Cassius is not doing well against the forces commanded by Antony. Cassius’ own cowardly men are running away (lines 1-2). Meanwhile, Brutus’ soldiers believe they already have the victory and have stopped fighting. Instead, they turn to looting (line 7: looting means robbing the dead soldiers on the field).
Cassius is standing on a hill with some of his soldiers. He sees in the distance a fire where his camp is located. So, he asks his officer Titinius to ride his horse down to the camp and find out what has happened (lines 15-17). Then, Cassius asks his servant Pindarus to climb a higher hill so that he can get a better view of the campsite. Pindarus calls down to Cassius that he sees Titinius surrounded by horsemen. He then tells Cassius that Titinius has climbed off his horse and is taken prisoner by those other men (lines 31-32).
Cassius is extremely unhappy that his good
friend and officer Titinius has been captured (line 35). Cassius blames himself and believes that the battle is now over. He believes that the forces of the conspirators have lost.
Cassius then decides to commit suicide. He asks his servant Pindarus to assist him since the sword is too long for him to hold it himself (lines 4044). With his dying breath, Cassius utters these words: “Caesar, thou art revenged, even with the sword that killed thee” (44-45).
A stunning moment of dramatic irony occurs next. Titinius returns. The soldiers who had taken him were not those belonging to the enemy. Rather, they were Brutus’ own soldiers who had come to inform Cassius that Octavius’ army is completely defeated. Titinius returns to share this good news with Cassius, but he is too late. Instead he finds the dead body of his commander (line 57).
Cassius had killed himself because of
misinformation. It was a mistake. It was an error. Messala, another of Cassius’ men, describes the situation using metaphor and personification:
Mistrust of good success hath done this deed.
O hateful Error, Melancholy’s child,
Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men The things that are not? O Error, soon conceived,
Thou never com’st unto a happy birth, But kill’st the mother that engendered thee.
(65-70)
Metaphorically, Error is the child of Melancholy and Cassius (in this instance):
MELANCHOLY (father) ------ CASSIUS (mother)
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ERROR (child)
Cassius’s melancholy or sadness causes or creates the error. Thus, Cassius is the mother of Error. And because of that error or mistake (in this case, believing that the battle is over and that he has lost), Cassius kills himself. Thus, Error is responsible for the death of Cassius (who is Error’s mother).
Titinius is full of grief and sorrow that Cassius is gone. And, so, Titinius kills himself (line 89).
Brutus is troubled by the news that both
Cassius and Titinius are dead (line 97). But he does not give up. He sends the bodies off to be buried properly and then plans to lead his forces into a second battle against his enemies (lines 103, 109).
In the brief fourth scene, one of Brutus’ soldiers is killed (line 9) and one of his officers, Lucillius, is captured. Lucillius is masquerading as Brutus. That is, he is dressed like Brutus so that the enemy will go after him instead of the true leader. Antony immediately realizes that Lucillius is not Brutus; and Lucillius tells him that Brutus will never be captured alive (line 22). But the death of one soldier and the capture of another is used symbolically to let the audience know that the battle is not going well for Brutus. Brutus is losing.