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The character of brutus in julius caesar
Characters of brutus
Examining brutus from julius caesar
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An ambiguous character in any nature showcases the reader to address a moral dilemma. If the reader believe the character, have they succumbed to the same level as the character? If the reader is to listen to the criticism of the character, do they hold no empathy? As demonstrated in Brutus, a character in William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, the audience is forced to decide if they believe the criticism- that Brutus is a betrayer- or if they believe the character- that he is a patriot. Brutus claims that he killed Caesar as an act of mercy for the Roman Republic, a last effort to save it but in the end, Brutus double-crossed Caesar which would label him as a betrayer. However, as evidenced by the outward actions of Brutus, the ending
dialogue, and the basic themes of his planning, Brutus was a patriot far more than he was a patriot although the two are not mutually exclusive.
In his speech, Brutus appeals to the loyalism of his audience by making intertwining arguments of ethos, pathos, and logos. He begins by establishing his ethos by asserting his status as an honorable fellow Roman worthy of their respect. He expands on this ethos by dividing it into three parts: his love of Caesar, his loyalty to Rome, and his relationship to his audience. Brutus tells his audience that he was a “dear friend” to the man he murdered, invoking a pathetic sense of sympathy from his audience. However, as he says himself, it was “not that [he] loved Caesar less, but that [he] loved Rome more,” strengthening his ethos as a loyal countryman with the interests of his audience at heart. After establishing an emotional connection to his audience and earning their trust, Brutus explains his logic
Throughout the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the audience constantly sees Brutus, an honorable man, go against his own beliefs because of men filled with hatred and jealousy. Brutus
Since the Elizabethan era, society has been familiar with William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Throughout the play, Brutus struggles to confront his internal conflict, which later leads him to join the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. After the assassination of Caesar, Brutus does not realize the fact that the Romans despise him for his actions taken. When he finally realizes his tragic flaw of gullibility, he tells Strato to kill him, so he would not have to witness him getting defeated in the war against Marc Antony in front of the Romans. Shakespeare wrote the play so that the audience visualizes that Caesar along with Brutus are the tragic heroes of the play, but he does not recognize Portia as a tragic hero; therefore, the audience fails to realize that Portia has the characteristics of a tragic hero as well.
The infamous line from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, ”Et tu, Brute?” is seen to be the anthem of betrayal since it’s first appearance in 1599. Every way you look at it, Brutus killed Caesar, period. From an outsider’s perspective, this is seen as betrayal. But this quote from the play proves more so that Brutus wasn’t a traitor. Although the line is said with the sorrow of one being betrayer, it proves as well the love Brutus and Caesar shared. As he died, Caesar didn’t sa...
In conclusion, Brutus’ mistakes and flaws are overshadowed by his honorable intentions and genuine motives. In a society littered with dishonorable, deceitful people like Antony, Brutus, with his sense of honor and integrity, contrast them all. Brutus’ greatest weakness is his tendency to believe people who script words to purposely lie or misguide him. Due to his actions, he ends up dying an honorable death of a self-suicide. Having genuine compassion and sympathy towards others is not a bad thing. However, decisions should not be so heavily influenced by the opinions of others. The significance of planning things out before doing them is clearly illustrated, as it is a way to foresee possible complications or problems that may arise. Ironically, the conspirators’ cause is for naught as Antony becomes the tyrant that they fear Caesar would have become.
An honorable person can be defined as someone who rarely commits a sin and someone who is right and just throughout their whole entire life. There is a dispute going on about whether Marcus Brutus is an honorable man or not an honorable man. Most of the people that form the conspirators kill Caesar because of jealousy. However, Brutus kills him because of what is the best for Rome. Marcus Brutus is the hero in the play Julius Caesar because he is loyal to Rome, he is respectful to his people, and humble to those who are less fortunate than him.
Another question could be asked about whether Brutus is an honorable man or a mistaken one. Analyzing Brutus’s logic, actions, and intentions can help the reader decide where they stand. I believe Brutus is a villain. The fine line that distinguishes a person as either a hero or a villain, or even a good and a bad person, is unclear. That makes the play so very unique.
Within many of William Shakespeare's tragedies, the reader can easily distinguish between the hero and the antagonist. Unfortunately, this seemingly elementary task proves rather arduous when applied to William Shakespeare's tragedy of Julius Caesar. Upon conclusion of the play, the reader is left with an empty feeling (no thanks to the ever quick-witted bard Shakespeare) when confronted with the question: who is the tragic hero of the play? However, after unraveling the tangled results of careful consideration, the question still remains unanswered, or, at the most, with many answers. One answer to this elusive question is that the hero of the play is truly that character which the play centers around, both corporeal and in spirit: the character of Julius Caesar. Another possible answer, and the most common one, suggests that noble Marcus Brutus is the tragic hero. For Brutus in Marc Anthony's words, "was the noblest Roman of them all"(act 5, scene 5, line 68). Furthermore, how can one not argue that brave, loyal and clever Marc Anthony is not the hero? For in fact he endures his grief skillfully, conquers Brutus bravely, and is one of the few main characters left breathing when the tragedy concludes. All of these justifiable answers, given voice from a clever mind, can be proven infallible. So one is baffled again. How can all three, professedly heroic characters, be proven to be the tragic hero? After dedicating an exceedingly ample amount of time upon equating this seemingly impossible equation, one comes to the conclusion that there is no hero. Rather, one concludes that Shakespeare has written a problem play in which his prin...
...s’ views and opinions very clearly. We are also able to see the flaws that he embeds. However, Caesar remains a mystery throughout the play as he is slain very early. Caesar enjoys being loved by the people and enjoys holding his status but Brutus wonders how the best power of Rome can be accomplished and turns to assassination and manipulation as it is the only method of removing Caesar. In general, Brutus is moral while Caesar is immoral.
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. Julius Caesar is a moral, ethical man. He is a selfless man who puts others before himself. When Artemidorus gets word of the conspirator’s plans, he writes a letter to Caesar to warn him of his impending fate and rushes to the Capitol to give him word.
For example, when Brutus grants Antony permission to speak at Caesar’s funeral, he states, “You shall not… blame us/… and say you do’t by our permission” (3.1.270-272). Despite warnings from the astute Cassius, Brutus naively allows Antony to speak at the funeral. Antony abides by Brutus’ instructions to not “blame” the senators but with his eloquence, Antony manages to refute Brutus’ own speech. Trusting Antony led to Brutus’ eventual downfall. While it is true that Brutus is naive, nevertheless, he still leads truthfully and logically. Throughout the play, Brutus has never once lied about his intentions. With every action that he makes, Brutus provides a reasoning or an explanation for it. To illustrate, Brutus provides an explanation for Caesar’s assassination at his funeral, “There are tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor/for his valor, and death for his ambition” (3.2.29-30). Brutus appeals to logos by demonstrating that there are different outcomes for the different things Caesar does. If Caesar is fortunate, there is “joy” so it would make sense that Caesar should receive “death for his ambition”. The word naive means to lack in wisdom yet with his articulate ways, Brutus convinces the plebeians that killing Caesar is a good decision in his judgement. He makes the fellow Romans forget about his potential lack of visibility by leading honestly and logically. Brutus is able to lead
Shakespeare’s complex play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar contains several tragic heroes; a tragic hero holds high political or social esteem yet possesses an obvious character flaw. This discernible hubris undoubtedly causes the character’s demise or a severe forfeiture, which forces the character to undergo an unfeigned moment of enlightenment and shear reconciliation. Brutus, one of these tragic heroes, is a devout friend of the great Julius Caesar, that is, until he makes many execrable decisions he will soon regret; he becomes involved in a plot to kill the omniscient ruler of Rome during 44 B.C. After committing the crime, Mark Antony, an avid, passionate follower of Caesar, is left alive under Brutus’s orders to take his revenge on the villains who killed his beloved Caesar. After Antony turns a rioting Rome on him and wages war against him and the conspirators, Brutus falls by his own hand, turning the very sword he slaughtered Caesar with against himself. Brutus is unquestionably the tragic hero in this play because he has an innumerable amount of character flaws, he falls because of these flaws, and then comes to grips with them as he bleeds on the planes of Philippi.
In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two speeches are given to the people of Rome about Caesar's death. In Act 3, Scene 2 of this play Brutus and Antony both try to sway the minds of the Romans toward their views. Brutus tried to make the people believe he killed Caesar for a noble cause. Antony tried to persuade the people that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward Caesar and were traitors. The effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both Antony's and Brutus's speech to the people are conveyed through tone and rhetorical devices.
William Shakespeare illustrates Brutus to have outstanding morals, but also displays Brutus’s naive and over-trusting personality which becomes his tragic flaw. For example, when Brutus suffers from an internal conflict on deciding if Caesar should be emperor or not, Cassius
In Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius both commit the evil deed of killing Caesar, yet the readers blame only Cassius. Shakespeare secretly places many techniques of repetition and point of view into the dialogue so that Cassius is given a negative attitude and Brutus a positive one. Brutus is viewed as an honorable, virtuous man while Cassius is viewed as being selfish.