Question

Read the passage.

Some of the Roman nobles feel Julius Caesar is becoming too powerful. They fear he will make himself an emperor. However, the citizens love Caesar. A group of nobles have decided that Caesar must be killed. His wife, Calpurnia, awakes from terrible nightmares and tells Caesar she fears for him. Caesar is determined to go to the Senate.

excerpt from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

CAESAR
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard.
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.

Re-enter Servant

What say the augurers?

SERVANT
They would not have you to stir forth to-day.
Plucking the entrails of an offering forth.
They could not find a heart within the beast.

CAESAR
The gods do this in shame of cowardice:
Caesar should be a beast without a heart,
If he should stay at home to-day for fear.
No, Caesar shall not: danger knows full well
That Caesar is more dangerous than he:
We are two lions litter'd in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible:
And Caesar shall go forth.

What is the effect of the servant's message?

The message withholds information about what the seer foretold.

The message foreshadows Caesar's death by describing a bad omen.

The message creates tension by trying to discourage Caesar from going out.

The message motivates Caesar to go out by encouraging him.

Answer 1

A. Cassius never smiles.

Answer 2

Along the narrative, the pride tone is perceptible in the words of Júlio Caesar, inebriate for the victories themselves and for the power that is checked by the Romans. The servant's message tries to alert Caesar about his prominent death and creates tension by trying to discourage Caesar from going out. Although, his arrogance and honor bring him to a tragic end.