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Similes
Definition of Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost thoughts and feelings as if... read full definition
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost... read full definition
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself... read full definition
Act 2, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Brutus Comes Around:
In Act 2, Scene 1, as Brutus paces in his garden, he comes to the realization that Caesar must die. He shares his thoughts with the audience through a soliloquy:
It must be by his death. And for my part
I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
But for the general. He would be crowned:
How that might change his nature, there’s the
Question.
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder,
And that craves wary walking. Crown him that,
And then I grant we put a sting in him
That at his will he may do danger with.
Th’ abuse of greatness is when it disjoins
Remorse from power. And, to speak truth of Caesar,
I have not known when his affections swayed
More than his reason.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Serpent's Egg:
In Act 2, Scene 1, during Brutus's soliloquy, he ponders the threat that Caesar may pose to the Roman Republic if he seeks to become a monarch. Using a simile, he compares Caesar to a snake egg:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg,
Which, hatched, would, as his kind, grow
Mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Antony Grieves:
In Act 3, Scene 1, the conspirators finally strike against Julius Caesar and assassinate him during a meeting of the Senate. As Caesar's body lies bleeding on the ground, Mark Antony delivers a tearful soliloquy for his fallen friend:
Unlock with LitCharts A+O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers.
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy
(Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue)
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy….
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Caesar, You're A star!:
In Act 3, Scene 1, when Caesar refuses to hear the case of the banished Publius Cimber, he asserts his steadfast position with an arrogant flourish of simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+But I am constant as the Northern Star,
Of whose true fixed and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks;
They are all fire, and every one doth shine.
But there’s one in all doth hold his place.
So in the world: ‘tis furnished well with men,
And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive.
Yet in the number I do know but one
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshaked of motion; and that I am he…
Related Themes:
