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Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar Workbook answer ACT 1 SCENE 1

Julius-ceaser-workbook-solution-act-1-scene-1

This article comprises of workbook solution of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, You will get complete Julius caesar beeta publication workbook question answers of Act 1 Scene 1, Julius Caesar Workbook answer ACT 1 SCENE 1

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:

Extract I

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?
First Citizen
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?

(i) Who are Flavius and Marullus? Where are they and what are they doing there? Why?

Ans: Flavius and Marullus are tribunes- high-ranking officials in the government of ancient Rome. They are at a street in Rome to rebuke the citizens who are gathered in their best clothes to celebrate Caesar's victory over Pompey in a triumphal parade .  They are dispersing the crowd as they detest Caesar's growing popularity. Flavius and Marullus believe that the citizens are being fickle and disloyal to Pompey, who was once their beloved leader. They also fear that Caesar is becoming too powerful and popular, and they want to prevent him from becoming a dictator.

(ii) Who are the "idle creatures"? Why are they called so? What makes the speaker ask if it is a holiday?

Ans: The "idle creatures" are Commoners or citizens of Rome who are celebrating and taking the day off from work. They are called “idle” because as they are not wearing the tools of the trade and Flavius believes their celebration as unproductive, they should be working instead. The speaker asks them if it was a holiday since the citizens of Rome were out on the streets without the tools of their profession.

(iii) Give the meaning of the following:

Ans: (a)Being mechanical: Being manual workers i.e Workmen who use manual tools for their profession. Like a carpenter uses a leather apron and a rule.
(b)A labouring day: A working day.
(C) Sign of your profession: Working clothes with tools of their profession
Pick out from the extract, an example of a sign of a profession.
Leather apron, rule (any one)

(iv) Whom does Marullus address in the last line of the extract? What reply does he get? How does he react to the reply?

Ans: Marullus address to the Second citizen who is a cobbler, in the last line of the extract. The Second Citizen says he is a mender of bad soles. Marullus does not understand him well and is angry and called the man a rascal.

(v) Giving an example each, show how Flavius and Marullus are men in authority. Who among them, do you think, exercises greater authority? Why?

Ans: We can say that Flavius and Marullus are men in authority because they question the people of Rome why they are on the streets of Rome without the tools of their trade. Flavius question each citizen on their profession and why they were on the street without the tools of their profession. Marullus chides the people for celebrating the victory of Julius Caesar over Pompey. Flavius has greater authority as later in the scene Marullus is unsure of removing the decorations on Caesar's statues and Flavius dismisses him saying they must quell Caesar's popularity.

Extract II

Second Citizen
A trade, sir, that I hope 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?
Second Citizen
Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me: yet, if you be
out, sir, I can mend you.

(i)What is meant by a "trade"? Of which trade is the second citizen? What is the pun involved with the word "soles"?

Ans: The term “trade” refers to a person’s profession or occupation. The second citizen is a cobbler by profession. When Marullus asks him what his trade is, the cobbler replies, “Sir, a mender of bad soles.” pun involved is symbolising "bad shoe soles" with "human souls".

(ii) Why does the Second Citizen think that he "may use" the trade with a safe conscience?

Ans: This is a play on the words mender, of soles that is a pun. The cobbler is playing with the words ‘ Sole / Soul'. He is a mender of soles / Souls. Soul relates to conscience. Thus, he thinks that he may use the trade with a safe conscience.

(iii) What is meant by "naughty knave"? What does this expression tell us about the attitude of the Romans towards artisans? Give two more examples of such expressions from the scene.

Ans: The “naughty knave” term means good for nothing (worthless rascal), Flavius used the word “naughty knave” to refer to the cobbler. This expressions tell us that officials have haughty(घमंडी) attitude. It suggests that the Romans looked down on artisans and craftsmen as being of lower social status. Two more examples of such expressions from the scene are “thou saucy fellow" and “you blocks, you stones.”

(iv) Give the double meaning intended in the following expression:
... be not out with me: yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you.

Ans: In the line “be not out with me: yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you,” the cobbler is using a pun to make a joke. “Out” can mean either “angry” or “worn out.” The cobbler is saying that if Flavius is angry with him, he can calm him down. But if his shoes are worn out, he can also mend them.

(v) Give two characteristic traits, each with an example, of the common people in this scene.

Ans: 

Extract III

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!
O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
Knew you not Pompey?

(i) Who speaks these lines? To whom are these words addressed? What type of rejoicing is referred to in the extract?

Ans: Marullus speaks these lines. These words are addressed to the citizens of Rome. He is referring to the rejoicing of people celebrating the victory of Julius Caesar over Pompey.

(ii) Who is "he" referred to in the first line of the extract? What message does the speaker want to convey to his listeners through these questions?

Ans: "He" referred to Julius Caesar in the first line of the extract. The message that Marullus wants to convey to the citizens of Rome through these questions was that they are fickle because one day they celebrated Pompey's victory and later they celebrated Pompey's defeat with the same fervour they need to repent for their ingratitude, it was not worth celebrating the victory of Julius Caesar over Pompey.

(iii) What is the conquest referred to in the extract? Why has the conqueror not brought any territory to Rome by his conquest?

Ans: The conquest referred to is Julius Caesar's victory over Pompey's sons. The conqueror is not brought any territory to Rome by his conquest as it was a victory over a rival in the same country no territory was brought under Rome. Also, Pompey was Julius Caesar’s son-in-law.

(iv) Give the meaning of:
What tributaries follow him to Rome, 
To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels?

Ans: Marullus asks the citizens of Rome whether Julius Caesar had captured a king or acquired territory through this conquest. He asks the citizens of Rome whether Julius Caesar had acquired wealth for Rome through this conquest. He tells the citizens of Rome that they were being incorrect in celebrating the victory of Julius Caesar.

(v) Who are referred to as "the cruel men of Rome"? Why are they called so?

Ans: The common people who had gathered to celebrate Julius Caesar's victory over Pompey's sons. They are cruel because they had celebrated Pompey's victory in the same vein some time ago.

Extract IV

Marullus
And when you saw his chariot but appear, 
Have you not made an universal shout,
That Tiber trembled underneath her banks,
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 And do cull out a holiday?
you now strew flowers in his way,
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood?

(i) Whose chariot was seen? When? What did "you" do on seeing the chariot?

Ans: Pompey chariot was seen. when he returned victorius. On seeing the chariot the commeners cheered in a single voice that was so loud that the vibration could be felt at the river Tiber.

(ii) What is meant by "universal shout"? State in your own words what happened as a consequence of the shout.

Ans: Universal shout means the joyous screams of the people of Rome welcoming Pompey to Rome after his victories. The consequence of the shout was that the shout echoed off the banks of the river Tiber and the river trembled under its banks. This is only an indication of how joyously people welcomed Pompey back from his victorious battles.

(iii) What is meant by "Pompey's blood"? Who comes now in triumph?

Ans: Pompey’s blood refers to the bloodshed in the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey, in which Caesar emerged victorious. The conqueror who is now coming in triumph over Pompey’s blood is Julius Caesar himself.

(iv) How do the people now prepare for the triumphal entry of the person?

Ans: They dress in their best attire, and celebrate the day as a festival, strewing flowers on Caesar's path.

(v) What does the speaker want to achieve by his speech given in the extract?

Ans: The speaker does not want the people of Rome to celebrate the victory of Julius Caesar over Pompey. He is worried that the celebration of this victory will make Julius Caesar the absolute ruler of Rome and a tyrant. The speaker wants to make the common man realise his thoughtless and fickleness and wants him to repent for it.

Extract V

Marullus
May we do so?
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.
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.

(i)"May we do so?" What was Marullus supposed to do? Why? 

Ans: Flavius instructs Marullus to remove all the decorations and bunting from the statues of Julius Caesar to quell the celebrating mood at the triumph of Caesar over Pompey's sons. These are decorations that the people of Rome have put on the statues to celebrate the victory of Julius Caesar. 

(ii) What was the feast of Lupercal? How was the feast normally celebrated?

Ans: The feast to honour Lupercus a god believed to be the protector of flocks and herds. The festival of Lupercal was normally celebrated by placing decorations all over the city. On the feast of Lupercal, young men ran through the city and touched spectators with leather straps. It was believed that barren women so touched would be cured of their infertility. 
infertility.

(iii) What is meant by "trophies"? Why does Flavius say that no images should be hung with Caesar's trophies?

Ans: Trophies - decorations on the statues of Caesar which are tokens of victories of Caesar. Flavius says that no images (decorative items) should be hung on Caesar's trophies as  Flavius believes that suppressing people's enthusiasm for Caesar, it will be like pulling feathers from a falcon's wing: it will make him fly at a normal height instead of soaring out of sight (like a god) to treat men like slaves.

(iv) Who are "the vulgar"? Why are they so called?

Ans: "The Vulgar" are the common people - the workers and artisans. They are s o called because they are fickle - one day they celebrated Pompey's victory and on another day they celebrated Julius Caesar's victory over Pompey's sons. They needed to be dispersed before they crowned Caesar as king.

(v)How does the scene (from which the above extract is taken) reflect the changing fortunes of men in power and how does it indicate the behaviour of the common people in Rome?

Ans: The fortunes of men in power is continuously changing. Earlier, it was Pompey who was the darling of the people of Rome. The people of Rome cheered and celebrated the victories of Pompey earlier. Now, the same people who are celebrating the death of Pompey. The behavior of the people of Rome, towards the men in power is fickle and ever-changing. Pompey who was their hero was now the villain whose defeat the people of Rome were now celebrating. ( for more details: Refer to 'Fickleness of the Crowd' under Critical Comments)