Julius Caesar Quotes

Marcus Brutus: The Most “Noble” Roman of Them All

“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (3.2.24) This quote reflects the motive of Brutus for the assassination of his friend, Caesar. I believe Brutus killed him not out of disrespect, but in a selfless act to protect Rome from the decree of Caesar yet to come. I also believe that he did this out of force from the manipulation from his “friend” Cassius. In Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar”, Brutus’ two most significant characteristics are virtue and unconscious hypocrisy. In order to fully understand these characteristics, it is necessary to analyze all other contributing characteristics, the manipulation of friendship that Cassius uses against him, and the motivations for

his suicide.

Virtue is the characteristic in which a person shows high moral standards.

Minor characteristics involved in virtue are honorability, respectability, dignity, integrity, nobility, purity, and rectitude. Brutus clearly shows all of these characteristics throughout the play. For example, he killed his friend Caesar, but only to protect Rome from Caesar. He clearly did this out of love and respect for Rome and out of dignity and nobility. But this action was slightly unconsciously hypocritical. Brutus believed that in spite of Caesar being his friend, assassinating him was the right thing to do for his country. But only because Cassius put it in his mind that is was. All of the other conspirators stabbed Caesar before Brutus. But when Brutus stabbed him, it was literally like getting stabbed in the back by your best friend. “Et tu, Bruté?—Then fall, Caesar.” (3.1.84) Caesar asks “You too Brutus?”, as if he didn’t expect Brutus to be the one to kill him. But even though this affected Brutus, he had to do this for his country. Unconscious hypocrisy is also an important characteristic of Brutus. There are many instances in which Brutus said that something was cowardly but he had the same thing or something similar. The reason he did those things is because Cassius manipulated him to do them. So he was expressing his beliefs but acting out Cassius’ manipulations on

him.

The assassination would have never happened if Cassius would not have manipulated Brutus to join in the conspiracy.

Cassius needed a reason to motivate Brutus to join the conspiracy so that the plan would develop. “Brutus, I do observe you now of late: I have not from your eyes that gentleness…” (1.2.34) Cassius is saying that Brutus hasn’t been as affectionate toward him as he typically is. Maybe he suspects something is wrong with Brutus and he thinks it has something to do with Caesar. But I think he didn’t really care about how Brutus was treating him, he was just “buttering him up” so to say. Brutus thinks that Cassius is just being his friend and trying to help, when in reality Cassius is manipulating him. This manipulation of friendship is what drives the rest of the play. Brutus has a hard time seeing through this manipulation of Cassius and it ends up driving him to assassinating his friend, Caesar. Cassius fabricated letters to make them seen like they were from the people of Rome saying that they wanted Brutus as their leader. These letters were really the controlling factor of the assassination because they gave Brutus another reason to assassinate Caesar. Cassius then realized how easy it was to manipulate Brutus. “Well, Brutus, thou art noble. Yet I see thy honorable mettle may be wrought from that it is disposed. Therefore it is meet that noble minds keep ever with their likes; for who so firm that cannot be seduced?” (1.2.320-324) Cassius is saying that even

though Brutus is a noble man, even he can be deceived. I do believe that at the end of the play however, the emotions felt between both Brutus and Cassius were true friendship and respect.

Brutus and Cassius both kill themselves at the end of the play. Cassius kills himself out of a misunderstanding. He thought his army was losing and he couldn't bare to see them lose. Brutus killed himself a while after that. He didn't want to live under Antony and Octavius’ rule. “But I do find it cowardly and vile, for fear of what might fall, so to prevent the time of life, arming myself with patience to stay the providence of some high powers that govern us below.” (5.1.105) Brutus is saying that he thinks it is cowardly and vile to commit suicide to avoid future suffering. But Brutus does exactly this. “Farewell, good Strato. (runs on his sword) Caesar, now be still. I killed not thee with half so good a will. (dies)” (5.5.55) He is saying that Caesar can rest in peace now because he killed himself more willingly than he killed Caesar. This is when he realised how much Cassius’ manipulations affected him.

In conclusion, I believe that Brutus is a character that had his own beliefs but his actions were influenced by Cassius’ manipulations. Brutus was virtuous on his own, but after Cassius’ influence, he was unconsciously hypocritical. In Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar”, Brutus’ two most significant characteristics are virtue and unconscious hypocrisy. In order to fully understand these characteristics, it is necessary to analyze all other contributing characteristics, the manipulation of friendship that Cassius uses against him, and the motivations for his suicide. Cassius manipulates him to a point where he thinks that it is better to kill himself than to live under the future suffering yet to come. Brutus believed that this was an honorable death.