When it comes to the betterment of society, everyone wants leaders who will serve the people to the best of their abilities. Too many times throughout history, individuals with power yearned for more and became so obsessed with utter control it corrupts their intentions. When it comes to power and leadership, a balance should exist to live in contentment. The term moderation describes the ideal balance desperately needed within Greek and Roman times. Relating to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, many contemplate whether Brutus or Caesar lived more in moderation and better served the interest of Rome. After comparing, contrasting, and defending the cases of Brutus and Caesar, the evidence gives favor, though not without flaws, towards Brutus serving …show more content…
The people viewed this as modest and humble, however Caesar probably did this as a political statement. Several times throughout the story, Caesar’s main flaw he demonstrates is his pompous, inflated sense of self. At one point he states, “I am as constant as the Northern Star,” (97) He compares himself as the definitive way or the end-all-be-all which sounds arrogant. However, after his death the mob mentality emerged and dictated chaos throughout Rome; he seemed to actually be the Northern Star and the glue that kept the peace of Roman society together during that time. Another example of his inflated confidence is when Julius says, “Danger knows full well that Caesar is more dangerous than he.” (77) He essentially states “Danger is my middle name” in a more elegant and appropriate phrasing during Ancient Rome. Although Caesar probably already possessed a narcissistic personality, his subjects definitely fed into his self-righteous image. Their wishy-washy behavior dictated how many of the events played out throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, Marullus judges the citizens for glorifying Caesar after he defeated Pompey. Not only had Caesar defied …show more content…
In Act 1 sc. 2, Cassius and Brutus discuss their concerns with Caesar’s ruling. Cassius prods Brutus with the question, “Ay, do you fear it? Then must I think you would not have it so.” Brutus responded with “I would not, Cassius, yet I love him well” (19). Brutus is at war with himself because he views Caesar as his friend, but believes his actions to be a danger to the Roman people however, he does not acknowledge the possibility of overthrowing him yet. Only when presented with the concerns of the anonymous citizens does he contemplate any bloodshed. When the other conspirators want to clean house and annihilate everyone in power, Brutus states, “For Antony is but a limb of Caesar: Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius” (61). He makes this statement to ensure the common eyes view their actions as a noble act because Brutus is involved solely for the interest of the Roman people. Sadly, the forged letters deceived Brutus and the people rioted against their deed. In the midst of the civil war, Brutus kills himself due to grief. When Antony and Octavius discover his corpse, Antony says, “This was the noblest Roman of them all. All the conspirators save only he did that they did in envy of great Caesar. He only in a general honest thought and common good to all made one of them” (209). Caesar’s right-hand man Antony recognized Brutus
The book Julius Caesar is full of happiness, conspiracy, power, and betrayal. The people of Rome deeply loved julius Caesar and wished to make him their king. A group of senators however were not so fond of this idea and formed a conspiracy. The leader of this group was a man by the name of Cassius. In order to make sure that his scheme of killing Caesar would work and would look honorable he had to convince a senator by the name of Brutus to help. After being convinced that they had to kill Caesar to protect Rome from a tyrant Brutus joined the conspiracy and soon became the principal conspirator.On the day in which Caesar was to be crowned king he was on the way to the senate when he was stabbed by all the conspirators panic ensued and to convince Rome of their honorable intentions Brutus gave a funeral speech. Mark Antony, a very close friend of Caesar, gave his speech after Brutus had given his. Mark Antony’s speech is more persuasive to the Roman people because of his outstanding use of pathos, sarcasm, and logos.
“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
Honor and power is what drives the conspirators to assassinate Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Caesar is now the single leader of Rome, and members of the Senate have concerns that he will abuse his sole power. Therefore, they plot and accomplish the assassination of Caesar in an attempt to rebuild the balance of Rome. Rome falls into chaos with an unknown future with no central leader for the people to follow. In Act I, Scene 2, Cassius, a member of the Senate, explains to his friend, Brutus, that Caesar is not the god he makes himself out to be. Instead, he argues both he and Brutus are equal to Caesar and are just as deserving of the throne. Cassius’ speech to Brutus diminishes Caesar’s godly demeanor through
“Remember March, March 15th. Didn’t great Caesar bleed for the sake of justice?” afterwards Brutus reminds Cassias of the reason he killed Caesar it was to save Rome, Great Caesar bled so Rome could live. Brutus loved Caesar as a friend, but he did not think he would be right to lead. “The only way is to kill Caesar. 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
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
Brutus is a very cautious man. “Into what dangers are you leading me, Cassius, that you would have me look into myself for things that are not there?”(1.2.68-70) This quote is referring to act 1 where Cassius brings Brutus into the room and starts to talk about Caesar. When Cassius suggests to kill Mark Antony alone with Caesar, Brutus says, “Our plan will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius. We cut off the head and then hack the limbs, seem to kill Caesar in anger and then vent malice on his friends, for Antony is only a branch of Caesar.”(2.1.169-172) Brutus doesn’t want to just kill everyone, and be know as a killer, he just wants to do what he thinks is right for the people of Rome. Brutus was cautious, even near the end of the play when he was in his tent talking to Cassius,he told Lucilius and Titinius to go guard the door, until he had finished he conference.
Julius Caesar is the leader of Rome and is seeking to become king in a matter of time. Though he is a good military strategist, he lacks knowledge in running government and is too greedy to have any concern for the peasants when he is alive. Caesar is all about conquering and power and he is afraid of nothing. Before he is murdered, he says “The things that threatened me ne’er looked but on my back. When they shall see the face of Caesar, they are vanished” (II, ii, 575). Th...
Brutus put his trust in Antony to not turn on him at the funeral. He was lead to believe that Antony would only speak good of the conspirators and defend them for the actions they have made. He trusted Antony when he told him he would not express such hate and talk of the bad they did and then later turned against them for the vengeance of Caesar. Brutus told Antony, “You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, But speak all good you can devise of Caesar” (III.i.245-246). He told him that the only way he is going to be able to speak at Caesar’s funeral is if he speaks good of the conspirators. After Antony said his speech, the whole crowd immediately switched and sided with him against them. They wanted nothing more than for Brutus, Cassius and the other contributors to be dead. This reveals that Brutus is shameful for putting his trust in someone who was so close to Caesar. Brutus trusted that Antony wouldn't do anything and just imagined he would be to scared to step up and speak out. This leads to Brutus losing the trust he had for Antony and starting a war between the people and the conspirators. As the war was about to proceed, they all prepped for what was about to happen. Antony and his army completely dominated Brutus’ and lead to many of them fleeing for their lives. Many people died by genocide while other committed suicide. Brutus was among the ones of suicide. He no longer wanted to be alive and felt that he had lived and fulfill what he had wanted. People were dead and he knew he was going to be one of them. Brutus’ last words were, “Caesar, now be still; I killed not thee with half so good a will” (V.v.50-51). He wanted Caesar to know that he can now be at rest because the vengeance he was looking for has been given. Because of all the trust he put in the people that were taking advantage of him, he ended up finishing his life. This reveals that Brutus really did
Brutus stated, “That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder, Whereto the climber-upward turns his face; But when he once attains the upmost round. He then unto the ladder turns his back.” The ladder shows that Caesar will be on the top of everyone and want to have control of everything and everybody. He will not care about the people of Rome and will turn his back to them all. This shows that the only one that Caesar cares about his himself and doesn’t care about what the people have to say or what they want. He will look down on the people since he is will be the head of everything. This shows that Caesar will take advantage of the power that he will have and do things that will better him not the people of
Power is a very interesting thing to hold. Many good-natured men have been destroyed by power and turned away from their morals as a result. When giving a man absolute power, it’s ingrained in the human brain to take it to a new level. This ideal is present in every type of government, regardless of if it’s a dictatorship or a government supported by autonomy. Modern day government suffers from this power hungry greed. Power is an element of human life and often leads to temptation because mankind thirsts for control, and that’s what power grants.
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...
Narration- Julius Caesar was a victorious military leader who defeated Pompey, another militaristic general of the Roman Republic. In the course of his victory he rose to greater notoriety, and as he entered Rome he felt the support of an admiring public. He was offered royal status with a crown displaying his importance to the Roman people. Caesar refused the royal status thrice by not accepting the crown and each time the crowd roared. But was the roar of the crowd the sign of
Even though Brutus loves Caesar and knows that Caesar is a good man, he lets Cassius talk him into looking deeper and see that Rome can't have a tyrant as a leader. He tells Cassius "Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, That you would have me seek into myself, for that which is not in me?" 1.2.65-67. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary Brutus knows that killing his best friend is not something he wants to do, but he's ready to commit such crime because it's for the good of the Rome and the people of Rome.
Brutus’ leadership and compassion for others make him a popular figure amongst the Roman people, and it is his reputation that establishes him as an influential individual. For example, despite the fact that Brutus loves Caesar like a brother, he warily joins the conspiracy to assassinate him. He does this because he believes that Caesar’s ambition would become tyranny and that Caesar’s death is a necessary evil in order to preserve the liberties of the Roman people. In his own words Brutus claims, “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, Page 1116). In addition, Brutus takes the reins of authority from Cassius and becomes the leader of the conspiracy. He gains this prerogative because of his convincing tongue and powerful influence. His leadership is evidenced when he begins to challenge Cassius’ ideas. When Cassius asks the conspirators to “swear our resolution”(Act 2...
The ambition possessed by each character, leads Caesar, Brutus, and Cassius to power. It will be the same ambition, that quest for power, that makes each one susceptible to their own weakness. For Caesar, it will be his ego and inability to heed warnings, Brutus his love of Rome, and Cassius his dedication to power. These qualities prove that although intentions may be noble, ambition can make a person ruthless and blind them to their original goals. Ambition kills those who lose sight of their conscience and although it may prove beneficial in many instances, in this case, it leads the characters to lose all that they