Cassius Character Study - Julius Caesar

Cassius is the man who brought together the assassination of Julius Caesar. The scene that I play Cassius is the scene where he is with Brutus and they are both trying to find out each others opinions of Caesar without giving too much of their own away, because if they were overheard or the other disagreed they could be accused of treason.

Cassius intensely dislikes Caesar personally, but he also deeply resents being subservient to a tyrant, and there are indications that he would fight for his personal freedom under any tyrant. He does not resent following the almost dictatorial pronouncements of his equal, Brutus, although he does disagree with most of Brutus' tactical decisions. Cassius and Brutus are old friends and fought together at Pompey (against Caesar and where both pardoned) but Cassius was not forgiven as quickly as Brutus was. This creates tension between the two characters but it has to be masked behind the politeness and respect of governors. However, out of all the leading characters in Julius Caesar, Cassius develops most as the action progresses. At the end of Act I, Scene 2, he is a passionate and devious manipulator striving to use Brutus to gain his ends. By the end of Act IV, Scene 3, he is a calm friend of Brutus who will remain faithful to their friendship until death.

 I did an exercise where I stepped in to my character's shoes and acted how I thought they would act in a certain situation. One of the scenarios was a boy playing a prank on a man but the man caught him and hit him, how would your character react? I saw Cassius as not caring and the thought that run through my head was, "Life's not a joke. Life's tough. The sooner people learn that the better." This showed me a great deal of my character, that he is cold, intelligent and always thinking ahead, so any situation usually went his way.

 

 

Caesar talks about Cassius to Mark Antony saying,
"Let me have men about me that are fat,

Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.

He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous."

 

"He reads much.

He is a great observer, and he looks

Quite through the deeds of men. He loves no plays,

As thou dost, Antony. He hears no music.

Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort

As if he mocked himself and scorned his spirit

That could be moved to smile at anything."

 

The way he describes him shows Cassius as being ill compared to the other men because they have bigger bodies and wide awake eyes. I think what he means by saying this is that all the other men seem happy while Cassius always has hunger in his eyes, for what however Caesar does not know and that's what makes him dangerous to Caesar as he can see him always thinking and observing other people picking up their habits, weaknesses, strengths.

 

I played my Cassius as cold. He smiles at Brutus and touches his arms to show familiarity but when Brutus touched him he looks down at the hand and steps back to provide space between them. He watches Brutus carefully every time he talks about Caesar to see his reaction to his name. This is where him being observant comes in as he holds strong eye contact at all times showing that he will not shy away from what he's saying or what Brutus has to say to him.

 

This scene shows Cassius as being ambitious and calculating. He knows Brutus well and in the conversation they have he appeals to Brutus' sense of honour, nobility, and pride, knowing that the only way to get Brutus on his side is to make him think he's doing it all for the greater good; a better future for Rome as he's scared that Caesar has too much power for one man.

The subject we talk of in the scene could lead to treason if found out, we played the scene with a hint of urgency and hushed conversations but as Cassius tells his story he gets more aggressive and the audience can see him losing control and for a character whose so quiet and clever it comes as a shock to the audience and Brutus alike. For this scene I made him treat Brutus like a fool in a way that should know better of the circumstance of one man having that much power.

"Brutus and Caesar—what should be in that “Caesar”?

Why should that name be sounded more than yours?"

 

Even though Brutus is an honourable man, self-righteousness comes into play here as all human beings - no matter how loyal or honourable - always look out for themselves and see their own self worth. And Cassius being the keen observe that he is uses this to his advantage of bringing Brutus to his side, and Brutus could see him as speaking the truth. Why should Caesar's name be proclaimed more than his?

Monologue Blog 3 - An Ideal Husband

For my final monologue I have chosen to play the character of Mabel Chiltern from the play 'An Ideal Husband' by Oscar Wilde. Mabel is an exemplar of English prettiness, Mabel, Sir Robert's younger sister, embodies what Wilde describes as the "fascinating tyranny of youth" and "astonishing courage of innocence." She is in love with Lord Goring and flirts with him until he proposes to her. She is witty and modern and a perfect partner for him, since they are both rebellious towards social expectations. Tommy Trafford, her brother’s secretary, regularly proposes to her, but she holds out for Lord Goring.



The monologue shows Mabel as being high class with the use of words such as, "repartee, absurdly unreasonable, luncheon..." I portrayed her as being high class by not being overly posh (just well spoken) but more in the way she holds herself. I sat straight in a chair, with my hands in my lap and my feet firmly planted on the ground. The whole monologue I stayed seated  and did not fidget as I do not see a character of high birth walking up and down and playing with her clothing, hands or hair, as she would have to act like a proper lady - even in the comfort of her own home.

I see Mabel as being quite spoilt, "Well, Tommy has proposed to me again. Tommy really does nothing but propose to me." She doesn't even want to marry Tommy but she does nothing to stop him chasing after her. The line I used as an example is the first line of the monologue and it really introduces her effectively as I say it with a bored expression on my face and a drawl tone. Being proposed to is a special occasion and must be treated as such but she could care less and treats it as a game.

She does not mind insulting people, "Musical people are so absurdly unreasonable. They always want one to be perfectly dumb at the very moment when one is longing to be absolutely deaf." which shows her as still being a child not caring who she hurts. I made her scrunch up her nose to give off the feel of distaste and made her voice go a bit nasally to show her dislike for musical people, like they are lower than her and should know their place.

This line, "At luncheon I saw by the glare in his eye that he was going to propose again, and I just managed to check him in time by assuring him that I was a bimetallist." shows that she is very intelligent as she came up with bimetallist on the spot. I did the line laughing as I think the situation would be amusing to her, because she never takes Tommy's proposals seriously.

The last couple of lines show who she is perfectly, "I am very fond of Tommy, but his methods of proposing are quite out of date. I wish, Gertrude, you would speak to him, and tell him that once a week is quite often enough to propose to any one, and that it should always be done in a manner that attracts some attention." I believe that she is fond of Tommy but not in the way he wants her to be and it shows again how spoilt she is by her wanting to get attention from the public. I played it as her saying the line, "I am very fond of Tommy," in a gentler voice and a slight smile but dismisses it by asking Gertrude to speak to him. When asking Gertrude of that I lean in close like I'm telling a secret of the utmost importance and lower my voice so she understands how important this is to her.

Classical Monologue Blog 2

For my classical monologue I have chosen to play the character of Hermia from 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' by William Shakespeare. Act 3 Scene 2 page 305. I have chosen this monologue because throughout the play she is shown as a strong woman, even though she does all the things she did for love she's no fool, and though she realises that men break promises, she's willing to take a chance and run off with Lysander anyway. For all these reasons, Hermia approaches love as though it were something easily threatened, but not easily lost. It also contrasts beautifully with my other monologue - Dido. As Hermia knows exactly what she wants and who she is, and has enough humour to balance out the drama.

Act 3 Scene 2
HERMIA

“Puppet”? Why so?—Ay, that way goes the game.

Now I perceive that she hath made compare

Between our statures. She hath urged her height,

And with her personage, her tall personage,

Her height, forsooth, she hath prevailed with him.—

And are you grown so high in his esteem

Because I am so dwarfish and so low?

How low am I, thou painted maypole? Speak.

How low am I? I am not yet so low

But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes.

Translation:
“Puppet”? Why “puppet”?—Oh, I see where this is going. She’s talking about our difference in height. She’s paraded in front of him to show off how tall she is. She won him over with her height.—Does he have such a high opinion of you because I’m so short? Is that it? So how short am I, you painted barber pole? Tell me. How short am I? I’m not too short to gouge your eyes out with my fingernails.


Washington Allston's 1818 painting Hermia and Helena.

This monologue is humorous which I show by the way I say the words and use my facial expressions. For example, "Ay, that way goes the game." To make it humorous I say it in a high voice, with my eyebrows raised in disbelief, as my character can not believe that Helena just said that.

In rehearsal I tried making her seem bigger than she was. I made her chin stick out to make her seem taller than she actually was and I did it on the line "How low am I?" After I did it however I realised that it just made her seem childish and I didn't want her to come off as silly. So instead of raising my chin I just looked up at an imaginary figure to show that she can stand her ground no matter how small she is.

At the very beginning of the monologue I show her as being confused as to why Helena has called her a puppet. When she realised the meaning she laughed, an amused laugh however that was meant to shame Helena for saying such a thing. I got feedback saying that the laugh really worked as it was believable and showed a different side to Hermia, which I wanted to achieve as Hermia is a pretty complex character.

"I am not yet so low But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes." - is the last line of the monologue and I play it with a touch of hurt and anger. Instead of her lunging for Helena I made her stand still but punch the line with the tone of her voice. I made her voice crack half way through to show that she's more hurt than she lets on and because she shows that weakness the anger she finishes on comes more powerfully.