Question

read the excerpt from act 5, scene 5, of the tragedy of julius caesar and the background information on the allusion it contains. excerpt: brutus it is more worthy to leap in ourselves than tarry till they push us. good volumnius, thou knowst that we two went to school together. even for that, our love of old, i prithee, hold thou my sword hilts, whilst i run on it... so fare you well at once, for brutus tongue hath almost ended his lifes history. night hangs upon mine eyes; my bones would rest, that have but laboured to attain this hour... i prithee, strato, stay thou by thy lord. thou art a fellow of a good respect. thy life hath had some smatch of honour in it. hold then my sword, and turn away thy face how does the allusion in this excerpt from julius caesar affect the readers understanding of the plot? it implies that the war between brutus and antony is a religious conflict. it makes clear that strato is disloyal to brutus, since he is willing to kill him. it reinforces the notion that brutuss enemies would prevent him from dying honorably. it shows that brutus is afraid he will be worshiped as a hero by the enemy.

Explanation:

In the excerpt, Brutus asks Strato to hold his sword so he can run on it (commit suicide honorably). The allusion here is to the idea of a noble death. In ancient times (and in the context of the play), a warrior - especially one in Brutus' position (defeated but with a sense of honor) - would want to die a honorable death. If his enemies (Antony and others) were to capture him, they would likely prevent him from having that honorable death (by, for example, taking him as a prisoner and parading him, which was a form of humiliation in that context).

Answer:

It reinforces the notion that Brutus’s enemies would prevent him from dying honorably.