Betrayal: Act III Compilation
H. Barton
Act III Scene 1- Caesar's Death
Summary: In this part of the scene, Julius Caesar is stabbed to death 23 times by Cassius, Brutus, and the other conspirators in broad daylight at the Capitol. Brutus is of course the last to stab Caesar, and Caesar delivers his most famous line, "E tu, Brute? Then fall Caesar" and dies. This is obviously a pivotal scene in the play because the title character is killed brutally, betrayed by his supposed "friends."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK9eLe8EQps
Track #1- "The First Cut Is The Deepest" by Sheryl Crow
Song Explanation
In the song, Sheryl Crow sings about how "the first cut is the deepest," referring to the sting of being betrayed by a loved one. This can work on a few levels with Caesar's death in Act III Scene 1 of the play. First, he was literally cut deeply by the conspirators, and two, the fact that the "cuts" come from his friends obviously scar him in an emotional way. Although the song says the first cut is the deepest, we would argue that Caesar's last cut is the deepest in the sense of the strongest betrayal since this wound comes from Brutus, prompting Caesar to reveal his disbelief at this treason by uttering his final words, "E tu, Brute? -- Then fall, Caesar." In this clip of the song, Crow goes on to assert, "when it comes to being lucky, he's cursed." Caesar was cursed to die from the beginning of the play, as we saw the soothsayer trying to tell Caesar to "Beware the Ides of March" multiple times. We also see this through the terrible storms, Calphurnia's dreams, and the other people, like Artemidorus, who try to warn Caesar of his impending doom. I chose to pair this light-hearted song with the murder of Caesar as an example of Soundtrack Dissonance, when the song selected doesn't quite match what is going on in the scene; thus adding to the interest or intensity of the scene.