The first scene of the play does not include Caesar or Brutus. Rather, it includes minor characters in what may, at first, appear to be events unrelated to the main plot. However, Shakespeare does not just set up mood and setting in his opening. He is actually establishing crucial key thematic concepts that will play a vital role in the audience’s understanding of later developments in the play.
The scene is set on the streets of Rome. Tradesmen (skilled workers) and other commoners are roaming about the streets in a carefree, holiday mood. Two tribunes (Roman officials) named Flavius and Murellus approach the commoners and ask them why they are not working. The day is not a holiday, and the tribunes are upset that the tradesmen are not at their places of work. The workers, however, act in a holiday manner and respond with jokes when the serious tribunes question them. Flavius tells the tradesmen that they should be displaying “the sign of your profession” (lines 4-5). He is saying that they should be wearing their work clothes and carrying the tools of their business.
Murellus then asks one particular tradesman about his profession, and then the puns begin. The tradesman is a cobbler (a man who makes or repairs shoes), but he responds with a laugh or a large smile that he is a “cobbler” (11). The word cobbler actually has two definitions in Renaissance England: (1) a bungler, that is, someone who performs tasks badly and who always makes a mess of things, and (2) a shoemaker. Because of the tradesman’s joking manner, the serious Murellus thinks the cobbler means that he is a bungler. So, Murellus repeats his question. The cobbler then responds with another pun: he says that he is a “mender of bad soles” (14). The word soles sounds the same as souls. And a mender of bad souls would be a priest. The tradesman is obviously not a priest, so Murellus becomes angry at his answer.
Once again, Murellus repeats his question; and once again the cobbler responds with a joke: “Be not out with me. Yet if you be out, sir, I can mend you” (16-17). The expression “to be out” means to be angry. The cobbler is telling Murellus not to be angry with him. But the second part of the quote has two separate meanings:
(get revenge against you).
The word mend can mean both repair and get revenge. The funny cobbler has told a very clever joke, but the severe Murellus does not get the joke. Murellus only understands the second meaning. And, so, Murellus becomes angrier. During the course of the conversation, the other tradesmen would be listening and laughing at the clever jokes of their friend. Their laughter would also contribute to upsetting the two tribunes.
Renaissance audiences always appreciated puns and humor in their tragedies, and Shakespeare was certainly among the best at delivering clever wordplay in his dramatic works. The scene is important in establishing the carefree mood of the workers. They are happy. They are celebrating. But the scene also establishes a conflict of seriousness vs. frivolousness. The same conflict appears in the contrast between the serious Brutus and the seemingly frivolous (playful, lighthearted) Antony. In the first scene, the serious Flavius and Murellus underestimate the intelligence of the lighthearted commoners. Similarly, Brutus underestimates the ability of the lighthearted Antony.
Flavius finally gets a serious answer out of the cobbler, for the cobbler tells him that the tradesmen are celebrating the recent victory of Julius Caesar (line 30). That news also bothers and angers the two tribunes, and the furious Murellus delivers a speech (beginning in line 31) criticizing the commoners.
A note on Roman history is needed here.
Julius Caesar was one of three leaders of the Roman Empire. The three leaders were referred to as a Triumvirate. The other two members of the Triumvirate were named Crassus and Pompey the Great. The three leaders became involved in disagreements and disputes with one another, and the disputes led to conflict and civil war (a war involving just one country or nation). Crassus was quickly eliminated, and a war between Caesar and Pompey ended with Pompey’s defeat and, later, his death. Julius Caesar, then, was the one remaining member of the Triumvirate to survive and lead the Roman Empire. Not everyone was happy with these results, and the sons of Pompey started another conflict and battle against Caesar. At the time that the play opens, Caesar has just won this conflict. And the tradesmen are celebrating this victory.
The reason that Flavius and Murellus are angry with the tradesmen is that the two tribunes were supporters and followers of Pompey the Great. And Murellus criticizes the commoners because they too, at one time, were supporters of Pompey. Murellus reminds the tradesmen that not so very long ago they would wait in the streets all day long so that they could cheer and applaud to “see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome” (41) whenever Pompey won a victory against a foreign enemy. In Roman times the leader in such a victory would drive his chariot (a small two-wheeled horse-drawn wagon) through the streets with his soldiers and his prisoners following behind him. During these parades, the commoners would get a holiday and cheer the victors.
Essentially, Murellus is accusing the tradesmen of being fickle (of easily changing their feelings or affections for someone). A fickle girl will love one boy today and a different boy tomorrow and yet a third boy on the day after. And a fickle crowd of citizens will love one leader today, but tomorrow they will hate that first leader and love a second leader in his place. So, Murellus asks the commoners, “Do you now strew flowers in his way that comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood?” (4950). The word that actually means who, a pronoun referring to Caesar. Caesar has defeated the sons (“blood”) of Pompey, whom the commoners until recently cheered as their beloved leader. Flavius and Murellus then accuse the tradesmen of “ingratitude” (54) and order them to leave the streets of Rome.
The fickle and emotional nature of the crowd or mob plays a key role in the plot later in the play. Brutus does not really consider this quality, but the clever Antony makes use of it.
At the end of the scene, Flavius and Murellus decide to go through the streets of Rome and remove all of the “trophies” (line 68: decorations or banners) from the statues and other objects that have been decorated in celebration of Caesar’s victory. The two tribunes want to end the holiday mood and celebration.
Flavius and Murellus show loyalty to Pompey, the leader whom they loved so dearly. And loyalty was certainly an important attribute or virtue of the age. But the two tribunes make a mistake in doing this. Pompey is dead. Caesar is alive. And Caesar is the one who now holds power in Rome. Thus, Flavius and Murellus act as the enemy to Caesar, which is extremely foolish. Their actions will lead to their own downfall.