When beggars die, there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes

(a) Who speaks these lines and to whom?

(b) How does the speaker differentiate between the death of beggars and that of princes?

(c) What is the importance of these lines in the context of the play?

Your friends have very well helped you. Hope those answers helped. 


 

1. Calipurnia spoke these words to Julius Caesar.


 

2. Calipurnia metaphorically tries to explain that nobody even gets to know the death of a beggar. It does not bother anyone much and thus, there are no prophecies or signs to foresee a beggar's death. On the other hand, in her dream, she foresaw many such actions and events that made her believe that they projected towards the death of a royal person such as Julius Caesar.


 

3. These lines are very important as far as the role of superstitions in Julius Caesar is concerned. He was being persuaded by his wife to quit the idea of appearing at the Capitol. She was sure of the fact that her nightmare was a warning to Caesar against going to the Capitol. She was convinced that something terrible was going to happen to him. However, Brutus succeeded in targeting the ambition and pride of Caesar, thus compelling him to accompany Brutus.


 

Hope these helped!

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Calpurnia:
"When beggars die there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes."

Calpurnia, wife of Julius Caesar, begs her husband not to venture out on this morning, the ides of March. Caesar has spent a restless night and there is a wild storm raging. Calpurnia has had disturbing dreams, as well; crying out three times in her sleep, "They murder Caesar!" She begs him to stay home. Caesar sends word to the priests and they, too, return a warning that Caesar must stay home. Calpurnia is very upset , especially because of the strange events of the preceding evening: reports that a lioness was seen giving birth in the streets of Rome, the dead rising from their graves, warriors fighting in the clouds, reports of horses neighing and dying men groaning, ghosts shrieking. Comets were seen during the night, which Calpurnia interprets as a prophecy of the death of a prince.

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