Extract Based Questions: Julius Caesar - Class 10 PDF Download

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Antony:
I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard,
Now, whilst your pUrpled hands do reek and smoke,
Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand years,
I shall not find myself so apt to die:
No place will please me so, no mean of death,
As here by Caesar, and by you cut off,
The choice and master spirits of this age.

(a) Whom does Antony refer to as ‘The choice and master spirits of this age’?
Ans: Antony refers to the conspirators as ‘The choice and master spirits of this age.’

(b) Explain ‘bear me hard.’ Which pleasure does Antony tell this conspirators to fulfil?
Ans: Bear me hard’ means the conspirators’ ill-will towards Antony. He tells them to kill him if it pleases them.

(c) How does Antony’s speech refer to Caesar? What does this show about his feelings towards Caesar?
Ans: Antony calls Caesar ‘the most noble blood of all this world.’ He has a high opinion of Caesar and holds him in great regard.

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Decius Brutus:
I have, when you have heard what I can say:
And know it now: the senate have concluded
To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar.
If you shall send them word you will not come,
Their minds may change.

Caesar:
How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpumia!
I am ashamed I did yield to them.

(a) What argument does Decius put forth to convince Caesar to go to the Senate?
Ans: Decius tells Caesar that the Senate decided to offer a crown to him that day, and if he does not attend the meeting, they may change their minds.

(b) How does Caesar react to Decius’s words?
Ans: Caesar dismisses Calpumia’s fears as being foolish and prepares to go to the Senate.

(c) Mention two qualities of Caesar shown by his action.
Ans: The qualities that are shown by his actions are that Caesar is ambitious, he disregards personal safety and he is not a good judge of character.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Caesar:
But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fix’d and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
I was constant Cimber should be banish’d,
And constant do remain to keep him so.

(a) What is the ‘northern star’?
Ans: The northern star is the pole star.

(b) Why does Caesar compare himself to the ‘northern star’? What is the occasion?
Ans: Caesar compares himself to the ‘northern star’ because he is unchangeable and unmoved. He does not change his mind and remains unshakeable. The conspirators want him to recall Publius Cimber.

(c) State the comparison made by Caesar between the firmament and the world of men.
Ans: Caesar compares the firmament and the world of men saying that the sky was decorated with innumerable stars, all shining brightly but there was only one among them which did not move—the pole star. Similarly, in the world of men there were many men who are strong and intelligent but there was only one who did not change his mind and that was Caesar.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Decius Brutus:
Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause,
Lest I be laugh’d at when I tell them so.

Caesar:
Calpumia here, my wife, stays me at home:
She dreamt to-night she saw my statue,
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
Did ran pure blood: and many lusty Romans Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it

(a) What did Calpumia dream?
Ans: Calpumia dreamt of the murder of Caesar. She saw Caesar’s statue ran with blood, while Romans bathed their hands in it.

(b) How did she interpret the dream?
Ans: Calpumia interpreted the dream to mean that Caesar was in danger.

(c) How did Decius interpret the dream?
Ans: According to Decius, the dream signified that Rome would revive by drawing blood from Caesar. Great men would come to obtain tinctures, relics and other tokens of remembrance from him. Caesar would prove to be a source of inspiration for Rome and his achievements would be the source of renewed vitality for the country.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Calpurnia:
Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies,
Yet now they fright me. There is one within,
Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.

(a) Explain, ‘I never stood on ceremonies’.
Ans: It means that she did not believe in omens and portents.

(b) Mention any two sights seen by the watch.
Ans: The sights seen by the watch include a lioness whelping in the streets and graves opening and dead bodies lying around; warriors fighting upon the clouds, and their blood falling on the Capitol, horses neighing in fear, dying men groaning, ghosts shrieking about the streets. (Any two)

(c) How does Calpumia’s attitude towards the strange occurrences of the night differ from Caesar’s?
Ans: While Calpumia is frightened by the strange occurrences of the night and sees them as omens foretelling grave danger to Caesar, the latter is not afraid and regards them as natural occurings.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Caesar:
Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night:
Thrice hath Calpumia in her sleep cried out,
‘Help, ho! they minder Caesar!

(a) Explain: ‘Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night.’
Ans: There had been a terrible storm at night and the skies had been raging. Calpumia, too, had a unusual dreams at night. Three times in her sleep she cried out that Caesar was being murdered.

(b) What did Calpumia dream of?
Ans: Calpumia dreamt of the murder of Caesar. She saw Caesar’s statue mn with blood like a fountain, while many Smiling Romans bathed their hands in it.

(c) In what mood does Calpumia speak to Caesar about the events of the night?
Ans: Calpumia was frightened by the unnatural occurrences the night before and was very anxious about Caesar’s safety. She felt that these portents and omens signified that a major calamity would befall Caesar

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Calpurnia:
Alas, my lord,
Your wisdom is consumed in confidence.
Do not go forth to-day: call it my fear
That keeps you in the house, and not your own.
Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.

Caesar: Mark Antony shall say I am not well,
And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.

(a) Where are Calpumia and Caesar at this moment?
Ans: Calpumia and Caesar are at Caesar’s house at this moment.

(b) Why does Calpumia say, ‘Your wisdom is consumed in confidence’? When does she say this?
Ans: Caesar was overconfident about his own abilities and therefore he disregarded his personal safety. Despite her entreaties, Caesar was determined to go to the senate.

(c) What is Caesar’s reaction to Calpumia’s fears? What does he decide?
Ans: Caesar decided to stay at home for Calpumia’s sake and decided to send a message with Antony to the Senate saying that he was not well.

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Antony:
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:

(a) When and to whom does Antony speak these words?
Ans: Antony speaks these words to the conspirators after Caesar’s assassination.

(b) What is meant by the word ‘credit’? Why does Antony’s credit stand on slippery ground?
Ans: The word ‘credit’ refers to reputation. Antony’s reputation stands on unsteady ground as he was Caesar’s friend and he was shaking hands with his murderers.

(c) What does Antony think the conspirators would regard him as? What effect do these words have on the listeners?
Ans: Antony thinks that the conspirators would regard him as a coward or a flatterer. Cassius is taken aback by Antony’s direct speech. He asks Antony if they may consider him a friend or a foe.

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Antony:
And am moreover suitor that I may
Produce his body to the market-place;
And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend,
Speak in the order of his funeral.

(a) What request does Antony make of the conspirators?
Ans: Antony requests the conspirators to allow him to take Caesar’s body to the marketplace and to let him speak at Caesar’s funeral.

(b) How does Brutus react to Antony’s request?
Ans: Brutus agrees to Antony’s request.

(c) Why does Cassius try to dissuade Brutus? What is the consequence of Brutus’mistake?
Ans: Cassius tries to dissuade Brutus because he thinks that Antony will be able to stir the emotions of the people and turn them against the conspirators. Antony was able to stir the emotions of the people and turn the tide against the conspirators.

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Antony:
And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry ‘Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.

(a) Why will Caesar’s spirit be ‘ranging for revenge’? Who will accompany him?
Ans: Caesar’s spirit will be ranging for revenge as he was brutally murdered by the conspirators. He will be accompanied by Ate; the Roman goddess of mischief and revenge.

(b) What will be the effect of Caesar’s spirit roaming for revenge?
Ans: The roaming of Caesar’s spirit will result in fierce civil war which would rage over all parts of the kingdom as Caesar lets loose the horrors of war. Violence and murder would be frequent and terrible sights would be so common that mothers will smile when their children are killed.

(c) Which is the ‘foul deed’ being referred to?
Ans: The ‘foul deed’ referred to is the murder of Caesar.