The death of Cinna the poet is cued by those previous interpretative acts as symbolic – but of what? The scene misses that explanatory analysis and commentary so carefully elaborated in other scenes of the play. No one has time to interpret its significance, so the murder of Cinna is left hanging, an emblem without its motto, a parable without the gloss. It’s clear that Cinna’s death is the consequence of an unfortunate coincidence: it’s because he has the misfortune to share his name with one of the conspirators that he is killed. The plebeians are unwittingly carrying out an act of dramatic
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