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All Site ContentJulius CaesarAct 3Scene 2
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"unkindly" and "unkindest"
Wordplay
Act 3,
Scene 2
Lines 165-185

An explanation of wordplay in Act 3, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Antony

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
You all do know this mantle. I remember
The first time ever Caesar put it on.
'Twas on a summer's evening in his tent,
That day he overcame the Nervii.
Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through.
See what a rent the envious Casca made.
Through this, the well-belovèd Brutus stabbed;
And as he plucked his cursèd steel away,
Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it,
As rushing out of doors to be resolved
If Brutus so unkindly knocked or no — 
For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel.
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all,
For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms,
Quite vanquished him. Then burst his mighty heart,
And in his mantle muffling up his face,
Even at the base of Pompey's statue,
Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell.

The wordplay in this passage offers three possible readings:

  • Brutus's stab was like an unkind, cruel knocking on the door of his body.
  • It was the most unkind—most ungenerous—because Caesar loved him so much.
  • It was also the most un-kind, in that it harmed the man who may well have been Brutus' biological father, his next of kin, his kind.