- Pride before a fall: Caesar's boast that he is "constant as the northern star" comes moments before his death.
- Fate and free will: omens and warnings are ignored; Caesar chooses to go to the Capitol and to set Artemidorus aside.
- Honour and idealism vs political realism: Brutus's honourable trust is no match for Antony's cunning or Cassius's realism.
- Appearance and reality: Antony appears friendly but is planning revenge; the conspirators call themselves "sacrificers" but act as "butchers".
- The power of words: the right to speak at the funeral proves more powerful than the daggers.
7.1 Dramatic irony in the scene
- Caesar puts aside Artemidorus's letter — which could save him — saying his own concerns will be "last served".
- Caesar boasts of being unshakable just before he is struck down.
- Cassius imagines the scene acted "in states unborn and accents yet unknown" — exactly what happens in theatres today.
- Brutus believes letting Antony speak "shall advantage more than do us wrong" — it ruins them.
7.2 The turning point
Up to this scene, the conspirators control events; after it, Antony and Caesar's spirit take control. The scene's second half is therefore called the beginning of the falling action: everything that follows flows from Brutus's decision to let Antony speak.
7.3 Foreshadowing
- "Ay, Caesar; but not gone" — Caesar's death.
- Cassius's misgivings about Antony — Antony's speech and the civil war.
- Antony's prophecy of "fierce civil strife" and Caesar's spirit "ranging for revenge" — Acts IV and V, the ghost at Sardis and Philippi.