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<title> The Murder Scene in Julius Caesar </title>
This essay examines Act III, Scene I, lines 30-117, in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. After a nightly meeting at Brutus's house, Brutus, Cassius, and the rest of the conspirators come to Caesar's house to fetch him to the Senate. When the party gets there, Trebonius draws Mark Antony out of the way. Metellus Cimber kneels before Caesar to beg for the repealing of his banished brother. Caesar says that he has no intention of changing his mind, and the conspirators gather around him and stab him to death. 
The murder scene is the climax of the play. In the dramatic moments before the stabbing and in the turmoil that follows it, much is revealed about the characters involved. Caesar makes a speech that uncovers his view of himself as the only one of his kind, in deed almost a god. He speaks of himself as "constant as the northern star", implying that he cannot be moved to change his mind. He asks: "Hence, wilt thou lift up Olympus?", comparing himself to a mountain. As Norman Sanders points out in the commentary, this speech serves to justify the killing of Caesar. Whatever sympathy the audience might have felt for Caesar will vanish after these extremely self-righteous words. His arrogance is further conveyed in these lines:
Yet in the number I do know but one
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshaked of motion; and that I am he (68-70)
Caesar obviously sees himself as part of a great tradition of justice and fairness, and Brutus's fear of Caesar abusing his power now seems justified. Furthermore, he refers to himself as "Caesar" several times in this extract, and this device creates distance between himself and everyone else. Metellus Cimber adresses Caesar with the words "Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar", which show that Caesar is used to being spoken to as an emperor. The only time in this extract that Caesar displays some vulnerability is in his famous last words, "Et tu, Brute?". When he realizes that his friend Brutus is one of his slayers, he gives up all hope of living and falls to the ground. 
After the murder, panic breaks out in the Senate. Cinna cries out "Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!". These elevated words remind us of the conspirators' political goal of removing Caesar for the sake of the public good, before he starts to abuse his power. Brutus once again assumes leadership of the conspiracy. He denounces Metellus's suggestion that they try to protect themselves, and says, "...let no man abide this deed (But we the doers" (94-95), displaying his readiness to accept the consequences of his deed. He urges the other conspirators to:
Stoop, Romans, stoop,
And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords; 
Then walk we forth, even to the market-place, 
And waving our red weapons o'er our heads,
Let's all cry, 'Peace, freedom, and liberty'! (105-110)

The mention of "blood" and "swords" remind us of the brutality of the act that they have just committed. The murder did not turn out to be the tidy affair that Brutus spoke of in Act II, Scene 1, lines 162-183. Furthermore, this quote reveals Brutus's idealism and his trust that the murder will make sense to the public as soon as he has explained to them the reasons for it. He refers to the other conspirators as "Romans", which almost seems to imply that the deed was committed on behalf of the people of Rome. The doubtfulness that Brutus expressed when he was alone in his orchard in Act II, Scene 1, has disappeared, and he cries, "Fly not; stand still; ambition's debt is paid" (83). He shows no trace of remorse; in deed, the quote above expresses haughtiness, as do the words:

How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport,
That now on Pompey's basis lies along,
No worthier than the dust!

It is hard to believe that Caesar was ever Brutus's friend when he speaks of him as "no worthier than the dust". It seems as if Brutus, as soon as he has made his decision to kill his friend, never regrets his crime. 
	Cassius is also haughty after the murder. He urges his accomplices to run to the common pulpits and cry out "Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!" He speculates on how many times in the future their heroic deed will be performed by theater companies around the world. Just like Brutus, he shows no fear of what is going to happen to himself. He urges Publius, the old senator, to leave so that he will not get hurt in the tumult that has broken out. 
	This extract is significant to the play as a whole in many ways. It establishes Caesar as a highly pretentious man who thinks of himself as almost of a god, and Brutus's fears that he may become dangerous do not seem farfetched. Brutus is not longer uncertain of whether or not it is morally right to kill his friend for the sake of the public good. His idealistic and somewhat naive nature makes him think that the public will be on his side as soon as they have had the logic behind the murder explained to them. This naivete leads him to make the serious mistake of letting Mark Antony speak to the crowd, not realizing that he will be able to sway the public's sentiments. One of the themes of the play, the tension between the abstract goal of liberty and the concrete reality of the murder, is seen in this extract. The brutal stabbing and the chaos that follows is juxtaposed to Brutus's stubborn idealism and the celebratory cries of "peace, freedom, and liberty". The arrogance and smug self-righteousness that Brutus expresses turn out to have grave consequences for the future
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