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Essay about julius caesar character
Characters of julius caesar and their role
The tragedy of julius caesar character traits
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Why would a title be a name of a fairly minor character? Yes Julius Caesar was a character of major power, but he was killed off in Act 3! The title should include Marcus Brutus, seeing as he is the actual main character. He was the one who was in the play a vast majority and made a very big impact on the plot!
Julius Caesar was a powerful king. Too much power even. That’s what conspirators Cassius, Casca, Cinna and many others thought. They believed in another individual who would be a better leader; Marcus Brutus. Brutus was noble, honorable, and ambitious. He had just enough ambition for him to be a good ruler. This wasn’t the case for Caesar. Caesar wanted so much power and right away too. He had ruled the Roman Empire; which was thought to be the entire world at the time. If there was more power to be absorbed, Caesar would have gone any length to achieve that power. This caused people to be afraid of him, and more importantly; despised him. It was one of his most fatal flaws! (No pun intended) Yes, maybe some people were too blind to see it, but the conspirators who took action, saw it.
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Caesar would have killed many people, and all for what? More power. Brutus would have done anything for the sake of his city. Even if that meant killing his friend. “Nor that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (III.ii.23-24) A good leader would put his city/empires problems and demands before himself. Sometimes to fix a problem you need to fix it at the roots. This came from his heart and was honest. If Brutus actually hated Caesar, he would have struck him first. However, Brutus was one of the last people to stab Caesar and one of the last to agree to the conspiracy. It took a lot of convincing from Cassius who admired Brutus a great deal. He would always keep telling Brutus how he was the better leader than Caesar and how his plan would truly
Due to the errors Brutus makes throughout the play and the harm that befalls him as a result, he represent the true tragic hero of Julius Caesar. For despite holding one of the few sets of good intentions in the play, Brutus ultimately suffers and dies farther away from achieving his dreams than he started from.
Playwright, William Shakespeare, in the play Julius Caesar, utilizes many instances of rhetorical devices through the actions and speech of Caesar's right-hand man, Mark Antony. In the given excerpt, Antony demonstrates several of those rhetorical devices such as verbal irony, sarcasm, logos, ethos, and pathos which allows him to sway the plebeians. The central purpose of Mark Antony’s funeral speech is to persuade his audience into believing that Caesar had no ill intentions while manipulating the plebeians into starting a rebellion against their new enemies, Brutus and the conspirators.
The demise of the Roman Republics authoritative power is an event that still holds the focus of modern society. While he is often held accountable for the fall, Gaius Julius Caesar’s rise to power and continuing ambition was not the only factor that caused its eventual downfall. His involvement and inclusion in the creation of the First Triumvirate and the ongoing civil war between Pompey and himself brought around his rise to power, and his reforms quickly affected the social, economic and political structure of Roman society. His rule both started in civil war, and ended in it; ultimately causing an end to republican institutions.
I have no personal reason to strike at him—only the best interest of the people”Nevertheless Brutus did not strike down Caesar for personal gain, he striked Caesar so that Rome could live. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death and envy afterwards; For Antony is but a limb of Caesar: Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius” However Brutus was against killing Marc Antony, he was not willing to kill a man out of coldblood, and he would not be marked as a killer in the eyes of the people, he would rather be seen as a defender of the country, he also was against spilling unnecessary blood. Brutus did not want to be a butcher he had only one intention and that was to save Rome. Not start a blood bath. Brutus was against spilling unwanted blood, why kill a man who did nothing to deserve his
(II.ii.10-11). Caesar basically says that because he is so great and powerful, he will never be defeated. He also talks in third person, which is quite arrogant of a leader to do. Whenever people feel too anxious for leadership they may let it all go to their head, another reason why he turned into a tyrant. People need to watch for tyrannical or corrupt politicians as they can get too power hungry and cannot be stopped.
Brutus would not want a tyrant for king of the Rome that he defends and care for so much. Brutus is trying to convince himself that he’s making a hard decision for the greater good. Other factors that played into his decision to join the plot to kill Caesar were Cassius and the others convincing him that if Caesar becomes a king and has absolute power he would corrupt Rome. Brutus having such high morals felt like his own honor would be in jeopardy and corrupted. In the beginning, Brutus cannot think of a personal reason to kill him but after the other conspirators swayed his thinking that Caesar’s death would be for the greater good. If Caesar doesn’t die he will be crowned king and Rome will be in ruins. In summation, Brutus should have looked even further inward and seen that he was being used and manipulated by the conspirators. A man with such high morals should have foreseen that doing the wrong thing even if he thought it was for the right reason is never the answer for a successful outcome. Brutus changed drastically from being a good friend to caesar, to being conflicted for a month to ultimately deciding to kill
He has two opposing desires that he has to choose between. These are killing Caesar to preserve democracy in Rome and to save Caesar, since he is a friend of Brutus. A quote from J.L. Simmons that summarizes this well is, “Certainly the material lends itself to a conflict between private and public affections” (Simmons 64). Brutus wants to kill Caesar for Rome because the citizens of Rome want to preserve democracy and Caesar is preventing that by being dictator for life. A quote that puts this in other words is, “The ultimate factor in persuading Brutus to join the conspiracy is his belief that his countrymen wish him to act on their behalf” (Shalvi 71). Killing Caesar would be a choice made for not himself, but the citizens of Rome while saving him would be for himself and to preserve his friendship with Caesar. Saving Caesar would be a deed for himself and would strengthen his relationship with Caesar. He could have warned Caesar of the conspirators’ plans and put a stop to them. Brutus ultimately makes the choice of following through and assassinating Caesar. His plan was for this to be a honorable action, but it ended up negative on his behalf. The majority of the citizens in Rome did not take this lightly and wanted revenge for his actions. This is the main mistake made by Brutus that lead to his own
The title of the play is Julius Caesar, and was written by William Shakespeare. In 1599, Julius Caesar was the first play to be preformed at the newly built Globe Theater. William Shakespear died in 1616. Brutus was a cautious, devious, and naive.
Both Caesar and Brutus were main characters in this play. Two sides formed during the play, and these two characters were the leaders of each side, respectively. Also, each character held a high rank in the Roman society. Caesar was the ruler of the Roman Empire, and could basically do whatever he wanted due to his outstanding power. Brutus was a general for the Empire and he was respected and was seen as a noble man and true “Roman” by many.
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 Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Cassius encompasses ethical and emotional appeal to persuade Brutus that something should be done about Caesar's aspirations for sovereignty. For instance, Cassius cleverly references himself as "Aeneas, our great ancestor,/ Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder,/ The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber,/ Did I the tried Caesar" (1.2.23-26). Cassius skillfully employs vivid imagery to depict how he once rescued Caesar when they were swimming in the River Tiber, while heavily suggesting that Caesar is a feeble man compared earlier to the event from Roman history. Cassius also explains to Brutus how it is ironic that Caesar appears to be an omnipotent figure since Caesar is no better
The tragedy “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare should be renamed “Brutus” because Caesar is not the tragic hero. He is only in a small portion of the play and does not possess a major tragic flaw; however Marcus Brutus fits the description of tragic hero much better than Julius Caesar. Typically, tragedies are named after the tragic hero, which Aristotle describes as: a person of noble birth with a tragic flaw that leads to his or her downfall because of that flaw. Brutus exhibits all of these qualities, therefore rightfully naming him a tragic hero.
William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a story full of manipulation and jealousy that changes the way people think. Ancient Rome had umpteen different ways of handling situations that, in today’s world, would be considered unethical; such as battles that were very much horrifying and vivid. However, these battles were not important with the development of the plot. Shakespeare uses various ways of the idea of manipulation and betrayal to lead readers into the rest of the narrative.
Caesar would’ve tromped all who stood before him, and ancient Europe would’ve become an ant under Caesar’s boot. If Brutus really did kill Caesar for the good will of Rome, I do not believe he was in any way a bad man, and even proved how strong of a man he was. In most cases, homicides are ugly, heinous crimes. But in a select few instances, they can be not only justifiable, but the overall best outcome of a situation.
Brutus was a supporter of the republic as well as Caesar’s truthful friend. However much he loved Caesar, he opposed the fact that a single man ruled Rome and he feared Caesar would rise to hold that power. Brutus was a good leader. He was truthful and honourable. Brutus tries to justify his reason for killing Caesar and he says