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All Site ContentJulius CaesarAct 1Scene 2
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"aim"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 2
Lines 162-175a

An explanation of the double meaning of the word “aim” in Act 1, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Brutus

That you do love me, I am nothing jealous.
What you would work me to, I have some aim.
How I have thought of this, and of these times,
I shall recount hereafter.  For this present,
I would not —so with love I might entreat you  —
Be any further moved. What you have said
I will consider; what you have to say
I will with patience hear, and find a time
Both meet to hear and answer such high things.
Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this:
Brutus had rather be a villager
Than to repute himself a son of Rome
Under these hard conditions as this time
Is like to lay upon us.

Brutus uses both common meanings of the word "aim" here:

  • He has some idea of what Cassius is getting—or aiming—at.
  • Brutus shares Cassius' aims, his goals.