Behaviour is often influenced by an individual’s moral values and the ideals he adheres to. In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus’s behaviour is influenced by his desire to do what is best for the people of Rome. This is shown by his dialogue and his decisions, and effectively demonstrates that an ideal will affect an individual’s conduct. It is evident when Brutus considers the conspirators’ offer to join them, when he becomes part of their plot and murders Caesar, and when he gives a speech to appease and convince the plebeians of his good intentions. The ideal that one should do what is best for the common good is first shown to influence Brutus’s behaviour once he starts to consider that he might have to kill Caesar. In Act 2, …show more content…
This is demonstrated in the play by Brutus’s decision to join the conspirators. When Brutus first hears of the conspiracy, he does not show signs of being sure what to do and has a view of the issue that is biased by his love for Caesar. By Act 2, Scene 1, he is seen trying to decide whether he should help the conspirators kill Caesar or not. His thought process is guided by his desire to do what is best for Rome, which enables him to consider the possibility that the conspirators might be doing the right thing in an unbiased way. In Act 2, Scene 1, Brutus meets the plotters and agrees to join their plot under the pretext that it is the best thing for his city and its people. In this part of the play, the moral value influences Brutus’s behaviour by permitting him to believe that Caesar is too ambitious to be an appropriate ruler for Rome. By giving him this belief, the value inclines him and leads him to join the conspiracy. In Act 2, the utilitarian ideal then transforms into a source of motivation for Brutus’s actions, which he uses to overcome his love for Caesar and assassinate him. The ability to murder his friend reveals that the moral value influences Brutus by motivating him to perform certain actions that he believes will make him more righteous. These actions would be less likely to occur if Brutus adhered to no ideals, in which case there would be no force to overcome his love for Caesar. Shakespeare uses these parts of Act 2 and 3 to demonstrate that an ideal can affect one’s behaviour by influencing their capability to make unbiased decisions and by becoming a driving force behind their
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.
Considers killing Caesar but also does not want to. Finally decides that it is the best
“Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? - What tributaries follow him to Rome, To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels?”
“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
1599, is a tragedy about the tyrannical Roman emperor Julius Caesar and the events that lead to
will change to virtue and to worthiness" (Act I, sc. III, 157-160). See also. & nbsp ; Brutus is the only conspirator who does not act out of jealousy and envy.
Brutus’ tragic flaw was his perception that all men were identical to him in their motives. This factored allowed his decisions to be easily influenced by others whose motives were devious. Cassius was able to convince Brutus to join the conspiracy because Brutus thought the only reason behind the conspiracy was to prevent one man from becoming “Rex.” He allowed Antony’s speech to occur because he was sure that Antony was motivated by the same “honor” which motivated himself.
In Shakespeare’s play, the conspirators are not justified because of their selfish motives. During the beginning of the play, Cassius is depicted as covetous when he tries to convince Casca to join the conspirators by speaking poorly of Caesar. “What trash is Rome, what rubbish and what offal, when it serves for the base matter to illuminate so vile a thing as Caesar” (I.II.108-110). Using a disgusted pattern of diction, Shakespeare helps to convey a bitter tone when Cassius states, “trash”, “rubbish” and “offal” to express his belief that Rome will become a terrible place when Caesar rules. Also, the fact that Cassius says, “a thing”, to describe Caesar shows how disrespectful he is, portraying his revolting attitude as a bad motive. This language characterizes Cassius as jealous and greedy of Caesar’s power,
The actor and play writer known as William Shakespeare wrote a play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Shakespeare discusses how women were overlooked as a minority and not well-respected. In Roman times, women were considered to be people that were walked over, not given a voice, or able to do what they wanted to do with the confirmation of a man. William Shakespeare brings this to the light using Calpurnia and Portia, the wives of Brutus and Caesar. In the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. William Shakespeare uses Calpurnia and Portia as of the accepted symbols weakness of women and the idea the voices of women should be heard.
What happens when you become power hungry and arrogant? This is what happens to Julius in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. In this story, Caesar was very arrogant and ignored people that could’ve saved his life. Caesar did not want to be appeared of as weak or scared, so he ignored his wife and said that he was not scared to go. All of this led to his death from all the conspirators. When they killed Caesar though, Brutus and Cassius wanted more power and became arrogant like Caesar had. A war broke out and Brutus and Cassius were killed by themselves because they were too ashamed to die by the other side. I think the main idea of this story is too not become too power hungry or arrogant or else you will have enemies trying to stop you.
Brutus exclaims that the masses are worth more than an individual, that individual who is Caesar. In spite of those beliefs, Cassius offers him salvation. Cassius entices Brutus with the notion of a false faith, the end to his suffering with be at the end of Caesar's life. A dream which Brutus gladly fights when he utters, “ Let us be sacrificers but not butchers, Cassius. And in spite of the men, there is no blood”(2.1.173-175). Brutus offers insight into his notion of worth, he will kill for a righteous deed, an honorable action, but not slay wantonly. Brutus is a true martyr for a deceptive plan, when he says, “I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death”(3.2.41-43). A person of high moral values, an individual who strive to accomplish his ambition, Brutus was the most honorable Roman. However, many would view
Julius Caesar Jack Stewart Greetings, fellow Senate members. I stand in front of you today to discuss whether Julius Caesar, or Augustus Caesar, should be celebrated as our greatest leader, and a statue created of them in the center of the Forum. I realize these are two of the best leaders Rome has ever had, and the choice is difficult at best, but my in-depth research, and understanding of each individual has led me to the conclusion that Julius was the greater leader as I shall prove to you. Once the civil war ended, and Julius rose to power, he immediately took steps to unite all Romans. He restored relations with previous enemies, improved the calendar after a 100 years of confusion, and gave the poor an opportunity to improve their way of living by establishing colonies.
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
...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.
In the story Julius Caesar, the character of Brutus teaches us many lessons and morals. For example, throughout the story , characters like Antony or Octavius describe Brutus in very honorable and respectful ways. Antony says, “