Julius Caesar Act 1 Vocab

1. Knave

1.1. "What trade, thou knave? Thou naughty knave, what trade?"

1.2. an unprincipled, untrustworthy, or dishonest person.

1.3. Knave is used to show how the commoner is dishonest to Marulllus.

2. Beseech

2.1. "Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me."

2.2. to beg eagerly for; solicit

2.3. The commoner is asking Marullus not to be angry with him.The use of the word "beseech" shows that the commoner is not simply asking; this word makes his request seem more serious.

3. offal

3.1. "What rubbish and what offal, when it serves for the base matter to illuminate so vile a thing as Caesar!"

3.2. refuse; rubbish; garbage

3.3. garbage

3.4. The use of the term "offal" here is used to reiterate (after using the word "rubbish") how lowly Cassius thinks of Caesar.

4. doth

4.1. "his coward lips did from their color fly, and that same eye whose bend doth awe the world did lose his luster."

4.2. to perform (an act, duty, role, etc.)

4.3. Doth is used in early modern English, and it is used to show what people do.

5. Chafing

5.1. "For once, upon a raw and gusty day, the troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, Caesar said to me, "Dar'st thou, Cassius, now leap in with me into this angry flood and swim to yonder point?""

5.2. to wear or abrade by rubbing

5.3. Chafing is important because it is used to show how the Tiber forcefully rushes against its shorelines.