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Ptolemy
Britannus is an enslaved Briton man and Caesar’s treasurer. He’s a serious man of around 40 years old and is fiercely loyal to Caesar. Caesar nearly grants Britannus his freedom at the end of the play but hesitates to part with him after Britannus proclaims that he feels freer under Caesar’s command than he would as a liberated man. Unlike many of the other characters, Britannus is not based on a historical figure and is purely Shaw’s invention. Britannus behaves and talks like a contemporary (Victorian era) British person. Shaw uses the character of Britannus to reflect critically on British culture. By placing a modern British man in a play set in ancient Egypt, for instance, Shaw suggests that British culture has made less progress over the centuries than it would like to think.
Britannus Quotes in Caesar and Cleopatra
The Caesar and Cleopatra quotes below are all either spoken by Britannus or refer to Britannus . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2
Quotes
CAESAR [recovering his self-possession] Pardon him, Theodotus: he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.
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Act 3
Quotes
CAESAR. In the fire. Would you have me waste the next three years of my life in proscribing and condemning men who will be my friends when I have proved that my friendship is worth more than Pompey's was—than Cato's is. O incorrigible British islander: am I a bull dog, to seek quarrels merely to show how stubborn my jaws are?
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Act 4
Quotes
CAESAR. If one man in all the world can be found, now or forever, to know that you did wrong, that man will have either to conquer the world as I have, or be crucified by it. […] These knockers at your gate are also believers in vengeance and in stabbing. You have slain their leader: it is right that they shall slay you. […] then in the name of that right (He emphasizes the word with great scorn.) shall I not slay them for murdering their Queen, and be slain in my turn by their countrymen as the invader of their fatherland? Can Rome do less than slay these slayers too, to show the world how Rome avenges her sons and her honor? And so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right and honor and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create a race that can understand. […]
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Britannus Quotes in Caesar and Cleopatra
The Caesar and Cleopatra quotes below are all either spoken by Britannus or refer to Britannus . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2
Quotes
CAESAR [recovering his self-possession] Pardon him, Theodotus: he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3
Quotes
CAESAR. In the fire. Would you have me waste the next three years of my life in proscribing and condemning men who will be my friends when I have proved that my friendship is worth more than Pompey's was—than Cato's is. O incorrigible British islander: am I a bull dog, to seek quarrels merely to show how stubborn my jaws are?
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Act 4
Quotes
CAESAR. If one man in all the world can be found, now or forever, to know that you did wrong, that man will have either to conquer the world as I have, or be crucified by it. […] These knockers at your gate are also believers in vengeance and in stabbing. You have slain their leader: it is right that they shall slay you. […] then in the name of that right (He emphasizes the word with great scorn.) shall I not slay them for murdering their Queen, and be slain in my turn by their countrymen as the invader of their fatherland? Can Rome do less than slay these slayers too, to show the world how Rome avenges her sons and her honor? And so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right and honor and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create a race that can understand. […]
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