a. Brutus says, "Let's be sacrifices, but nor butchers, Caius." Collect together the expressions used by Brutus which are appropriate to butchery.
“To cut the head off and then hack the limbs.”
“Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods.”
b. Brutus says that ideally they should be killing Caesar's spirit, not his body. Look up the words of Caesar's ghost in Act IV Scene 3, lines 281, 282, and 284, and comment on the irony.
Caesar’s ghost calls himself “an evil spirit” even though he was a good man. He also appears as a spirit and this means that Brutus failed because he only killed Caesars body and not his soul.
c. Brutus turns harsh words and phrases into softer ones, to make a savage act seem like a civilized one. How does he choose his words to achieve this?
He chooses words that make it sound like he is going to butcher Caesar like an animal and not murdering another human. He says “carve him as a dish fit for the gods” as if it were a good thing as if Caesar were a sacrifice.
d. How is Brutus's dismissal of Antony consistent in expression with his earlier imagery?
Brutus does not want to kill Antony because he believes that Antony will not get in the way. This image is consistent with his earlier imagery because Brutus is only doing what he has to which is killing Caesar and not innocent people.
Venn Diagrams
1 Brutus is a noble, honest man but he is very gullible. Caesar is the opposite of Brutus because he can not be flattered as easily. The two are also different on the way they treat their wives. Brutus treats his with respect and trust and Caesar thinks his wife is foolish. Both Caesar and Brutus also have a lot in common. They are both strong and respected public figures. They’re also very smart and prideful.
2 Portia and Calpurnia are very different but have some things in common like being married to strong public figures. Portia is different from Calpurnia because her husband listens to her and trusts her while Caesar thinks Calpurnia is foolish. Portia will also do whatever it takes to get her husband to believe her. For example, she says she can be trusted and stabs herself in the thigh and doesn’t tell anyone. Calpurnia on the other hand crumbles under pressure and doesn’t stand up for what she belives.
