Question

On page 57, reread lines 116 through 122. Explain the metaphor in julius caesar?

Answer 1

Hello. The numbering of lines in your book may be different from the numbering of mine, which does not allow me to find the lines you want. But I will help you by showing you all the metaphors in Julio César and explaining what each one means.

Metaphor is a figure of speech used to create comparisons between two elements through a subjunctive and figurative language.

In "Júlio Cesar" we can find the following metaphors:

• "You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!" - That phrase was spoken by Marullus. He was talking about the commoners and comparing them to stones and blocks to describe their intellectual ability, that is, he was claiming that commoners are stupid like inanimate objects.
• "These growing feathers plucked from Caesar's wing will make him fly an ordinary pitch." - This line was spoken by Flavius, where he compares Caesar to a bird that must be contained and slaughtered. Along these lines, he uses the metaphor to affirm that Cesar must lose power.
• "I, your glass, will modestly discover to yourself that of yourself which you yet not know of." - This phrase was spoken by Cassius in a conversation with brutus. The metaphor here is when Cassius compares himself to a mirror, stating that it will make Brutus see himself as he really is.
• "Lowliness is young ambition's ladder, where to the climber-upward turns his face; but, when he once attains the upmost round, he then unto the ladder turns his back, scorning the base degrees by which he did ascend." - This excerpt is a monologue by Brutus, where he is talking to himself. The metaphor happens when he compares ambition to a ladder. This means that an ambitious person, when they manage to climb the stairs, ignores the defeated steps and does not thank anything and nobody for reaching the top.
• "Think him as a serpent's egg, which, hatched, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, and kill him in the shell." - Another metaphor spoken by Brutus. This time Brutus is comparing himself to a snake egg. This means that it may appear harmless and common on the outside, but that it hides something very dangerous within itself and therefore cannot be underestimated.
• "And for Mark Antony, think not of him, for he can do no more than Caesar's arm when Caesar's head is off." - This line was spoken by Brutus to Cassius and the other conspirators. In it Brutus compares Marco Antonio to an arm that has no use unless it is governed by the head, which in this case represents the brain. By this he means that without Cesar, Marco Antonio is irrelevant.
• "I am constant as the Northern Star, of whose true fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament." - That sentence was spoken by Julio Cesar to his conspirators. The metaphor is at the moment when Cesar is compared to Northern Start which is something that does not change and does not move. With that he reaffirms that he does not go back and does not change his decision about things.
• "Hence. Wilt thou lift up Olympus?" - Once again Cesar is talking to the conspirators. And again, the metaphor was established to represent the certainty that Cesar had not changed his opinion about his decisions, since he compares himself again to something that does not change and does not reposition itself, Mount Olympus.
• "For Brutus, as you know, it was Caesar's angel." - This phrase was spoken by Marco Antonio where he compares Brutus to an angel, since that was how Cesar saw him.
• "It is a creature that I teach to fight, to wind, to stop, to run directly on, his body motion governed by my spirit; and, in some taste, is Lepidus but so. He must be taught and trained and bid go forth - a barren-spirited fellow. " - This passage was said by Marco Antonio where he compares Lepidus to a horse that needs to be taught. With that, he claims that Lepidus is an ingenious being and with a hollow head, which needs to be filled with other people's ideas.
• "But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, make gallant show and promise of their mettle, but when they should endure the bloody spur, they fall their crests and, like deceitful jades, sink in the trial." - The metaphor in that sentence was said by Brutus, where he compares Cassio to a very witty horse that acts when there is a need.
• "You yourself are much condemned to have an itching palm." - That line was spoken by Brutus where he compares Cassius to an itchy palm. This means that Cassios is greedy for money, accepting to do many things if he is well paid.
• "There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures. " - This metaphor was spoken by Brutus. When comparing his plan and that of the conspirators at high tide, he meant that it would be necessary to act calmly and only while it is still advantageous.