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All Site ContentJulius CaesarAct 1Scene 1
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"mettle"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 56-65

An explanation of the pun on “mettle” in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Flavius

Go, go, good countrymen, and for this fault,
Assemble all the poor men of your sort.
Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears
Into the channel, till the lowest stream
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.
[Exit all the Commoners.]
See whe’er their basest mettle be not moved;
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness.
Go you down that way towards the Capitol;
This way will I. Disrobe the images,
If you do find them decked with ceremonies.

"Mettle" and "metal" were alternative spellings for a same word, which was a favorite of Shakespeare's for making puns. One meaning, for which today we use the "mettle" spelling, is a person's character. Flavius is wondering if the base, or low-class, character of the plebeians has been affected by his and Marullus' scolding.

The second meaning, today indicated with the spelling "metal," refers to hard, shiny, malleable materials. Common metals such as copper or tin are referred to as base metals, as opposed to precious metals such as gold and silver. Back in Shakespeare's time, alchemists claimed to be able to change base metals into precious ones, which explains the wordplay in Flavius' phrase, "See whether their basest mettle be not moved."