In the tragedy play Julius Caesar, written by Shakespeare, an organization known as the “conspirators” manipulate Caesar’s best friend Brutus into believing that Caesar is an ambitious tyrant. Brutus was well known as Caesar’s angel (3.2.182), his best friend, however, he was too easily manipulated into joining the conspirators, this is his fatal flaw and what makes him dishonourable. Brutus was unfaithful to his best friend, murdering him because he was told that he was ambitious by other people. Brutus is not an honourable man. Brutus is gullible and too naive to be an honourable man, in Act 1 Scene 2; Cassius tells Brutus that “Men at some time are masters of their fate: the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves, that …show more content…
In Act 3 Scene 2; during Brutus's Funeral speech, he explains why he killed Caesar to the people, he says: “Not that I loved Caesar any less, but that I loved Rome more.” He is using his “love” for Rome as a way to manipulate the audience into believing that he did it out of love for his country and the people, so that he can appear more honourable and justified in killing Caesar. This shows that not only is Brutus easily manipulated, but he is manipulative as well. After answering, Brutus proceeds to say things seemingly meant to scare and make the audience resent Caesar such as: “Had you rather Caesar be living and die all slaves, than that Caesar was dead, to live all free men?” (3.2.23). His method ends up working, and the audience begins agreeing with him more, describing him as noble, saying he should have a statue with his ancestors and that he should be crowned. Brutus is also not a very good listener and doesn’t allow anyone to have their own opinion about Caesar, calling them rude, vile and base if they are offended or upset by his speech, he wholeheartedly believes that he is doing what is right for the country, however, this is quickly disproven by Mark Antony who uses emotional appeal and rhetoric; he tells the audience that Caesar brought captives home to Rome, that he cried for the poor, and how Caesar refused to be crowned king three times. The
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.
Brutus’ ignorance creates an expectation that develops a path which leads him awry. When Brutus mentions,“ I would not Cassius; yet I love him well” (1.2.81-88 ), he portrays his internal conflict. Brutus depicts the rendering struggle between Cassius’ acquisitions and Caesar’s actions. His oblivion toward the truth and goodwill concerning the greater health of Rome prompt him astray. He acts with the innocence of a child, deceive and swindle by Cassius, Brutus is an
Who would have been the best suited leader of Rome in sixth century B.C.? Many believe it could have been Marcus Antonius, Marcus Brutus, or the great Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus is known to be the most honorable man in Rome at the time and was well respected. Caesar is the ruler and has a successful military. He also seeks wealth and power. Antony is Caesar’s right hand man and good friend. He later acquires the position that Caesar had and also seeks wealth and power. All three men are after the job, but Brutus is obviously the one who was most suited for it and also the only one who never got the chance.
“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
For thousands of years people have been talking about the great powerful Caesar. He is one of the greatest known dictators known to people today mostly because of all of the things he was able to accomplish during his rein as emperor. After reading primary sources about Caesar, it has given me a better understanding of what other people thought of him during this time period. It’s safe to say that Caesar was obsessed with power and respect from other people that would explain his thirst for war and land, which is one of his greatest strengths and helped in making Rome a great empire.
If there were to be a villain in the Tragedy of Julius Caesar Cassius would be it. Cassius is the character who first thought up of the conspiracy against Julius Caesar. His motives weren’t as noble as Brutus’ but he made Brutus believe they were. Cassius did whatever it took to get Brutus to join in the conspiracy. We can clearly see Cassius’ true nature by what he does and says in the play.
Although Brutus attempts to act with honor, and despite the fact that he places all of his trust into the honor of others, there are times when Brutus fails to see the most simple and obvious things, such as clear manipulation by Cassius, and this simple flaw leads him to betray his friend and his honor.
In Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", Caesar is displayed as a powerful and dynamic figure in Rome because of his many accomplishments in previous wars as well as battles. When Caesar returns to Rome from a recent victorious defeat in battle, he receives a warm welcome by all the citizens of Rome. They consider and see Caesar as a hero and a strong individual, which is why they attempt to crown him King three times. A group of generals in Caesar's army are jealous and concerned with the amount of power Caesar has; they make arrangements to kill him. "Power is said to be a man's greatest desire he'll do whatever it takes to achieve his goal, even to kill." In comparison to Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" and the film Julius Caesar, we see many similarities. Furthermore, I will discuss these similarities in great depth.
Greed, ambition, and the possibility of self-gain are always constant in their efforts to influence people’s actions. In Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus, a venerable politician, becomes a victim of the perpetual conflict between power-hungry politicians and ignorant commoners. He is a man of honor and good intentions who sacrifices his own happiness for the benefit of others. Unfortunately, his honor is strung into a fine balance between oblivion and belief and it is ultimately the cause of his downfall. His apparent obliviousness leads him to his grave as his merciful sparing of Mark Antony’s life, much like Julius Caesar’s ghost, comes back to haunt him. Overall, Brutus is an honest, sincere man who holds the lives of others in high regard while he himself acts as a servant to Rome.
In the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare shows how friends often betray each other. Julius Caesar is about to be crowned king of Rome, when some well-known Romans decide that it is not a good idea for this to happen. They form a conspiracy and kill Caesar. Brutus, an honorable Roman and a very good friend of Caesar’s, betrays Caesar by killing him for the good of Rome. Antony, Caesar’s best friend and another honorable Roman, betrays Brutus by turning against the conspirators. Cassius, a respected Roman, and Brutus betray each other by arguing and destroying their friendship. All this betraying lead to many deaths in the play.
Brutus was a devious man, even though what he thought he was doing was right. Brutus told his fellow conspirators to kill Caesar “boldly, but not angerly.”(3.1.256-257) Brutus was one of Caesars right hand men, and yet Brutus kills his own friend. When Antony asks to speak at Caesars funeral, Cassius says no, but Brutus tell him that Antony will speak, but only what Brutus tells him to say. Brutus also embraces the fact that he just killed his friend, and also tells the senators who had just witnessed it to not be afraid, but to stay because ambition has paid its debt.
When the name Julius Caesar is heard, it can only trigger the image of a great leader that led Rome into prosperity. Caesar's military excellence brought more power and more land; that lead to the increase of size and strength in Rome. His dictatorship helped the stability and prosperity in Rome. Caesar's assassination lead to a monarchy that was ruled by Octavin. His death lead to a domino effect ending in the ultimate collapse of the Roman Empire. Many people of the 21st century follow the path of Julius Caesar and try to be as great as he was. The assassination of Julius Caesar was a tragedy due to the contributions he made to Rome's prosperity during his life, and the chaos that occurred in Rome after his death. The contributions that Caesar made towards the strength of Rome's success, and the chaos and collapse of Rome after his death made the assassination of Julius Caesar a tragedy.
Brutus is a good man who is easily turned evil by men filled with abhorrence and jealousy. In the play, Julius Caesar, Brutus is a Roman who is easily manipulated, decisive, and proud. These contradicting traits of Brutus show us why the reader does not want to believe that Brutus is an antagonist in the story.
Brutus also frequently demonstrated many acts of affection toward others. In Act 1, Scene 2, he is reluctant to join Cassius's conspiracy because he did not want to betray Caesar. He had to weigh his choices and in Act 3, Scene 2, Brutus kills Caesar only because he is afraid of what will happen to Rome if Caesar remains ruler. He knew the commoners life would be difficult with the ruling of Caesar. He realizes what a honorable man Caesar was. This is shown again in the same Act and Scene when Brutus allows Mark Antony to speak at Caesar's funeral even though Cassius highly disagreed. Brutus realized Caesar deserved an proper ceremony, and that the best way to do that would be to let Caesar's best friend speak.
At the beginning of Act III, Brutus has the most power because he is still the most honorable person, and has not murdered Caesar yet. The people know about the conspiracy to kill Caesar, based on the fact that Artimidorous tried to warn Caesar, however, they did not try to stop the conspirators. These events demonstrate that the people thought he was doing the right thing for the people of Rome. After the conspirators killed Caesar, the common people were saying, “Caesar’s better parts / shall be crowned in Brutus” (A3, s2, line 52-53). This means that everything that the people liked in Caesar will be in Brutus, once they crown him king. Right after the plebeians said this, Mark Antony made all of the people change their minds and go against Brutus and the other conspirators. At this point, Antony now has the most power in Rome because he has changed the minds of all the people in Rome. The people were for Brutus being the king, but in a very short time, Antony swayed the people against the conspirators. This shows that the people value his opinion so highly that it overruled the fact that Brutus only does actions for the most honorable reasons. For example, when the people say, “Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! /Let not a traitor live!” (A3, s2, line 210-211). This means the the people of Rome won’t let the death of Caesar rest until the people avenge the death of their soon to