LUCILIUS, TITINIUS, MESSALA, Young CATO, and VOLUMNIUS, Friends to Brutus and Cassius. VARRO, CLITUS, CLAUDIUS, STRATO, LUCIUS, DARDANIUS, Ser vants to Brutus. PINDARUS, Servant to Cassius. CALPURNIA, Wife to Cæsar. PORTIA, Wife to Brutus. Senators, Citizens, Guards, Attendants, etc. SCENE: During a great part of the Play, at Rome; afterwards at Sardis and near Philippi. 2 THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CÆSAR ACT I SCENE I.Rome. A Street. Enter FLAVIUS, MARULLUS, and certain Commoners. Flav. Hence! home, you idle creatures, get you home: Is this a holiday? What! know you not, Being mechanical, you ought not walk Upon a labouring day without the sign Act I. Scene 1.] In the Folios each act is headed "Actus Primus, Secundus," etc., "Scena Prima." The scenes are not distinguished from one another, nor are the places specified in which the scene is laid. Of your profession? Speak, what trade art 5 thou ? First Com. Why, sir, a carpenter. Mar. Where is thy leather apron, and thy rule? You, sir, what trade are you? Second Com. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, 10 I am but, as you would say, a cobbler. Mar. But what trade art thou? Answer me directly. Second Com. A trade, sir, that I hope I may use with a safe conscience; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles. 15. soles] soules F 1, 2; souls F 3; as a verbal noun used adjectivally. Craik compares "walking stick" and "riding coat.' It may, however, be regarded as an instance of hypallage, and compared with "idle hours, "idle bed," II. i. 117, "thirsty evil," Measure for Measure, 1. ii. 134, "a married life," "hungry prey," 1 Henry VI. 1. ii. 28, "lovers' absent hours, Othello, III. iv. 174, and morientes voces in Cicero. 4. without the sign] There does not appear to have been any law to this effect in Elizabethan England or ancient Rome. There were, however, sumptuary laws in England up to the reign of James I., requiring men to dress in accordance with their rank, and perhaps custom supplemented this by requiring that artisans should on working days show, by clear external signs, what trade they belonged to. 5. what trade] of what trade. Compare ii. 301. 7. rule] a piece of wood used by carpenters to keep their lines straight. Compare "Mechanic slaves with greasy aprons, rules and hammers," Antony and Cleopatra, v. ii. 209. 10. in respect of] as compared with. Respecting" is used in the same soals F 4. 15 12. what trade art thou?] The second citizen has already declared his trade by saying that he is a cobbler or mender of shoes. Marullus, however, from the context naturally takes the word "cobbler" in its other sense, as meaning a clumsy workman. 12. thou] in Shakespeare's time was used in addressing near relations or intimate friends, and, as here, in addressing inferiors. When an equal, who is not an intimate friend, is addressed in the singular number, insult is intended. Compare the use of "thou" as a verb in Twelfth Night, III. ii. 48. The citizens never venture to use the singular pronoun in addressing Marullus or Flavius. On the other hand, "you" is often used in speaking to inferiors to express anger, as in line 9, where both the "sir" and the "you" show that the speaker is adopting sarcastically the attitude of mock respect. See Abbott, sec. 233. 12. directly] plainly, in a straightforward manner. 15. soles] The reference to conscience is intended to make Marullus Mar. What trade, thou knave? thou naughty knave, what trade? Second Com. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me: yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you. Mar. What meanest thou by that? Mend me, thou 20 saucy fellow! Second Com. Why, sir, cobble you. Flav. Thou art a cobbler, art thou? Second Com. Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl: I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor 25 16. Mar.] Fla. Ff. 26. woman's] womens F 1; womans F 2, 3, 4; withal ] F 1; withall I F 2, 3; withal, I F 4. think that the citizen is speaking of souls. Shakespeare makes the same play upon words in Romeo and Juliet, I. iv. 15, and in the Merchant of Venice, IV. i. 123: "Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, Thou makest thy knife clean," where some difference of pronunciation is required to make the meaning intelligible to the audience. 16. What trade, etc.] The Folios assign this question to Flavius, and the next question to Marullus. But the word "me" in line 20 shows that the two questions must be assigned to the same speaker, whether that speaker be Flavius or Marullus. 16. naughty] wicked or worthless. In Shakespeare's time the term was applied to inanimate objects and grown-up men, and not, as now, confined to children. Compare Lear, III. vii. 37, Merchant of Venice, v. i. 91, Prov. vi. 12, and Jer. xxiv. 2, 'very naughty figs.' 18, 19. out with] angry with. Immediately afterwards the cobbler uses 26. withal] (= with all, i.e. in addi. tion to all) is here an adverb meaning moreover," and introduces additional information. The sound also suggests "with awl." Most of the later editors follow Steevens, who reads "with awl," and puts a full stop after "awl" and a comma before "but." In this case the secondary meaning suggested by the play upon words is "with all," i.e. "with everything," so that in one sense the sound of the words expresses an apparent contradiction, namely, that he meddles with everything, but with no kind of trade. |