In “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” Brutus is plagued with a very difficult decision. That being the choice of whether or not to kill a good friend of his, under the assumption that his friend will become too powerful for his own good. In turn, demolishing the Roman Republic, which originally the people fought so hard to get. It would be a very difficult situation for anyone to be put in, it's tough when your friends change for the worse. Luckily for the ignorant people of Rome, Brutus is not only extremely noble but also very wise; he should kill Caesar for the benefit of Rome. Caesar is a very powerful man and he knows it, but sometimes too much power can get to a person's head. He is a very power hungry and selfish person. A good government …show more content…
Like the soothsayer tells him “Beware the ides of march” and Caesar just brushes him aside and calls him crazy. Also when his own wife Calpernia tells him he should not leave the house because of the bad omens. A good leader takes others' opinions into consideration and Ceaser fails to do that in the whole play. Caesar is also too easily persuaded, typically by flattery. He does not actually think about how his actions could affect other people, or even himself down the road. Like Brutus said about him climbing a ladder, he will step on whoever he needs to get to the top. Or when Decius convinces Caesar to still go to the capitol by altering the perception of Calpurnia's dreams. He gets flattered often by people and it is a major character flaw; his weakness of being easily flattered is what will lead him to his death. Aside from Caesar himself being a bad ruler, there is no need for a one person rule. It is never a bad thing to have more minds and opinions working on something to improve it. All people think differently and countries should work together with their people to get what they
Caesar was a man of great passion and effort: whatever he did, he gave it 100% effort. He has shown time and time again his honesty, his harshness, and his commitment to obtaining power. Julius Caesar was a positive leader because of his two greatest qualities: one being attention to image, that of himself and Rome, and that he always kept his word.
Specifically, Brutus has too much pride in himself to realize that he might have a wrong political standpoint, and that killing Caesar might not have been the best option. “Stoop, Romans, stoop, and let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood up to the elbows, and besmear our swords. Then walk we forth, even to the marketplace, and, waving our red weapons o'er our heads, let's all cry "Peace, freedom, and liberty” (3.1.117)! Brutus shows pride in his actions and thinks it will only bring out great in the world. However, Caesar is going to take the crown when he is slain by Brutus and the conspirators. Turmoil is inevitable which causes a war to break out and many people to
Brutus joins a group of conspirators to help kill one of his very close friends because he thinks it will benefit Rome. Although Caesar was one of Brutus’s closest friends, he was part of the conspiracy in his demise. He didn’t do it out of selfish reason or envy like the rest of the conspirators; he did it because he truly believed that it would be the best thing for his country. “Not that I loved Caesar / Less, but that I loved Rome more” (III. ii. 21-22). Brutus said that during his speech at Caesar’s funeral. It basically says his reasoning for the all too great and powerful dictator to he killed. In...
Brutus turned on his best friend and stabbed him in the back. In Julius Caesar’s final moments he noticed his best friend as a traitor. “Et tu, Brute! Then fall, Caesar”, these are Caesars last words as he is stabbed in the back by his friend. Since Brutus thought what he did was for Rome, he did not kill his best friend out of spite or hate he killed his best friend Julius Caesar so that Rome could live. Brutus was tricked into believing that Caesar would not be fit to be king, and would destroy the place Brutus loves, Brutus killed Caesar to protect Rome. Despite what Brutus did, he did only what he thought was the only thing he could do to save Rome. He thought not about his position he thought about the people. Yet he killed Caesar off
He felt it was only way to protect the people of Rome, not for a personal reason, similar to the other men in the conspiracy. This quote in particular would change drastically in that his personal cause would be his hatred and envy of Caesar and his adore for the general public of Rome. Brutus’ hatred and the love of Rome would be the only motivation to kill Caesar, making him not stop for anything until his motivation was fulfilled. The play Julius Caesar would be very different if Brutus’ motivation was hatred for the general public and the city of Rome. His fear that Caesar would become king was put over his own personal relationships in hope that Rome would somehow be better and more prosperous if Caesar was no longer the ruler.
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
In a well functioning republic, the leaders must listen to all that the people say and not do whatever he wishes. This part of the play displays Caesar’s sexism but also his lack of thought for others concerns that is similar to a tyrant view. Lastly, Caesar shows arrogance subtly through his words to make himself feel powerful. When Calpurnia warns Caesar of her visions, Caesar starts speaking in third person that personally seems like the zenith of someone being supercilious. “Caesar shall forth. The things that threatened me/Ne’er looked but on my back; when they shall see/ The face of Caesar, they are vanishéd.” (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
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
Throughout this tragedy Brutus exhibits many character flaws. He starts off by attempting to be too honorable for the adoring people of Rome. He tries to protect him from what Caesar could potentially become, a tyrant. “Wolf but that he sees the Romans as but sheep, he were no lion, were not the Romans hinds”(903). At this point Caesar has not shown any tyrannical ambition. He has been shown to be all for the people without the venture of self gain. “Thrice did I present a kingly crown and thrice did he refuse” (951). He was slightly ambitious, but what human is not? Another flaw we discover in Brutus is that he is an easily swayed man. The truculent and virulent Cassius is able to alter his perception on life especially about his people and the ambitious Caesar. Every move this confused man makes is justified by some flawed logic. This is augmented in his idiotic choice to underestimate Antony and allow him to live. “For Antony is but a limb of Caesar let us be sacrificers not butchers Caiu...
First of all, Marcus Brutus has the character flaw of poor judge of character. He cannot discern a person’s character or true motivation. He, however, acts on his judgments, regardless of whether they are true or not. Brutus feels that Caesar is too ambitious for power, and that he, along with the other eight men plotting the demise of Caesar, must prevent it, “And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg— / Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous— / And kill him in the shell” (911). Brutus decides that Caesar must die because he ambitious. Ambition is not necessarily an evil and virulent thing. Ambition causes men and women to strive towards reaching an attainment. Brutus assumes that Caesar will turn his back on his supporters due to this ambition. One of the most famous lines in Julius Caesar is the dying words of Caesar: “Et tu, Bruté?—Then fall, Caesar” (938). If Caesar had truly turned h...
Phillip Pullman, a British author, once wrote, “I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are”(goodreads.com). Pullman’s quotation on the actions of man being the source of good and evil closely relate to morality, principles regarding the distinction of right and wrong or a person’s values. The question of what human morality truly is has been pondered by philosophers, common folk, and writers for thousands of years. However, sometimes a person’s ethics are unclear; he or she are not wholly good or bad but, rather, morally ambiguous. William Shakespeare, an English playwrite, heavily presses the topic moral ambiguity in his play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. The titular character, Julius Caesar, is a morally equivocal character who serves a major purpose in the play.
Brutus murdered Caesar with honorable purpose so that the Roman people would not “die all slaves”, but “live [as] freemen” (117). Caesar’s death was believed to be in the best interest of Rome and a necessary loss to the empire. Brutus did not seek glory or power, but stability for Rome (unlike most of the conspirators). The Tragic Hero makes an ethical decision, in which the repercussion of his choice was the bringing forth of his own downfall. Brutus did not seek glory and power because he was dissatisfied with his life — he sought to protect the place he loved. He already held a noble status, and was married to a “true and honorable wife” (71). He had no need to stir up the empire and his own personal life, but he felt obligated to protect the country and i...
Brutus was one of many Romans with noble bloodlines. Although Brutus was noble, he never used it to get ahead. There are many times when Brutus could have used the fact that he is truly noble but he didn’t. Many people argue that a noble man wouldn’t have killed Caesar. In some ways that is true, but Brutus’ case was different. A noble man would only for the good of others and that is what Brutus did. He killed Caesar because 7he was afraid of how powerful he could become. Even then he had a hard time doing it, and that is what separates Brutus from the other conspirators. Every other conspirator had little or no reason to kill Caesar. Brutus was willing to do anything for Rome. During his speech about Caesar’s murder Brutus stated “I have the same dagger for myself when it shall please my country to need my death” (III.ii.45-46). This shows how Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III.ii.20-22). He was too passionate about his country to let Caesar turn it into a dictatorship. Mark Antony and Octavius recognized that Brutus was the one noble roman. In his final speech mark Antony said “This was the noblest roman of them all. / All the conspirators save only he/ Did that they did i...
“I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general. He would be crowned – How that might change his nature, there’s the question”, (Shakespeare 2.1 11-13). From the text, it is shown that Brutus is acting from a place of concern for the general welfare of Rome itself. His ideas of assassination are more of a reform rather than a harsh political venture. Brutus did not at all relish in the murder of Caesar; he was more willing to take his own life than Julius Caesar’s.
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