Key Extracts & Close Reading

The GCSE exam gives you a printed extract and asks you to analyse it in detail while also connecting it to the wider play. This lesson walks you through close readings of four key extracts from Julius Caesar, modelling the analytical techniques you need for the exam.

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Extract 1: Brutus's Soliloquy (Act 2, Scene 1)

"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."

Close Reading