6.1 Marcus Brutus
| Trait | Evidence in Act III, Sc. 2 |
|---|---|
| honourable and patriotic | "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" |
| relies on reason and reputation | "believe me for mine honour"; prose; no evidence offered |
| sincere and self-sacrificing | "I have the same dagger for myself" |
| over-confident, naive about people | leaves the Forum and lets Antony have the last word |
| misunderstood by the crowd | "Let him be Caesar" |
6.2 Mark Antony
| Trait | Evidence |
|---|---|
| brilliant orator | wins over a hostile crowd step by step |
| clever and cautious | keeps Brutus's conditions in words ("Brutus is an honourable man") |
| emotional and loyal to Caesar | "My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar" |
| manipulative | teases with the will; false modesty — "I am no orator" |
| ruthless and opportunistic | "Mischief, thou art afoot, / Take thou what course thou wilt!"; "Fortune is merry" |
6.3 Cassius (in these scenes)
| Trait | Evidence |
|---|---|
| practical | addresses a separate crowd |
| proved right | his warning, "You know not what you do", comes true |
| flees Rome | with Brutus, "like madmen" |
6.4 The citizens (the mob)
| Trait | Evidence |
|---|---|
| fickle | cheer Brutus, then call him a traitor within minutes |
| easily swayed by emotion | weep at the mantle; cry "Revenge!" at the body |
| moved by self-interest | the seventy-five drachmas and the parks |
| fail to understand ideas | want to crown Brutus as a new Caesar |
| violent and irrational | kill Cinna the poet for his name and "bad verses" |
6.5 Cinna the poet
| Trait | Evidence |
|---|---|
| innocent | a friend of Caesar, going to his funeral |
| uneasy, troubled by a dream | "things unlucky charge my fantasy" |
| witty | "Wisely I say, I am a bachelor" |
| a victim of mob madness | killed only because he shares a name with a conspirator |