Scene summary
The tribunes Flavius and Marullus drive from the streets of Rome the craftsmen who are celebrating Caesar's triumph, and accuse them of forgetting Pompey, whom they had acclaimed before. With the crowd dispersed, the two go to strip Caesar's ornaments from the statues, despite the warning that it is the festival of the Lupercal. Flavius explains his reason: to clip Caesar's feathers so that he does not fly too high and keeps everyone in servitude.
Analysis
The tribunes drive the people off because they fear the triumph's festivities will feed Caesar's power: the same craftsmen who once acclaimed Pompey now acclaim him. Flavius explains why he removes the ornaments from the statues: to clip Caesar's feathers so that he does not fly high and keeps everyone in servitude. The motive is fear of servitude, before any conspiracy.
These growing feathers pluck’d from Caesar’s wing / Will make him fly an ordinary pitch
(I.1)
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