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Character analysis of character motivations
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Recommended: Character analysis of character motivations
Von Klotzbach
11/27/16
Mrs. Maier
ELAII-GT
There are many reasons why some people resort to violence in order to solve problems. Some do it out of despair and others because of a personal disliking of the person. No matter the reason, resorting to violence is never the right option. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the killing of Caesar is based on Cassius’s hatred for Caesar, Brutus’s willingness to go to extraordinary lengths to preserve the republic, and the threat others felt from Caesar’s power. These reasons are not grounds to kill someone, because all of the reasons are speculative.
Cassius uses stories of Caesar’s weakness to show he is no better than those that conspire against him. Cassius and Brutus were “Born free[and]... fed as well” as Caesar(Shakespeare 1.2 99). Caesar did not grow up with any more privileges than Cassius and Brutus. Caesar, although he seems invincible to the public, grew up like any other Roman boy. When the “Fit was on him”, it would also show how Caesar was susceptible to
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This leads him to join the conspirators. Brutus decides to be proactive and join the conspirators because he was afraid Caesar “ would be crowned” and become too powerful(2.1 12). Brutus is more concerned with the preservation of the republic than with supporting his friend Caesar’s rise to power. Brutus’s close connection with the founding of the republic influences his decision because he does not want to take away from his ancestors’ accomplishments. Brutus killed Caesar only because it was “toward the general good” of Rome(1.2 87).Brutus put the wellbeing of Rome over the advancing of his friend in government. The threat Caesar could become outweighs the loyalty Brutus has for Caesar. By killing Caesar, Brutus thinks he was saving the republic and his ancestors’ hard
He is Caesar's friend, and holds a powerful position in Rome. Therefore, he has no reason to feel jealous of Caesar. Brutus makes his decision based on what is the best for Rome, and is tricked into believing that the other. conspirators feel the same way. He comments, "What need we spur but our own? cause to prick us to redress? What other bond than the secret Romans? have spoken the word, / And will not palter?
The conflicts brought about in “Julius Caesar” are incredibly complex. To understand even the very basic conflict between Brutus and his thoughts surrounding Caesar’s death takes a small amount of background knowledge. Know that Brutus and Caesar have been friends for a long time before this play takes place. And Brutus has a great loyalty to his mother country, Rome. The last piece of information you need to work out this whole mess, is that Brutus, with good reason, thinks that Caesar will hurt Rome if he becomes its dictator. And unless someone kills him, Caesar will become dictator. With that information, you must realize the problem presented before Brutus. Be responsible, towards the people of Rome, and assassinate Caesar, or be passionate, in accordance to his friendship with the monarch, and choose not to kill Julius. In the same way that Brutus’ responsible mind make’s him kill Caesar, Brutus’ mind make’s him argue with Cassius, because of Cassius’ immorality. He chooses to argue with Cassius, instead of ignoring the situation, because the responsibility of keeping people moral outweighs the passion of keeping good relations with Cassius. In the third example of Brutus’ conflict, he again chooses responsibility over passion. Brutus acts responsible by telling the other conspirators that Antony will have no power when Caesar’s dead. Brutus does not take the passionate road. The road that leads to the murder of Antony, because if it is good for Rome to have Caesar killer, then killing Antony and Caesar will be twice as good for Rome.
He said, “I know no personal cause to spurn him” (Act II Scene i). Even though Brutus loved Caesar, Cassius used two strong motivations to convince him. First, Cassius manipulated him by using his family history. Brutus’s ancestors helped to found the Roman republic, and he told Brutus, “O you and I have heard our fathers say there was a Brutus once that would have brooked the eternal devil to keep his state in Rome” (Act I Scene ii). Cassius knew that “a monarchy would rob the Romans of their long-held liberties” (sparknotes). Family honor was important enough to help convince Brutus to join the conspiracy. Second, Brutus was prideful. When Cassius was trying to pull Brutus into the conspiracy, he forged letters from Roman citizens praising Brutus. Cassius also told Brutus that if any one person should be emperor, it should be Brutus. (Act I Scene ii). These flattering remarks were helpful in convincing Brutus to join the conspiracy. “Brutus’s inflexible sense of honor made it easy for Caesar’s enemies to manipulate him into believing Caesar must die in order to preserve the republic” (enotes). Brutus had served as a senator himself and had surely had his character tested in the past, but he was extremely loyal to the triumvirate form of government.
William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, was mainly based on the assassination of Julius Caesar. The character who was the mastermind behind the assassination was, ironically, Marcus Brutus, a senator and close friend to Julius Caesar. But what would cause a person to kill a close friend? After I examined Brutus' relationship towards Caesar, his involvement in the conspiracy and his importance to the plot it all became clear. Brutus had one particular reason for killing Caesar and that was for the good of the people and the republic. Brutus had no personal reason for killing Caesar. Some of his most admirable traits were his morality and leadership skills.
Throughout most of the play Brutus is constantly internally conflicted. Does he do what he believes is best for Rome or stay loyal to his friend and leader? Should he assist in the murder of one person to benefit many? Although killing Caesar was in the end a bad choice, Brutus always tries to do what is best for Rome and for the people. However even though all of Brutus’ motives are good he still has the tragic flaw of pride, which ultimately leads to his downfall. The reason that Brutus gets caught up in the conspiracy is because Cassias appeals to his pride and flatters him with forged letters from the Roman people saying he is a greater leader then Caesar.
Brutus was the only man in the conspiracy with good intentions. Brutus wants to assassinate Caesar for the good of Rome. The other conspirators are all doing it for their own selfish reasons. Brutus’ motives, for joining the conspirators, indicate that he was very public-minded and morally conscientious. When Brutus says “But for the general. He would be crown’d: How that might change his nature, there’s the question:” (II, i, l 12-14) He was stating that it will be for the good of Rome to assassinate Caesar. Also he did not want their assassination to seem too gruesome, this shows he was morally conscientious. When Cassius said that they should also kill Antony, Brutus says “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius”.
Brutus is wrong to join the conspiracy because he loves Caesar, Caesar is a good ruler, and in the end, both Brutus and Cassius kill themselves. Brutus is given a horrible opportunity to join a conspiracy. Brutus makes the wrong choice--most likely because of the intent of the conspiracy and the pressure that is put on him. He does much thinking about it and he ultimately chose wrong.
First, Caesar had declared himself dictator for life. Brutus loved the republican principle and wanted to defend it: "not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." Brutus appreciated Caesar's friendship and he honored his good fortune and bravery, but living in a country that is not free or being enslaved is not worth all that to him. It was Caesar's ambition to become king that Brutus was worried about: "Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him. As he was fortunate, I rejoice at it. As he was valiant, I honor him. But, as he was ambitious, I slew him." It was his best friend or the greater good of the country and its people. He joined the conspiracy to kill Caesar because of his ambition to be crowned.
Brutus wanted the roman government to remain a republic and saw the threat Caesar opposed early on. When Cassius pulls Brutus into the conspiracy Brutus takes charge. The conspirators also wanted brutus to be the leader of the conspiracy because he has the nature strength of a leader and they knew this. When Brutus talks about killing Caesar he compares him to a serpent in his egg and says that he must be killed while he is still in his egg because when he hates he will be more dangerous. Brutus killed Caesar for the good of rome while the rest of the conspirators did it to be more powerful. Brutus tells the conspirators to “be sacrificers but not butchers” (2.1.174). By killing Caesar a starts a war with Antony, this makes Brutus lose everything including his wife Portia but this still does not stop him from continuing to fight Antony and his
What does violence do to people exposed to it? This question tends to come up a lot when reading Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare. I believe that since violence tends to reverberate so much throughout the story with the characters of Julius Caesar, they continue that tendency for violence not only with others, but themselves. This causes more than enough trauma and stress the character, thus making the plot of the story more riveting.
Yet he was a patriot because he believed many of his actions were for the benefit of Rome since he was influenced by Cassius and the conspirators, and even today people can be influenced like this. One argument against Brutus is that he killed his friend on his own ignorance and acted rashly. In the beginning of the play, Brutus is shown to be already in turmoil. This turmoil is around Caesar, as shown in the dialogue between Brutus and Cassius, with lines like the following said by Brutus: "What means this shouting? I do fear, the people Choose Caesar for their king.
The conspirators justify committing murder by claiming that they did it out of “love for Rome” or because it was the “noble” thing to do. Caesar is assassinated by his most trusted companion, Brutus, because Brutus could not see another solution. He believed that the only way to save Rome was by killing Caesar. However, Brutus’ actions do not solve the problem or save Rome, which is thrown into riot, turmoil, and even civil war. In fact, his actions result in the death of many innocent people.
One of Julius Caesar’s positive qualities was his attention to image, both of himself and Rome. While fighting the Battle of Alesia, Caesar noticed that his troops looked unmotivated. So to push them to fight, “Caesar rushed to support his troops wearing a large crimson cloak so his men know he
When he finally made the decision to join the conspiracy, he was all in. He justified he decision through the lens of idealism. This decision was going to save his perfect life and the lives of many Romans. The assassination of the power hungry and ambitious Caesar was also going to save the Roman Empire. Brutus, clinging to his idealism, did not want to kill Caesar in a brutal way.
In the classical play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, a group of conspirators plot to murder an influential figure in their government in fear of his rise to tyranny. Among these conspirators includes Cassius, the primary conspirator responsible for gathering influential figures, such as Brutus and Casca, for Caesar’s death. One of the more notable accomplices and close friend to Caesar, Brutus, only endeavors to execute Caesar for altruistic objectives. Whereas most conspirators, including Cassius, propose to assassinate Julius Caesar because of their envy of his increasing amount of power.