, poor, poor, dumb mouths,
  17. And bid them speak for me. But were I Brutus,
  18. And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony
  19. Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue
  20. In every wound of Caesar, that should move
  21. The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.
Marc Antony's Oration

Marc Antony's Oration

William Holmes Sullivan, unknown date

All Plebeians

235
  1. We’ll mutiny.

First Plebeian

236
  1.               We’ll burn the house of Brutus.

Fourth Plebeian

237
  1. Away then, come, seek the conspirators.

Mark Antony

238
  1. Yet hear me, countrymen, yet hear me speak.

All Plebeians

239
  1. Peace ho, hear Antony, most noble Antony!

Mark Antony

240 - 243
  1. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what.
  2. Wherein hath Caesar thus deserv’d your loves?
  3. Alas you know not! I must tell you then:
  4. You have forgot the will I told you of.

All Plebeians

244
  1. Most true. The will! Let’s stay and hear the will.

Mark Antony

245 - 247
  1. Here is the will, and under Caesar’s seal:
  2. To every Roman citizen he gives,
  3. To every several man, seventy-five drachmaes.

Third Plebeian

248
  1. Most noble Caesar! We’ll revenge his death.

Fourth Plebeian

249
  1. O royal Caesar!

Mark Antony

250
  1. Hear me with patience.

All Plebeians

251
  1. Peace ho!

Mark Antony

252 - 257
  1. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks,
  2. His private arbors and new-planted orchards,
  3. On this side Tiber; he hath left them you,
  4. And to your heirs for ever-common pleasures,
  5. To walk abroad and recreate yourselves.
  6. Here was a Caesar! When comes such another?

First Plebeian

258 - 261
  1. Never, never! Come, away, away!
  2. We’ll burn his body in the holy place,
  3. And with the brands fire the traitors’ houses.
  4. Take up the body.

Third Plebeian

262
  1. Go fetch fire.

Fourth Plebeian

263
  1. Pluck down benches.

Fifth Plebeian

264
  1. Pluck down forms, windows, any thing.
  1. Exeunt Plebeians with the body.

Mark Antony

265 - 267
  1. Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot,
  2. Take thou what course thou wilt!
  3. Enter Octavius’s Servant.
  4. How now, fellow?

Octavius’s Attendant

268
  1. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome.

Mark Antony

269
  1. Where is he?

Octavius’s Attendant

270
  1. He and Lepidus are at Caesar’s house.

Mark Antony

271 - 273
  1. And thither will I straight to visit him;
  2. He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry,
  3. And in this mood will give us any thing.

Octavius’s Attendant

274 - 275
  1. I heard him say, Brutus and Cassius
  2. Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome.

Mark Antony

276 - 277
  1. Belike they had some notice of the people,
  2. How I had mov’d them. Bring me to Octavius.
  1. Exeunt.
William Faversham as Mark Antony

William Faversham as Mark Antony

Napoleon Sarony, circa 1900

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