Question

read the excerpt from act 3, scene 1, of julius caesar.

antony first, marcus brutus, will i shake with you;-
next, caius cassius, do i take your hand;-
now, decius brutus, yours;-now yours, metellus;-
yours, cinna;-and my valiant casca, yours;-
though last, not last in love, yours, good trebonius.
gentlemen all,-alas, what shall i say?
my credit now stands on such slippery ground
that one of two bad ways you must conceit me:
either a coward or a flatterer.
that i did love thee, caesar, o, tis true:
if then thy spirit look upon us now,
shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death,
to see thy antony making his peace,
shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes,-
most noble!-in the presence of thy corse?

what is the best summary of this monologue?

• antony shakes all the conspirators hands, starting with brutus and ending with trebonius. he says he knows that they must not know what to think of him.
• antony shakes the hands of all the conspirators and says he knows that his love for caesar puts him in an unstable position. then he imagines that it would break caesars heart to see antony making peace with his assassins.
• antony makes peace with the conspirators and acknowledges that while that would hurt caesar, he is unconcerned.
• antony laments making peace with the conspirators in the presence of caesars body and wishes he would have done it after caesar was buried.

Explanation:

Analyze the monologue's key actions and statements

Antony first shakes hands with each conspirator individually (Brutus, Cassius, Decius, Metellus, Cinna, Casca, Trebonius). He then acknowledges his precarious situation ("My credit now stands on such slippery ground") and how they must view him ("Either a coward or a flatterer"). Finally, he addresses the spirit of the deceased Caesar, expressing grief and imagining how painful it would be for Caesar to witness Antony making peace and shaking hands with his murderers ("Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes").

Evaluate the summary options against the text

• Option 1: Mentions shaking hands but misses the second half of the monologue regarding Caesar's spirit and Antony's grief.
• Option 2: Accurately captures both parts: shaking the conspirators' hands, acknowledging his unstable position ("slippery ground"), and imagining how it would break Caesar's heart to see him making peace with the assassins.
• Option 3: Incorrectly states Antony is "unconcerned" about hurting Caesar.
• Option 4: Incorrectly claims Antony wishes he had done it after Caesar was buried (not in the text).

Answer:

• (A) Antony shakes all the conspirators' hands, starting with Brutus and ending with Trebonius. He says he knows that they must not know what to think of him.
• (B) Antony shakes the hands of all the conspirators and says he knows that his love for Caesar puts him in an unstable position. Then he imagines that it would break Caesar's heart to see Antony making peace with his assassins. (Correct answer)
• (C) Antony makes peace with the conspirators and acknowledges that while that would hurt Caesar, he is unconcerned.
• (D) Antony laments making peace with the conspirators in the presence of Caesar's body and wishes he would have done it after Caesar was buried.