Julius Caesar: Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

Plot Summary / Storyline

• Two Roman tribunes, Flavius and Marullus, see common workers relaxing in the street instead of working. They angrily ask why they are out on a working day.
• The crowd says they are celebrating Julius Caesar's victory over Pompey's sons.
• Marullus scolds them for being ungrateful: earlier they cheered Pompey, now they cheer the man who defeated him, showing they are fickle.
• Flavius and Marullus drive the people home and decide to pull down decorations and crowns from Caesar's statues so that his popularity and power will be reduced.

Commentary on Act 1, Scene 1

This opening scene shows that Rome is politically unstable, because the common people keep changing sides very quickly. Yesterday they shouted for Pompey; today they shout for Caesar as if they have forgotten the past.

The tribunes are worried that Caesar is becoming too powerful, almost like a king, and that he might "soar above the view of men" and keep everyone "in servile fearfulness," meaning people will live in fear under him.

By deciding to remove decorations from Caesar's statues, they try to "pluck his feathers," that is, cut down his fame so he becomes an ordinary man again.

The scene introduces two key ideas for the whole play: the danger of too much power in one man's hands, and the danger of a crowd that can be easily influenced and used by clever leaders.