James Mullin
Mrs. Hilliard
Honors English 10
12 January 15
Socratic Circle
1. Brutus is a dynamic character and a main character in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar; however, the play is not really about him. Brutus has many tragic flaws in Julius Caesar; honor, idealism, and poor judgement are his main flaws. His honor becomes a tragic flaw as he is played into joining the conspirators by the fake letters sent by Cassius and the others. Idealism goes along with both honor and bad judgement. Brutus’s belief in an idealistic world makes him believe the things both Cassius and Marc Antony say. This leads to his downfall throughout the play up until his death. Finally, poor judgement is Brutus’s main flaw that contributes most to his downfall. The
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In Antony’s speech that Brutus allowed him to make, he uses a great deal of irony to turn Rome against Brutus and the conspirators. He makes ironic statements such as, “And Brutus is an honorable man.” (Shakespeare III. ii. 96); to turn the crowd against the conspirators by also disproving the fact that Brutus was an honorable man. Even though Brutus is a main character in this play, its not really about him. The play is about the state of Rome and its ups and downs through the rise and fall of various leaders. Brutus is one of these leaders that rises and falls around the state of Rome. Brutus is a dynamic character that experiences many ups and downs throughout the play. He changes from being one of Caesar’s closest friends to being one of Caesar’s biggest conspirators by claiming he was doing good for Rome. Brutus is one of the most complex characters in Julius Caesar and that is …show more content…
ii. 13-670). This logic is eventually forgotten by the people in light of Antony’s largely emotional speech. Finally, his loyalty is expressed differently than was originally thought. Instead of his loyalty being shown to Caesar, Brutus shows he is loyal to the state of Rome as he claims killing Caesar was best for Rome.
Cassius is the lead conspirator and he was the sneaky, manipulative mastermind behind the entire plan of the conspirators. He knew of Brutus’s talents as a leader and manipulated him into becoming the face of the conspirators. He led the public to believe that the killing of Caesar was the right move for Rome. He represented the traits that he showed and remained manipulative and sneaky throughout the entire play.
Marc Antony is extremely stable throughout the play. He is the loyal best friend of Caesar, the emotional crowd moving speaker, and the manipulative rhetorical speaker. He not only espouses these characteristics, but he also represents all the characteristics during the entirety of the play. He maintains his love and loyalty to Caesar and also to Rome at the same time by fighting against the conspirators. His emotional crowd moving speech and manipulative skills turned them on the conspirators and began the end of their campaign. Antony most powerful skill is his speech and powerful
Antony is Caesars closest friend and also perhaps his advisor. We see him very little, be he is talked of much.
In act III, scene ii, Antony proves to himself and the conspiracy, that he has the power to turn Rome against Brutus. He deceived the conspirators with his speech during Caesar’s funeral. In this speech, Antony pulls at the heartstrings of the countryman by showing emotions and turning them against their beloved leader, Brutus. The scene takes place the day of Caesar's death. Leading up to this point the people loved Brutus because, reasonably he explains of them about Caesar's death and told them it was necessary. In Antony's speech he showed signs of hatred towards Brutus and the conspirators. He thinks for himself and deceives the people, when he explains how Brutus lied to the people . The plot depends on Antony’s speech.
Throughout the play many characters are not who they turn out to be. Julius Caesar is a very good judge of character, he does not ruts Cassius, he says “ He thinks too much man, such men are dangerous”( shakespeare,1.2.195). Caesar foreshadows now dangerous Cassius is, Cassius is one person who stabs Caesar. Unlike Caesar, Brutus trusts people too much to see who they are. After Caesar 's death, Brutus trusts Marc Antony to give his speech, but Cassius says “ You know not what you do. Do not consent./ that Antony speak in his funeral. I know you how much the people may be moved/ by that which he will utter.” (shakespeare,3.2.333-335). Caesar was an amazing military leader, Brutus was not. Before Caesar becomes king, he gained land back to Rome “ Julius Caesar has just returned to Rome after a long civil war in which he defeated the forces of pompey” (applebee) Caesar led his military to victory and has the chance to take full control of Rome. brutus is a humble military leader company to Caesar. After Brutus won his battle over Octavius’ army, he left his men begin looting. Instead of helping Cassius’ army “ O Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early,/ who, having some advantages on Octavius/ took it too eagerly. His soldiers fell to spoil/ whilst we by Antony are all enclosed .(Shakespeare,5.3.5-8) Brutus had a bad call when he did not send his army to help Cassius. With Caesars flaw being
Cassius is the main conspirator against Caesar. He is Brutus's friend and accomplice. In the play Julius Caesar he can be described only through dialogue.
Brutus emerges as the most ambiguous and complex character in Julius Caesar and is also the play’s tragic hero. In his soliloquies the audience gains insight into the complexities of his motives. In Brutus’s first soliloquy he states “It must be by his death and for my part I know no personal cause to spurn at him But for the general”(Act 2,scene 1, Julius Caesar). This highlights the internal struggle brutus is going through. He loved Caesar as a friend but yet he loved Rome more, he had to make a decision to kill his best friend for the good of the Roman empire.
I believe Brutus is a villain. The fine line that distinguishes a person as either a hero or a villain, or even a good and a bad person, is unclear. That makes the play so very unique. You, the reader, have to figure it out for yourself. Since I believe he is a villain, I have to have clear reasons to think so: he killed a man. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Brutus’s claim was that Caesar’s flaw was his ambition, and he also said that his
In the play the Life and Death of Julius Caesar (just as in all of Shakespeare’s tragedies) there is much death, much tragedy, and of course, a tragic hero. However unlike most of Shakespeare’s plays this time the tragic hero is not particularly obvious. Throughout the play a few main characters present themselves as possibilities for being the tragic hero. But as being a tragic hero is not only having a tragic flaw but also entails much more, there really is only one person to fit the mold. The character Brutus is born into power and is higher/better then we are. He has a tragic flaw that causes his downfall and at the end he realizes his mistake (a trait none of the other characters can really claim).
In the beginning, Cassius claims: “Men at some time are masters of their fates: \ The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, \ But in ourselves, that we are underlings” (1.2.150-152). Cassius believes that men have control over their fate, however this is ironic because out of all the characters, he is the least in control. Cassius encounters numerous opportunities which allowed him to alter his fate, nevertheless he choose to respond to these events based on Brutus’s opinions instead of his own. In addition, Cassius is aware that he does not possess positive qualities, therefore decides to manipulate Brutus in joining the conspiracy to bring legitimacy to his actions. Cassius is cautious not to provoke Brutus regardless of that fact that he engenders unfavorable outcomes. Soon after Caesar’s death, Brutus permits Antony to deliver a farewell address even though Cassius objects. Cassius voices his disapproval to Brutus’s decision once more: “Do not consent/ That Antony speak in his funeral/ Know you how much the people may be moved/ By that which he will utter?” (3.1.245-248). Cassius is suspicious of Antony’s sudden reconciliation, yet remains silent when Brutus reasserts that he is adamant about his decision. His compliance undermines the conspirators plan, ultimately costing them their lives. Furthermore, Cassius’ readiness to abandon his beliefs harms the success of the conspirators in battle. When discussing military tactics, Cassius urges for the army to remain in Sardis, but Brutus disagrees and argues that the army should march towards Philippi. Cassius establishes his credibility by mentioning that he is “older in practice” (4.3.37), and believes that his strategy will drain Antony’s soldiers tenacity to fight, allowing Cassius’s troops to be victorious. Nonetheless, Cassius eventually yields to Brutus’s requests even though he recognizes that Brutus’
Brutus’ final flaw is his idealism. His idealism leads him to believe everything that everybody tells him. His idealism causes him to believe in Antony and Cassius. Cassius uses Brutus’ idealism by getting him to believe that they are killing Caesar for the betterment of Rome. Antony uses the idealism to get to talk to the com Brutus’ tragic flaws are part of what makes him a tragic hero. In Julius Caesar, Brutus is a great example of a tragic hero. His tragic flaws are honor, poor judgement, and idealism (Bedell). In Shakespeare’s plays, the tragic hero and his flaws cause the downfall of the play (Tragic Flaws).
In the Tragedy Of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus, Mark Antony, and Cassius are three very important characters that help support, and develop the story as a whole. These three characters don't share a common similarity, however they do share some similarities with each other individually. For example, Antony and Cassius are very manipulative people and know how to get what they want, when they want it, while Brutus is more of a reserved type of person.
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Mark Antony—a loyal friend to Julius Caesar, the former emperor of Rome—gives a speech to the Roman commoners in order to persuade them to turn against Brutus, for Brutus and the conspirators had slain Caesar. Antony’s uses rough and sharp diction, a scornful tone, and honest anecdotes in order to achieve his purpose of manipulating the common people to take his side.
As the play opens, Brutus is known as a Roman nobleman and a member of one of the most illustrious families in Rome. He is first seen in Act I, scene ii, as one of Caesar’s “close friends” who is part of his entourage. But while alone with Cassius he is persuaded into taking a part in the assassination of Caesar. He is weary at first, and it seems as though it took Cassius some time to talk him into agreeing, yet Brutus looked at Caesar as some type of threat as well.
Throughout the play, Brutus speaks about honor and his loyalty to his country. These two concepts become major conflicts for him when it comes to his friendship and loyalty to Caesar. Brutus life is conducted by the concept of honor. He constantly throughout the play speaks of how honorable he is and how honorable men should live. He 's very proud of how Romans view him as a noble and honorable man, who fights for what is right and is always following the moral and ethical code. Brutus ends up using the concept of honor and loyalty to his country as a reason why Caesar must die. He 's convinced that his countrymen will thank him for saving them from a tyrant and that Rome would be much better off without Caesar, but it ends up being a big miscalculation
Brutus, probably the most significant character in the play, is the leader of the group who plans to kill Caesar, although Cassius is the initiator of the plot. Brutus loves Caesar, as Caesar does him, and ironically this is why he kills Caesar – he does not want to see him corrupted by the absolute power he (Caesar) would have if he were king. He gives Caesar the final stab which kills him. He then leads his and Cassius’ army against Antony and Octavius’ and finally kills himself to avenge Caesar’s death.
In the play Julius Caesar, written and preformed by William Shakespeare, there are many characters, but two, Brutus and Cassius, stood out. The play begins in Rome where a celebration of Julius Caesar's victory over the former ruler of Rome, Pompeii. The victory leads to Caesar's betrayal by his jealous companions. Senators and other high status figures are jealous of Caesar's new and growing power, while others, like Brutus, fear the tyrannical rule Caesar could enforce. The conspirators, Brutus and Cassius being the most important, assassinate Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius, better known as Antony, and Octavius Caesar, Caesar's heir to the thrown, revenge Caesar's death. Antony convinces the Roman populous to destroy the conspirators and eventually begins a war with Cassius and Brutus' armies. Both Cassius and Brutus commit suicide to save their honor and Antony and Octavius win the war. The characterizations of Brutus and Cassius show a distinct contrast in their character traits and motives for the assassination of Julius Caesar.