Julius Caesar Test Review: Quotes, Drama Terms & Plot

Complete 29-card review set from the McJC Test Review Slides: 8 quote identifications, 6 drama terminology questions, and 15 plot questions with answer key.

Who says, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once”?

Caesar.

Who says, “This dream is all amiss interpreted; It was a vision fair and fortunate”?

Decius.

Who says, “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, to cut the head off and then hack the limbs… For Antony is but a limb of Caesar”?

Brutus.

Who says, “O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, that I am meek and gentle with these butchers”?

Antony.

Who says, “Am I yourself but, as it were, in sort or limitation, to keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, and talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs of your good pleasure?”

Portia.

Who says, “There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune…”?

Brutus.

Who says, “And why should Caesar be a tyrant then? Poor man, I know he would not be a wolf, but that he sees the Romans are but sheep”?

Cassius.

Who says, “My credit now stands on such slippery ground that one of two bad ways you must conceit me, either a coward or a flatterer”?

Antony.

What is a tragic hero?

A central, generally admirable character whose tragic flaw or serious error in judgment helps cause a reversal of fortune, suffering, and usually death; the fall produces pity and fear.

What is an aside?

A brief remark spoken so the audience, and sometimes selected characters, can hear it while the other characters onstage supposedly cannot.

What is a soliloquy?

A speech in which a character, usually alone or unaware of listeners, speaks private thoughts aloud for the audience.

What is a monologue?

A long, uninterrupted speech by one character to other characters or to an audience.

What is iambic pentameter?

A poetic line of five iambs, usually ten syllables, with each iamb moving from an unstressed to a stressed syllable: da-DUM five times.

Most of Julius Caesar is written in what kind of verse?

Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter.

How would you describe the Roman mob, and why?

Fickle, emotional, easily persuaded, and capable of violence. They shift loyalty from Pompey to Caesar, then from Brutus to Antony, and later kill Cinna the Poet merely because he shares a conspirator’s name.

Name two disagreements between Cassius and Brutus.

Any two: whether to swear an oath (Cassius favors it; Brutus rejects it); whether to include Cicero (Cassius favors it; Brutus rejects it); whether to kill Antony (Cassius favors it; Brutus rejects it); whether Antony may speak at Caesar’s funeral (Cassius objects; Brutus permits it); whether to wait for the enemy or march to Philippi (Cassius says wait; Brutus says march); and their Act 4 quarrel over corruption, bribes, and money.

What role does Artemidorus play in the story?

He discovers the assassination plot and writes Caesar a letter naming the conspirators and warning him. He tries to hand it to Caesar on the way to the Capitol, but Caesar refuses to read it in time.

What is Octavius’ future identity in Roman history?

He becomes Augustus Caesar, Rome’s first emperor.

Who are the major conspirators, and who is purposely excluded from the conspiracy?

Major conspirators include Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Decius Brutus, Cinna, Metellus Cimber, Trebonius, and Caius Ligarius. Cicero is deliberately not invited after Brutus objects, and Mark Antony is kept outside the conspiracy; Cassius proposes killing him, but Brutus refuses.

List three major themes from Julius Caesar.

Any three: ambition and political power; honor versus betrayal; rhetoric and persuasion; fate versus free will; public duty versus private loyalty; appearance versus reality; and the consequences of political violence.

What is Brutus’ reasoning for meeting Antony’s army at Philippi?

The people between Sardis and Philippi support Brutus only under pressure and could join Antony and Octavius as they pass. Brutus wants to deny the enemy those recruits and attack while his own forces are full and ready, because delay will strengthen the enemy and weaken his cause.

Name three different portents in the play.

Any three: a violent storm with fire falling from the sky; a slave’s hand burning without injury; a lion wandering near the Capitol; men walking in flames; an owl appearing at noon; graves opening and the dead rising; Calphurnia’s dream of Caesar’s statue pouring blood; and the sacrificed animal found without a heart.

What philosophy does Brutus follow, and how is it defined?

Stoicism. It teaches that virtue and reason are the highest goods and that a person should control emotion, accept what fate or nature brings, and meet pain and death calmly.

What does Caesar mean when he says he is “constant as the northern star”?

Caesar claims he is uniquely fixed and unchangeable, so he will not reverse Publius Cimber’s banishment despite the conspirators’ pleas. The boast shows his pride and inflexibility and is dramatically ironic because the conspirators kill him moments later.

What is Cassius’ underlying motive for killing Caesar?

Along with opposing one-man rule, Cassius is driven by personal envy, resentment, and wounded pride. He cannot accept that Caesar, whom he considers physically weak and no better than himself, has risen above other Romans.

Which prominent characters die during Julius Caesar?

Julius Caesar, Cinna the Poet, Cicero, Portia, Cassius, Titinius, Young Cato, and Brutus. Caesar is assassinated; the mob kills Cinna; Cicero dies in the triumvirs’ purge; Portia dies by suicide; Cassius, Titinius, Young Cato, and Brutus die during or around the battles at Philippi.

Who are Flavius and Marullus (Marellus), and what happens to them?

They are tribunes who scold the commoners for celebrating Caesar and remove decorations from his statues. Casca later reports that they have been “put to silence” for pulling scarves from Caesar’s images, meaning they were stripped of office or otherwise punished; the play does not specify their exact fate.

What does Caesar leave the Roman people in his will?

Seventy-five drachmas to every Roman citizen, plus his private walks, arbors, and newly planted orchards across the Tiber for public use.

What excuse do the conspirators use to gather around Caesar before stabbing him?

Metellus Cimber kneels and petitions Caesar to repeal the banishment of his brother, Publius Cimber. The others crowd around and add their pleas, giving them the chance to surround Caesar before Casca strikes first.