JULIUS CAESAR

ACT 4 SCENE 3
Lines 1 to 120

Paraphrase and Word-notes

Cassius
You have wronged me in this way: you condemned and disgraced Lucius Pella for
taking bribes from the Sardians. I pleaded for the man as I know him personally,
but you brushed o my letters.

Brutus
You brought that on yourself by trying to defend his case.

Cassius
In times like these, it's not appropriate that every trivial o ence rebuked.

Brutus
Let me tell you, Cassius, that you yourself have been harshly criticised for having a
greedy hand, selling positions in your army for gold to undeserving people.

Cassius
Me having a greedy hand! You know it's only because you're Brutus that you can
say this. Because otherwise, by the gods, these words would be your last.

Brutus
When you honour this corruption, Cassius, reprimand hides his head.

Cassius
Reprimand?

Brutus
Remember March, remember the 15th of March. Didn't great Julius die for the
sake of justice? Who laid a hand on his body, who stabbed him, for any other
reason than justice? What, shall one of us who killed the greatest man of this
world for plundering Rome, shall we dirty our hands with shameful bribes and sell
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 exalted positions for the trash as can be grasped in
this way? I would rather be a dog and howl at the Word-Notes
Noted - disgraced; brought charges
moon than that kind of Roman. against; defamed
Praying on his side - pleading
Cassius on his behalf
Brutus, don't taunt me. I won't put up with it. Slighted o - contemptuously
You're forgetting yourself hemming me in like this. I disregarded
am a soldier, older and more experienced, more Meet - suitable; appropriate
c a p a b l e t h a n y o u t o m a ke t h e n e c e s s a r y Nice - sma , trivial
Bear his comment - be
preparations for out upcoming battle.

Brutus Word-Notes
Get out of here! You are not, Cassius bait - harass
to hedge me in - to put limits
Cassius upon my authority
I am. go to - away
urge - drive; insult
Brutus health - welfare; safety
I say you are not. tempt - provoke
slight man - insigni cant fe ow;
Cassius worthless man
rash choler - quick temper
Don't provoke me any more, I'll do something I'll ighted - ightened
regret. Look out for yourself. Don't push me any et - worry
further. choleric - i tempered
bondmen - slaves
Brutus Budge - inch
Get out, you little man! Crouch - shrink with fear
testy humour - irritable nature
Cassius venom - poison
Is this possible? spleen - i temper
waspish - o ensive
Brutus
Listen to me, I want to say something. Do I have to
stand aside and accommodate your rash anger? Will I cower when you stare like a
madman?

Cassius
Oh you gods, you gods! Do I have to endure all this?

Brutus
All this? Yes, and more! Get irritated until your proud heart breaks. Go show your
slaves how angry you are and make them tremble in fear. Do I have to respond?
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 Do I have to listen to this? Do I have to cringe because of your bad temper? By
the gods, I won't let you vent your spleen on me. You’ll have to swallow that
venom until it kills you, because from this day forward, I'll be laughing at you
whenever you get so spiteful.

Cassius
Has it come to this?

Brutus
You say you are a better soldier. Prove it. Make your boasting true and I'll be
pleased. As for me, I'm always happy to learn from a more noble man.

Cassius
You insult me in every way. You insult me, Brutus! I said that I'm a more
experienced soldier, not a better one. Did I say "better"?

Brutus Word-Notes
vaunting - boasting
I don't care if you did or not.
to learn of - to take lessons
om
Cassius
durst - dared
When Caesar was alive he never would have dared to moved - tried my patience,
provoke me like this! tempted, provoked
honesty - integrity
Brutus vile - evil
Oh be quiet, you would never dared tempt him so. coin my heart - change my
heart into coins
Cassius drachmas - money
I wouldn't have dared, huh? hard - ca oused
wring - squeeze out
vile trash - contemptible
Brutus
money; paltry savings
No. indirection - irregular or
unfair methods
Cassius legions - army
What, you think I wouldn't have dared? covetous - greedy
rascal counters - little coins
Brutus
Not on your life.

Cassius
Don't presume I won't hurt you because of my love. I might do something I'll
regret.
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 Brutus
You've already done things you should regret. Your threats don't terrify me,
Cassius. My integrity is like armour against them, and they pass by me like a lazy
breeze that I don't notice at all. I asked you for a certain sum of money, which you
denied me, for I will not raise any money by dishonest means. By heaven, I would
rather sell my heart, give my blood for money, than take from the hands of
hardworking peasants their paltry savings by coercion. I asked you for gold to pay
my soldiers, which you denied me. Was that something Cassius should do? Would
I have done the same to you? Gods, when I become so greedy, be ready to strike
me down with all your thunderbolts and tear me to pieces!

Cassius
I didn't deny you money.

Brutus
You did.

Cassius
I did not. The person who brought you my reply was an idiot. Brutus, you broke
my heart. Friends should endure each other's faults, but you exaggerate mine
beyond what they are.

Brutus
I didn't do that before you started attacking me with
Word-Notes
them. rived - split, broken
in rmities -
Cassius weaknesses
You don't love me. aweary - tired
braved - de led
Brutus checked - rebuked
I don't like your faults. bondman - slave
conned by rote - recited
Cassius by memory
A true friend wouldn't see those kinds of faults. dearer - richer

Brutus
A atterer wouldn't see them even if they were as huge as Mount Olympus.

Cassius
Come get me, Antony and young Octavius! Take revenge on me alone, for I'm
tired of the world, and I have have been hated by someone I love; challenged to a
ght by my brother; chastised like a lowly servant; all my faults noted, recorded,
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memorised, and thrown back in my face. Oh, I could cry my soul away. Here's my
dagger and here's my bare chest; inside, a heart more valuable than the gods'
mines, richer than gold itself. If you're a true Roman, cut it out of me. I, who
denied you money, give you my heart. Stab me like you stabbed Caesar, for I know
that even when you hated him most, you loved him more than you ever loved me.

Questions and Answers

A. That you have wronged me doth appear in this:
You have condemned and noted Lucius Pe a
For taking bribes here of the Sardians,
Wherein my letters, praying on his side
Because I knew the man, were slighted o .

1. Where are Brutus and Cassius at the moment?

Ans. Brutus and Cassius are in Sardis at the moment, having a private discussion
inside Brutus’ tent.

2. According to Cassius, how has Brutus wronged him? What is

Brutus’s response?
Ans. According to Cassius, Brutus has wronged him by condemning and publicly
disgracing Lucius Pella for taking bribes, whereas Cassius’s letters in Lucius’s
defense, where he had asked Brutus to be lenient with him because he knew him,
were ignored.

Brutus tells Cassius that he has wronged himself by writing in support of such a
corrupt man as Lucius Pella.

3. According to Cassius, what is not ‘meet’ at such a time? What kind of

time is it?
Ans. According to Cassius, in such a time as the one they are in, it is not
appropriate to condemn and publicly disgrace people for every trivial o ense.

It is a time of heavy political turmoil, when Rome is about to go through another

civil war, between the conspirators and the new triumvirs

4. What does Brutus accuse Cassius of ?

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Brutus accuses Cassius of being corrupt, of selling positions in his army to
undeserving men for gold and of letting people o for o enses in exchange for
bribes.

5. Explain ‘itching palm’? How does Cassius respond to the accusation?

Ans. The phrase ‘itching palm’ has been used as an idiom meaning greed for money
and the lust to obtain it underhandedly.

Cassius is shocked that Brutus accuses him of having a greedy hand and reminds
him that it is only because he is Brutus that he could say that, for otherwise, those
words would be his last.

6. Explain ‘chastisement’. According to Brutus, why is Cassius not

being condemned?
Ans. The word ‘chastisement’ means severe reprimand or punishment, especially
by beating.

Brutus says that it is Cassius’ honourable reputation that masks the corruption
and thus helps him to escape punishment and condemnation.

7. Why does Brutus remind Cassius of the ides of March?

Ans. Brutus reminds Cassius of the ides of March because he wants Cassius to
remember that each of the conspirators assassinated Caesar on that day for
justice’s sake alone, and so they, who killed the greatest man of this world for
plundering Rome, should not contaminate their cause by accepting shameful
bribes now.

8. According to Brutus, why did the conspirators kill Caesar? How are
those conspirators contaminating themselves?
Ans. According to Brutus, each of the conspirators who laid a hand on Caesar’s
body or stabbed him, did so for no other reason than justice. They struck down
the most powerful man in the world in part because he allowed tax-collectors to
act corruptly, and thus, indirectly, plundering Rome.

9. Explain: And sell the mighty space of our large honours / For so much
trash as may be grasped thus? What is the tone of Brutus in these
lines?
Ans. The quoted words, taken from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, are
spoken by Brutus who asks Cassius if it is worthwhile for them — the men who
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assassinated Caesar for the sake of justice — to sell their mighty reputation and
honour for such paltry sums of money as they could grab in their palms.

Brutus speaks these lines in a tone of anger and disgust.

10. What would Brutus rather be? What is Cassius’ response at this
point?
Ans. Brutus would rather be a dog and howl at the moon than such a Roman who
sells his reputation for paltry bribes.

Cassius warns Brutus not to provoke him, for he will not take it. He also reminds
Brutus that he is forgetting himself if he thinks he can limit his authority. He
claims to be a soldier, one that is more experienced than Brutus, and better able to
decide how to manage things.

11. What makes Cassius say “Is’t possible?”

Ans. After Cassius warns Brutus to stop pushing and provoking him and to think
about his health instead, lest he should forget to control himself, Brutus calls him a
‘slight man’ or a little man and tells him to go away.

Cassius, unable to believe his ears that Brutus said such disrespectful words to
him, exclaims if it is possible.

12. How does Brutus respond to Cassius’ angry threats?

Ans. Brutus insists that Cassius listen to him and asks him rhetorically if he has to
stand aside and accommodate his rash anger, or cower before him when he stares
like a madman. He tells Cassius to stay irritated until his proud heart breaks and to
go show his slaves how angry he is and make them tremble in fear, for Brutus will
not respond to his anger or listen to him or cringe because of his bad temper. He
swears that he would not let Cassius vent his spleen on me, but he would have to
swallow his venom himself until it kills him, because from that day forward,
Brutus would be laughing at Cassius whenever he gets so spiteful.

13. How does Brutus show that he is not a jealous man? According to
Cassius, in what way is Brutus wronging him now?
Ans. Brutus tells Cassius that if he says he is a better soldier, then he should go and
prove it, make his boasting true, and Brutus would be pleased, for as far as he is
concerned, he is always happy to learn from a more noble man. These words show
that Brutus is not a jealous person.
According to Cassius, Brutus is now insulting him in every way, for he claims that
he said he was a more experienced soldier, not a better one.

14. How does Cassius compare Brutus to Caesar? What is Brutus’

response? How does Cassius react to that?
Ans. Cassius says that when Caesar was alive he never would have dared to
provoke him like the way in which Brutus is provoking him now.

Brutus mockingly tells Cassius to be quiet, for it was rather Cassius who would
never have provoked Caesar so, not even on his life.

Cassius is shocked that Brutus could tell him on his face that he would not have
dared to provoke Caesar, and warns him not to presume that he would not hurt
Brutus because of his love for him, for he might end up doing something he would
regret.

B. BRUTUS
You have done that you should be sorry for.
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,
For I am armed so strong in honesty
That they pass by me as the idle wind,
Which I respect not.

1. What has Cassius done that he should be sorry for? What is the irony
here?
Ans. Brutus says that Cassius has already done things he should regret. Brutus
asked him for a certain sum of money, for gold to pay my soldiers, but he denied
Brutus, for he would not raise any money by dishonest means. He asks if that was
something Cassius should do, and if Brutus would ever have done the same to him.
There is irony here in the words "I did send to you for gold”. Brutus, an idealist of
questionable judgment, misses the irony of his criticising Cassius for extorting
money, and then reprimanding Cassius for not giving him some of that money
when he asked for it.

2. How does Brutus receive Cassius’ threats? Why?

Ans. Brutus says that Cassius’ threats do not terrify him.
This is because Brutus’ integrity is like an armour against them, and they pass by
him like a lazy breeze that he does not notice at all.

3. Explain the image that Brutus uses to describe Cassius’ threats.

Ans. Brutus uses a simile to describe Cassius’ threats. He describes them as a lazy
breeze. Just like people do not notice lazy breezes passing by them, for they are
not worth bothering about, similarly, Brutus remains unbothered by Cassius’
threats, for his own integrity, which he metaphorically compares to an armour, is a
strong protection against them.

4. What would Brutus rather do than take money from peasants?

Ans. Brutus swears by heaven that he would rather sell his heart, turn his heart
into money— spilling my blood in exchange for coins — than to wring from the
calloused hands of peasants what paltry savings they have through dishonesty or
trickery.

5. What does Brutus want the gods to do to him if he grows covetous?

Ans. Brutus invokes the Gods to be ready to strike him down with all their
thunderbolts and tear him to pieces, should he ever grow so covetous that he
hoards such a measly amount of money from his friends.

6. How does Cassius deny the accusation?

Ans. Cassius says that he did not deny Brutus, and claims that the man who
brought his answer back to Brutus was a fool.

7. How has Brutus ‘rived’ Cassius’ heart? How does Brutus counter
Cassius? Give an example of allusion here.
Ans. Cassius tells Brutus that he has broken his heart, for a friend should put up
with his friend’s weaknesses, but Brutus makes Cassius’ seem larger than they are.

Brutus denies doing so, until Cassius practises his weaknesses on Brutus. When
Cassius says that Brutus does not love him, the latter corrects him and says that he
does not like Cassius’ faults. Cassius argues that a friend would never see those
faults, but Brutus counters that a atterer would turn a blind eye to those faults
even though they appear to be as towering as Mount Olympus.
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Here, there is an allusion in the simile ‘As huge as Mount Olympus’. Mount
Olympus was home to the ancient Greek gods. In this allusion, Brutus suggests
that Cassius' faults are as huge as Mount Olympus is high.

8. What does Cassius call Antony and Octavius to do?

Ans. Cassius tells Antony and Octavius to come and take their revenge on Cassius
alone, because Cassius has grown tired of the world.

9. Why is Cassius ‘weary of this world’?

Ans. Cassius claims that he has grown tired of the world, for he is hated by
someone he loves (Brutus); de ed by his brother; scolded like a servant; and all his
faults noted, written down in a notebook, studied, and memorised so that they can
be thrown back in his face. He laments that he could weep his soul right out of my
eyes, that is, weep himself to death.

10. What does Cassius tell Brutus to do after o ering him his dagger?
Ans. Cassius o ers Brutus his unsheathed dagger and shows him his bare chest.
He says that inside that chest is a heart more valuable than Pluto’s silver mine and
richer than gold. He challenges Brutus that if he is a Roman, he should take out
Cassius heart which he, who refused to give him gold, would give him willingly.
Brutus should strike at him just as he did at Caesar, for Cassius says that he well
knows that even when Brutus hated Caesar the most, he loved him better than he
has ever loved Cassius.

11. How does Cassius describe his heart?

Ans. Cassius describes his heart as more valuable than Plutus’ mine and richer
than gold. He says that even though he denied Brutus gold, he would give him his
heart willingly.

12. Explain “Plutus’ mine”.

Ans. Shakes uses an interesting allusion in the words “Plutus’ mine”. He, like many
writers, is combining the attributes of Pluto (also known as Hades), god of the
underworld and therefore of mines; and Plutus, the god of wealth. What he wants
to convey is Cassius’ belief that his heart is more valuable than Pluto’s silver mine.

13. What does Cassius claim to know?

Ans. Cassius claims that he well knows that even when Brutus hated Caesar the
most, he loved him better than he has ever loved Cassius.
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