this ppt is based on the English drama julius caesar.

1. Main Characters of Play
“Julius Caesar”
Made by :- Amit Choube
Class :- 10th ‘B’

2. Contents
• Summary
• Character sketches of –
Gaius Julius Caesar
Marcus Junius Brutus

3. Summary
• The tribunes, Marullus and Flavius, break up a gathering of Roman citizens who seek to
celebrate Julius Caesar’s triumphant return from war. The victory is marked by public
games in which Caesar’s friend, Mark Antony, takes part. On his way to the arena Caesar is
stopped by a stranger who warns that he should ‘Beware the Ides (15th) of March.’
• Fellow senators, Caius Cassius and Marcus Brutus, are suspicious of Caesar’s reactions to
the power he holds in the Republic. They fear he will accept offers to become Emperor.
Cassius, a successful general himself, is jealous, while Brutus has a more balanced view of
the political position. Cassius, Casca, and their allies, visit Brutus at night to persuade him
of their views, and they plan Caesar’s death. Brutus is troubled but will not confide in his
devoted wife, Portia.

4. • On the 15th March Caesar is urged not to go to the Senate by his wife, Calpurnia,
who has had dreams that he will be murdered, and she fears the portents of the
overnight storms. He is nevertheless persuaded by flattery to go and as
petitioners surround him Caesar is stabbed and dies as Brutus gives the final
blow. Against Cassius’s advice Mark Antony is allowed by Brutus to speak a
funeral oration in the market place after Brutus has addressed the people of
Rome to explain the conspirators’ reasons and their fears for Caesar’s ambition.
Brutus calms the crowd but Antony’s speech stirs them to rioting and the
conspirators are forced to flee from the city.
• Brutus and Cassius gather an army in Northern Greece and prepare to fight the
forces led by Mark Antony, who has joined with Caesar’s great-nephew, Octavius,
and with Lepidus. Away from Rome, Brutus and Cassius are filled with doubts
about the future and they quarrel bitterly over funds for their soldiers’ pay. They
make up the argument and despite the misgivings of Cassius over the site they
prepare to engage Antony’s army at Philippi. Brutus stoically receives news of his
wife’s suicide in Rome, but he sees Caesar’s ghost as he rests, unable to sleep on
the eve of the conflict.

5. • In the battle the Republicans at first appear to be winning but when his
messenger’s horse seems to be overtaken by the enemy Cassius fears the
worst and gets his servant, Pindar us, to help him to a quick death.
Brutus, finding Cassius’s body, commits suicide as the only honourable
action left to him. Antony, triumphant on the battlefield, praises Brutus
as ‘the noblest Roman of them all’, and orders a formal funeral before he
and Octavius return to rule in Rome.

6. Julius Caesar
• Caesar is a man of both military and political talent, charismatic and
shrewd, calculating and deliberate. He usually maintains a calm
demeanor, though has been known to enter into rages when pushed too
far. He is a forgiving man, readily granting amnesty to everyone of
Pompey's faction who deserts to his cause or surrenders to him after
Pompey's defeat. He attempts to make life fairer for the plebeians of
Rome, though this angers the patrician eltie and is ultimately his
downfall. Anxious not to appear as a tyrant or a king, Caesar is
nonetheless not above using dark methods to further his ends, arranging
the assassinations of certain critics of his as well as rigging elections to
ensure a favorable outcome for himself. Is very adept at kicking ass when
in war.

8. Marcus Junius Brutus
• He is a haughty but an awkward young noble; it is unclear which parts of Brutus'
actions are done in favor of what he believes or what part of his actions are done
in favor of what others expect of him. Brutus appears guilty of killing Caesar in
season two and baths naked in a river in order to have himself reborn of his past
actions and from then on seems less worried about it. After raising a
considerable army with Cassius, Brutus's spirits rise considerably as they march
back to Rome, having apparently come to terms with his role as defender of the
Republic. The good humor does not last long however as he is soon defeated at
the Battle of Philippi by the combined forces of Octavian and Antony. Unwilling
to run when Cassius died, Brutus sadly walks towards the advancing enemy
ranks and forces them to stab him to death in a scene reminiscent of the
senators stabbing Caesar.

10. Mark Antony
• Antony proves strong in all of the ways that Brutus proves weak. His impulsive,
improvisatory nature serves him perfectly, first to persuade the conspirators that he is on
their side, thus gaining their leniency, and then to persuade the plebeians of the
conspirators’ injustice, thus gaining the masses’ political support. Not too scrupulous to
stoop to deceit and duplicity, as Brutus claims to be, Antony proves himself a
consummate politician, using gestures and skilled rhetoric to his advantage. He responds
to subtle cues among both his nemeses and his allies to know exactly how he must
conduct himself at each particular moment in order to gain the most advantage. In both
his eulogy for Caesar and the play as a whole, Antony is adept at tailoring his words and
actions to his audiences’ desires. Unlike Brutus, who prides himself on acting solely with
respect to virtue and blinding himself to his personal concerns, Antony never separates
his private affairs from his public actions.

12. Gauis Octavian
Gauis Octavian is born to one of the most powerful families in Rome, he is the only
son and youngest child of Atria of the Julia. His father dies when he was young and
he was subsequently brought up by his mother and sister Octavia. Very intelligent
and well read Octavian is a young man whose formidable mind marks him out even
among the upper classes in Rome. His astute understanding of those around him
makes him observant and lethally sharp in guessing the motives and intent of
others. He is, however cold and distant. He also displays a cynicism which is more
than likely a product of exposure to his amoral mother and the morally corrosive
nature of Roman politics. He does however occasionally display his insecurities
such as self-doubt in front of his sister and Titus Pullo, with whom he admits his
mediocre skills in physical combat

14. Marullus
• Marullus is one of the Tribunes of the People of Rome. He is incensed to
see common workers leaving aside their jobs on a day when they are not
allowed to do so, particularly as they do so to honor Caesar. He reminds
them that they are celebrating Caesar’s victory over a man they used to
love and honor. Convinced by his fellow Tribune Flavius to remove the
marks of favor from Caesar’s images throughout the city, he is arrested
and never heard from again

16. Calpurnia
• Calpurnia plays a small but vital role in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. She is Caesar's wife and plays a
major role in only one scene. She has had a dream that she saw Caesar's statue 'which like a fountain
with an hundred spouts did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans came smiling and did bathe their
hands in it.'
• Calpurnia begs Caesar to stay home and not go to the Capitol. After all, it is the Ides of March which
the soothsayer had warned Caesar about. But Caesar, displaying his bravery, insists that he will go. He
will not be a coward. He tells her, 'Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste
of death but once.'
• Realizing that Caesar is unwilling to look like a coward, Calpurnia gets down on her knees and begs
him to stay home because of her fear not his own. Caesar agrees to stay home for her, but their
agreement is short-lived. Decius Brutus (not to be confused with the main character Marcus Brutus)
shows up to fetch Caesar. Caesar tells Decius he is staying home and about Calpurnia's dream. To
which Decius responds that the dream is actually a good omen! He tells Caesar that the senators are
going to give him a crown today but they might change their minds if he stays home. Caesar (led by
his pride) calls Calpurnia foolish and heads off with Decius to the Capitol.