Julius+Caesar+Scene+5.3

//Julius Caesar// Act 5 Scene 3 By Min Sung Cho, Justin Choi, Alex Volynsky, Vincent Wang, Philip Yoo, and Jack Lepore

__Important Events__: - Cassius sees people and a fire by the tents of his troops so he sends Titinius off on a horse to check if the people are friend or foe. - Cassius then orders his slave, Pindarus, to climb on top of a hill and to describe what is going on down in the field. - Pindarus reports that Titinius is being chased by horsemen and that they dismount and capture the general. - Believing that the battle is lost, Cassius commanded his slave to kill him. - Instead of running through the sword himself, Cassius is stabbed and slain by Pindarus. - Pindarus runs away and Titinius comes back into the scene to find Cassius' dead body. - Titinius lays the wreath of victory he had received from his allies upon the corpse and commits suicide. - The other generals arrive and Brutus decides that Cassius' body should be put aside for the moment and the funeral should be held later.

__Important Lines *MLA__: “Now be a freeman, and with this good sword, that ran through Caesar's bowels, search this bosom. Stand not to answer. Here, take thou the hilts, and, when my face is covered, as 'tis now, guide thou the sword” (//Julius Caesar// V.iii). Cassius is speaking to Pindarus Pindarus, Cassius's slave, just came down from the hill to Cassius after seeing Titinius crowded by an army. Pindarus was sent by Cassius on top of a hill to monitor Titinius. On top of the hill, Pindarus sees Titinius crowded by an army of men; Pindarus misconstrues the army to be Antony's and believes that they're attacking Titinius. Pindarus reports back to Cassius and explains Titinius's death; Cassius then orders Pindarus to kill him with Cassius's dagger, the identical once used to murder Caesar. This liberates Pindarus which evokes the controversy whether Pindarus's motive for killing his master was out of order or desire for freedom.

“Alas, though hast misconstrued everything. But hold thee, take this garland on thy brow. … Come, Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart!” (//Julius Caesar// V.iii). Titinius is speaking to the corpse of Cassius Titinius returns with Messala from the field. Titinius sees Cassius dead and mourns. Titinius and Messala return from the field where they encountered Brutus's army, not Antony's. Pindarus previously misinterpreted the army to be Antony's and feared for Titinius's death. This false assumption by Pindarus led to the death of Cassius. When Titinius sees Cassius's corpse, he laments and through his sorrow, he stabs himself with the same sword which killed both Brutus and Cassius. The death of Cassius and Titinius derived from a single misinterpretation by Pindarus; without this controversial deceit or adherence to commands, these catastrophes would have ceased to occur.

__Character Development__: -Cassius decides to send Titinius to check and see whose troops are approaching, and he sends his slave, Pindarus, to observe the events from above, who is mistaken later on. He sees that Titinius was enclosed by a circle of troops and he thought that those were Antony's men attempting to capture Titinius. As soon as this happens, Cassius expects that everything is lost and his slave is ordered to kill him. This incident, reveals two important facts about Cassius. It shows the reader that Cassius wants to be honorable and valiant, and he wanted to die in a respectable fashion, which was remaining still to get stabbed. During this time period, it was reputable to die in combat in this manner. Shortly before dying, he calls himself a coward for witnessing his own friend's death right before his own face, and apparently, he believes that he can make up for this by killing himself in this way. Clearly, Cassius's morals and ethics revolve around honor and valiance, and nothing more.

-The same event shows the reader that, clearly, Cassius is not well-liked among his own "people." When Cassius asked for Pindarus's help to kill himself, Pindarus could have easily attempted to stop Cassius from killing himself, but he chose not to. It is evident that Pindarus wanted Cassius to die because he dislikes him. When Messala comes back in with everybody else, including Brutus, it looks as though no one regards Cassius's death with much importance. Brutus simply shrugs it off and he does not even have enough respect for Cassius to have his funeral during the battle. At the beginning of this play, it looked as though everybody in the conspiracy held Cassius in high regards, but now that he is dead, it appears that he is utterly worthless to them, and does not deserve their condolences or admiration.

- It turns out later on that the troops greeting Titinius were Brutus's troops, and they were rejoicing. When Titinius comes back, he is shocked by what he sees, which is Cassius's dead body. Right before committing suicide, Titinius places his garland upon Cassius's brow. This shows his absolute devotion and obedience to Cassius. When Titinius actually makes the decision to kill himself it becomes apparent that Titinius actually favored Cassius. He chooses to die on Cassius's sword which is another sign of his respect.

__Motifs__:
 * Misunderstandings of the Situation Leads to Trouble** - Due to Pindarus's misunderstanding of what happened with Titinius while on his horse, Cassius also is falsely informed about this. This makes Cassius want to end his life; and therefore, orders Pindarus to assist him in his intention for suicide. As a result, he's put into a risky circumstance simply because his slave was unable the comprehend what was going on at the time. Readers realize that in other works of William Shakespeare (Romeo in Romeo and Juliet), main characters such as Cassius tend to have the wrong insight about an event that leads them to an unnecessary death or downfall, which occurs here.
 * Revenge and Avenge**- In this play, almost every action revolved around retaliating and then inflicting harm again through vengeance. Cassius's motives to kill Caesar are with revenge and jealously because mainly he believed Caesar should not have power. Cassius got his revenge by ending Caesar's life. Then later on, to avenge Caesar's death, Mark Antony encourages the commoners to get revenge on the conspirators for doing such a brutal act: murdering the almighty Caesar. Lastly, to fulfill Caesar's avengement, Cassius's death, using the same dagger used to kill Caesar, was a way get payback, even if it may have not been directly by Julius Caesar but rather from Cassius's erroneous conception of Titinius at the battle field.

__New Material for Old Topics__:
 * Misinterpretation**- After seeing his tents on fire, Cassius asked Titinius to check the distant soldiers in order to identify them as friend or foe. He then orders Pindarus to check Titinius's progress from the top of a hill. Pindarus reports that Titinius was being surrounded, attacked, and captured; there was a loud shout of joy after the soldiers have crowded around Titinius. Titinius and Cassius both misinterpreted the situation so Cassius became distraught that he and Brutus were losing the battle. He commits suicide. In actuality, Titinius was surrounded by Brutus's troops, and the troops cheered for their victory against Octavius. Titinius was also being embraced rather than attacked and captured.


 * The Legacy of Caesar**- Though Caesar was dead, it seemed to act as if he were still living; his spirit lived on. He "avenged" his own death with the same dagger that killed him by Cassius's suicide. He also sparked a war against the conspirators.


 * Historical Context (honorable death)**- Roman generals feared defeat because they will be denounced or captured by the enemy. Right when the generals believed their defeat will be imminent, they will commit suicide to die honorably on the battlefield. They would order a slave to hold a sword or dagger, and the general will literally run into the sword. Cassius, on the other hand, had Pindarus, his slave, to take the dagger and run into Cassius. Because Cassius's died in an "incorrect fashion," he did not die honorably, so he died as a coward.

-Pindarus, Cassius's slave, rejoiced over the death of his master. Since he became a freeman, he fled the battlefield and ran for his freedom. He also did not hesitate to kill his master. -Titinius, a friend of Cassius, mourned over Cassius's death. He was distraught that such an intelligent man made such a mistake. -Brutus publicly did not mourn for Cassius; he pays his respects, but he mostly disregarded Cassius's death. He declared that Cassius's funeral should not be held at the moment, so he and his troops continue on with the battle.
 * Reactions to Cassius's Death**-

__One Sentence Summary__: While Cassius is apprehensive about his men at the battle field from Antony's army, Pindarus also tells Cassius that Brutus has been taken by Antony's troops, and Pindarus misinforms Cassius that Titinius, who was sent to the battle field, has been captured; thus, Cassius commands Pindarus to kill him, and Titinius, after detecting Cassius's corpse, kills himself, too.