Blogger #8, Jessy Chui, Period 2, 11/24/21. Freshman Lit 2021
2 Julius Caesar: I.i Lesson
Aim: What is revealed in the exposition of Act I, scene I of Shakespeare’s, Julius Caesar?
Do Now: PAIR/SHARE NOW--CLASS DISCUSSION LATER
What do you believe a playwright will establish at the opening of his or her play? Why?
My group believed that a playwright will establish the setting and the main characters of the start of their play to set the story. This will help to make the story more cohesive when the audience is watching it.
We then read the text, “Putting the “I” in “Ides”” through spirit reading. Afterwards, we also discussed how the images related to the life of Caesar, including his relationship with Cleopatra shown by the image on the bottom left. and his quote “Veni, Vidi, Vici” to the right of it.
We learned about the First Triumvirate as well as Caesar’s history with Pompey.
We were asked the question: Why do you think Shakespeare chose to compress the actual historical time frame of “3” years into a period of only “6” days?
My team answered that shortening these three years would make a more easily digestible story for the viewers, and it would also make the story of Caesar more entertaining than listening to a more lengthy version. A period of only 6 days keeps the story concise and would make it easier to remember and understand.
Pun: A pun is a play on words. A person might use a word to suggest two or more meanings at the same time or use two different words that sound alike to create humor.
Patricians: aristocratic landowners who held most of the power
Plebeians: common farmers, artisans, and merchants who made up the majority of the population
Triumvirate: a group of three rulers
Tribunes: Roman officials whose task it was to protect the people against oppression
Soothsayer: fortune teller (Remember Tiresias from the Odyssey)
The definitions of the words above helped to understand the reading better.
Then, we read and listened along to Julius Caesar - Act I, scene i [2 pgs]
Julius Caesar
Act I, scene i
Rome. A street.
Enter FLAVIUS, MARULLUS, and certain Commoners
FLAVIUS
Hence! home, you idle creatures get you home:
Is this a holiday? what! know you not,
Being mechanical, you ought not walk
Upon a labouring day without the sign
Of your profession? Speak, what trade art thou? 5
First Commoner
Why, sir, a carpenter.
MARULLUS
Where is thy leather apron and thy rule?
What dost thou with thy best apparel on?
You, sir, what trade are you?
Second Commoner
Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am but, 10
as you would say, a cobbler.
MARULLUS
But what trade art thou? answer me directly.
Second Commoner
A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe
conscience; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.
MARULLUS
What trade, thou knave? thou naughty knave, what trade? 15
Second Commoner
Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me: yet,
if you be out, sir, I can mend you.
MARULLUS
What meanest thou by that? mend me, thou saucy fellow!
Second Commoner
Why, sir, cobble you.
FLAVIUS
Thou art a cobbler, art thou? 20
Second Commoner
Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl: I
meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's
matters, but with awl. I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon
to old shoes; when they are in great danger, I
recover them. As proper men as ever trod upon 25
neat's leather have gone upon my handiwork.
FLAVIUS
But wherefore art not in thy shop today?
Why dost thou lead these men about the streets?
Second Commoner
Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get myself
into more work. But, indeed, sir, we make holiday, 30
to see Caesar and to rejoice in his triumph.
MARULLUS
Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?
What tributaries follow him to Rome,
To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels?
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! 35
O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft
Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops,
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat 40
The livelong day, with patient expectation,
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome:
And when you saw his chariot but appear,
Have you not made an universal shout,
That Tiber trembled underneath her banks, 45
To hear the replication of your sounds
Made in her concave shores?
And do you now put on your best attire?
And do you now cull out a holiday?
And do you now strew flowers in his way 50
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood? Be gone!
Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague
That needs must light on this ingratitude.
FLAVIUS
Go, go, good countrymen, and, for this fault, 55
Assemble all the poor men of your sort;
Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears
Into the channel, till the lowest stream
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.
[Exeunt all the Commoners]
See whether their basest metal be not moved; 60
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness.
Go you down that way towards the Capitol;
This way will I disrobe the images (statues),
If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies.
MARULLUS
May we do so? 65
You know it is the feast of Lupercal.
FLAVIUS
It is no matter; let no images
Be hung with Caesar's trophies. I'll about,
And drive away the vulgar from the streets:
So do you too, where you perceive them thick. 70
These growing feathers pluck'd from Caesar's wing
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch,
Who else would soar above the view of men
And keep us all in servile fearfulness.
Exeunt
Afterwards, we went into our own teams and discussed the following questions :
The people of Rome are in the streets because they are celebrating the return of Caesar. Marullus is critical of their behavior because he feels as though Caesar doesn’t deserve the praise that he’s getting especially after how he’s treated others.
A pun that the cobbler uses is: “A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe conscience; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.” By this, he can refer to both the soles of shoes (a cobbler is a person who fixes shoes), as well as souls. Since this is meant to be spoken and not read, the audience wouldn’t be able to tell which one he was referring to.
The tribunes do not take it lightly and do not like the jokes, and just want him to reveal his job.
Shakespeare uses juxtaposition, because soon after this joke, the situation gets tense as they get mad about Caesar killing Pompey.
Marullus’ main point is that Caesar should not receive this much praise since he killed Pompey.
He is using repetition and personification so that he can emphasize his ideas more.
Anaphora creates emphasis and it makes the tone more accusatory, basically blaming or shaming them.
They plan to remove all the trophies and items that honor Caesar.
The tribunes most likely favored Pompey and the commonors favored Caesar, which is shown by the two groups expressing their support for their respective leader.
Finally, we discussed with the entire class, and we all mostly agreed with each other on all the points, while adding on with comments that furthered the idea we believed.
Reflection:
Today, we learned about how Caesar was portrayed to the people of Rome and what different people thought about him. I learned about how the commoners favored him while the tribunals disliked him for killing Pompey, and I’m excited to read more of the play. I also learned that Shakespeare used a lot of figurative language like juxtaposition and anaphora. What I learned today was helpful because it furthered my understanding of history. Even though the play is the summarized history that was most likely not completely factual, it lets me see how people in Shakespeare’s time thought of the history of Rome and Caesar’s life. I can use what I learned about anaphora and juxtaposition to better my creative writing and use more sophisticated language. The information from the play can be used in other classes like APWH as background knowledge when learning about history from the time of Caesar or Shakespeare.
No comments:
Post a Comment