What is your impression of Cassius, the protangonist, or main character who drives the action in Act 1?By the end of act 1, what steps has he taken...

Cassius loves money. He is a miser. His quarrel with
Brutus in Act 4, Scene 3 erupts because he failed to send Brutus the money he needed to
pay his troops. Brutus says:

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Let me tell you, Cassius, you
yourself
Are much condemn'd to have an itching
palm,

When the two men have
vented all the angry feelings, Brutus calls for a bowl of wine to share with Cassius.
Cassius shows his greedy character when he says:

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My heart is thirsty for that noble
pledge.
Fill, Lucius, till the wine o'erswell the cup;
I cannot
drink too much of Brutus'
love.

This is a universal
trait of misers. They are freeloaders. Cassius cannot drink too much of Brutus' love--or
drink too much of his wine, either! Brutus undoubtedly provides better wine than Cassius
ever buys for his own consumption. 

Caesar tells Antony in
Act 1, Scene 2:

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Let me have men about me that are
fat,
Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights:
Yond Cassius has
a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much; such men are
dangerous.

Another revealing
trait of misers is that they are typically lean and hungry looking. This is because they
hate to spend money even on buying food for themselves. No doubt everybody in Cassius'
household, especially the slaves, looks equally lean and hungry. When Cassius invites
Casca to supper, Casca obviously doesn't want to come. He has been there before and
knows what kind of supper he can expect: some bread and cheese and bitter-tasting wine.
Then when Cassius invites him to dinner, Casca sees he can't get out of it and replies,
very rudely:

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Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, and your
dinner
worth the
eating.

These men have known
each other since their school days. When Casca says, "...and your dinner worth the
eating" he really means it. It is noteworthy that Cassius, who is anxious to talk to
Casca alone, first invites him to supper. This is a light evening meal which wouldn't
cost Cassius much to serve. When Casca turns him down, Cassius, being a miser, thinks he
must spend a little more and provide a whole dinner. The fact is that Casca doesn't
really want to come at all. People like Brutus, but they dislike Cassius for obvious
reasons, including the fact that he has a terrible temper. This is why Cassius needs
Brutus to act as leader of the conspiracy.