Act II Notes

Dramatic irony: audience knows something the character does not. The character may make a statement and not realize the full meaning of his or her statement, but the audience knows the importance. Ex. Act II Scene iv line 124 Caesar says, “Remember that you call on me today; Be near me, that I may remember you.” We know that Caesar does not actually want these men to be close to him, because they are planning on killing him. Caesar, however, thinks these men are his friends and wants them to share in his joy of being made King. Therefore, this is dramatic irony, as Caesar does not know the full meaning of what he is saying. We (the audience) know the full meaning of what is being said and the speaker does not have a clue that what he/ she is saying is ironic.

Ironic situation: one character says something that another character can not fully understand.  Trebonius says, “Caesar, I will [aside] and so near will I be, That your best friends shall wish I had been further.” We know that Trebonius is part of the conspiracy. We know Trebonius is saying that he will be close to him, because he plans on killing him. Trebonius knows what he is saying is ironic. However, Caesar does not know the true meaning of what Trebonius is saying; therefore, this is an ironic situation. The speaker knows what he/ she is saying is ironic.   The difference between the two is whether or not the speaker knows what he or she is saying is ironic.

Blank verse is a poetic form characterized by unrhymed lines written in iambic pentameter. An iamb is a foot (unit of rhythm) in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable: da-DUH Pentameter refers to a rhythmic pattern in which each line has five feet. In iambic pentameter, the typical line has five iambs, or five stressed syllables each preceded (preceded means before) by an unstressed syllable Shakespeare’s “upperclass” characters speak in iambic pentameter. Lower-born characters speak in prose.

Paraphrase is restating a line or passage from a work in your own words. Original Line “O conspiracy, Sham’st thou to show thy dang’rous brow by night When evils are most free?” Paraphrase O conspiracy, are you not ashamed to show your dangerous face at night, when it is easiest to be evil? Keys to Paraphrasing Look for punctuation showing where a sentence ends. For each sentence, identify the subject and verb and put them into the usual order. You may also need to add helping verbs and use modern verb and pronoun forms.