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Act 2, scene 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Julius Caesar, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Manhood and Honor
Logic and Language
Public vs. Private
Politics and Morality
Fate
Summary
Analysis
Artemidorus enters, reading a paper. He’s written a letter to Caesar, warning him to beware of Brutus and the other conspirators. He will offer the paper to Caesar when he passes by. If Caesar doesn’t read the note and live, he thinks, then “the Fates with traitors do contrive.”
It’s not clear how Artemidorus learned about the plot, but his willingness to intervene shows that Roman attitudes toward Caesar are not united. At the same time, there’s an ambivalent attitude toward “the Fates,” which Caesar believes can still override human initiative.
Themes
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