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Discuss the character of Brutus as depicted in the play of Julius Caesar
The character of brutus
Discuss the character of Brutus as depicted in the play of Julius Caesar
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No one is without flaws, a fact that many authors emphasize in their writings. It can play an important role in shaping the personality of a character and the events and conflicts of a story. The well-known play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare focuses on the hamartias of multiple historical characters, primarily that of Marcus Brutus. The concept of being an honorable person pervaded the plot and Brutus’s mind, and this idealistic view was the flaw that, ironically, led to his moral demise as he killed his friend, Caesar. It was Marcus Brutus’s sense of honor that ultimately led to his figurative death in the involvement in a murder. His pride in his nobleness played a crucial role from the moment of his introduction in the play, in which …show more content…
Cassius, already aware of Brutus’s vanity, employed subtle techniques of flattery to manipulate him against Caesar, first by hinting that he was more honorable and respected than he believed himself to be, and offering to be a “human mirror” to show Brutus his own worthiness (I.ii.60-65). By saying this, he boosted Brutus’s ego by mentioning that he was not only righteous and well-liked, but also humble. He then reminded Brutus of his ancestor who “would have brooked/ Th’ eternal devil to keep his state in Rome/ As easily as a king.” (I.ii.168-170), thus enforcing the idea that joining him against Caesar is the right thing to do. Consistently throughout his monologues, Cassius talked about the justice and virtue of killing Caesar, appealing to Brutus’s hamartia. Brutus was so caught up with the idea of saving Rome from a tyrant that he overlooked the fact that he would be murdering his friend who was not even a king …show more content…
He began justifying his actions to himself, soliloquizing that he was not jealous of Caesar’s power, but afraid for the Roman Republic of what Caesar may become, saying “I know no personal cause to spurn at him, / but for the general. He would be crowned:/ How that might change his nature, there’s the question.” (II.i.10-14). He passionately stated that although Caesar showed no signs of being corrupt, ambition and power morphed people into condescending, cruel rulers – thus killing him would be the heroic thing to do, saving the people from tyranny and oppression. (II.i.20-28). By predicting that Caesar would be a harsh king, and that he would become a king at all, Brutus made excuses for agreeing to kill Caesar and satisfied his own needs to be validated as an honorable person and a
The third and final act Brutus commited that left him with a dishonorable image, was that he ran and then killed himself just to avoid battle. In early Rome a man was thought to be noble and brave if he fell from an enemy’s sword, not if he ran and commited suicide. Any noble man would have found another way.
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.
Brutus thinks that killing Caesar is a noble act because it is for the good of Rome. However would Brutus have thought this if Cassius had not tricked him into believing it? It could be argued that Brutus manipulated himself into thinking what he did was honorable when really it was not and he was just following what Cassius wanted him to do. Brutus even says in the beginning of the play that he does not have it in him to kill Caesar. “Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius/ That you would have me seek into myself/ For that which is not in me?” (1.2.60-71) It seems that Brutus’s thoughts on the subject change completely after assuring himself that it is for the good of Rome. Cassius does the same thing. He convinces himself that Caesar is corrupt when really he is just jealous of his power. Caesar is also guilty of this. For example, he is superstitious only when it is convenient for him. He does not believe the soothsayer when he tells him to “beware the ides of March,”(citation?) but he believes Decius when he says that Calpurnia’s dream means he will be a good ruler. Caesar does not want to accept that he could be in danger. He trains himself to only believe in good omens.
Throughout the entire play, Brutus proves to have Rome’s best interest in mind and strives to be honorable. In the beginning of the play, Brutus is talking to Cassius and he remarks, “set honor in one eye and death i' th' other, and I will look on both indifferently, for let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor more than I fear death” (1.2.88-91). Brutus feels very strongly about having a humble mindset. Brutus is so humble that he worries more about
After the murderous confrontation, it was not too late to prevent the anger of Caesar’s allies and the citizens or, even, to avoid future civil war. But it was here that Brutus made his second and third mistakes. Marcus Brutus rose before the Roman populace and attempted to offer a justification of Caesar’s murder. His flawed judgment came when he deemed Antony trustworthy and allowed him to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus naively let Antony draw the mob in his favor. No one could dare refute Antony’s impassioned pleas in behalf of Caesar.
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.
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.
As a person, Cassius is mischievous and good at manipulating, making him the perfect persuader. In order to persuade Brutus to join the conspiracy against Caesar, Cassius bad-mouthed Caesar and pointed out his flaws. “He had a fever when he was in Spain... / How he did shake. ’Tis true, this god did shake / His coward lips did their color fly” (126, 127-128). Cassius is acquaintances with Caesar, so he knows a decent amount about his life. Cassius tells Brutus about a time when he and Caesar were in Spain and Caesar fell ill and had a seizure. By telling Brutus this, Cassius is pointing out flaws in Caesar that make him an unfit leader. Cassius also calls Caesar a coward, showing his utter disrespect and dislike for him both as a person and a leader. Cassius also mocks Caesar by calling him a god, implying that he is the opposite since he would be so weak as to have a seizure. Although Cassius claims that he wants to kill Caesar for the good of the people, those are not his real motivations. Cassius constantly belittles Caesar and tries to prove that he is not a good leader, showing his jealousy. “I had as lief not to be as live to be / In awe of such a thing as I myself” (I.ii.102-103). Cassius does not get why everyone is in awe of Caesar’s glory and believes that he deserves just as much glory as Caesar. Cassius states that he would rather die than worship a man who is below him.
In the beginning of the Book Cassius uses anecdotes of Caesar’s weakness and faults, argumentum ad antiquatum, and ethos on Brutus to persuade him to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar, this works on Brutus and shows that anyone, even people as stoic as Brutus, can be persuaded by appealing to their motivations. Cassius, a very suspicious character thru ought the play tells Brutus to “be not jealous on me” (827), in the quote he tells Brutus to not be suspicious of him because he is just a friend who genuinely cares. Cassius does this to put himself on Brutus’ side and not seem like a distant person, this allows him to criticize Caesar and suggest that he is a bad influence on Rome which appeals to Brutus’ desire to keeping Rome safe. After setting himself up as a friend to Brutus, Cassius uses harsh anecdotes on the weakness of Caesar to show that he isn’t fit to rule Rome. Cassius recollects on a time when he and Caesar went swimming in the river Tiber and Caesar screamed “Help me, Cassius or I sink” (828) to de...
Brutus’ final flaw is his idealism. His idealism leads him to believe everything that everybody tells him. His idealism causes him to believe in Antony and Cassius. Cassius uses Brutus’ idealism by getting him to believe that they are killing Caesar for the betterment of Rome. Antony uses the idealism to get to talk to the com Brutus’ tragic flaws are part of what makes him a tragic hero. In Julius Caesar, Brutus is a great example of a tragic hero. His tragic flaws are honor, poor judgement, and idealism (Bedell). In Shakespeare’s plays, the tragic hero and his flaws cause the downfall of the play (Tragic Flaws).
Brutus values honor more than anything, he would do anything to be honorable. Brutus values his honor more than his life, “as he love the name of honor more than he fear death” (1.2.90-91). Brutus’s love for his honor sets him up for a tragic ending. It allows him to be easily manipulated into doing something that is not wise, if he thinks it is an honorable thing to do. Cassius plans to do exactly that by
There is no such thing as the perfect person. We may dream of such a person, but sadly, everyone has flaws. These flaws are what make us human. Something else that makes us human is our need for heroes. We attribute 'perfect' qualities to our heroes. In reality even our heroes are flawed. The closest thing to the idealized person, or hero, is the Shakespearean tragic hero. The tragic hero is someone of high standing, good character, and a flaw. While it may be only one flaw, it is often fatal. An example of a tragic hero can be best seen in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus is a prominent leader and noble citizen of Rome who leads in the assassination of Julius Caesar. We see that Brutus plays the role of the tragic hero through his noble standing, fatal flaw, and legacy.
As a “speculative man of high motives and refined sensibility”(Catherine C. Dominic) Brutus does have his confusion of motives. Act I, scene ii, is the first we see his weakness, “his concern with reputation and appearance, his subtle vanity and pride”(Gayle Green). Yet the main bases of Brutus’s bewilderment of motives takes place in Act II, scene I, with his famous soliloquy beginning with “It must be by his death”. This speech may be the turning point in which Brutus feels better about the assassination of his once called friend.
Trust is in no means a bad trait to have but when does trust no longer good to have? In this play people can tell at first Brutus is torn between weather or not he should join the conspirators. Since brutus trusts the men in the conspiracy and trust the reason they are doing things he decides to join the conspirators. After they kill Caesar it takes a turn for the worst. Antony asks to speak at Caesar's funeral, all the other conspirators think this is a bad idea, Brutus over rules all the men and and lets Antony speak. Brutus thinks if he sets rules Antony will follow them and make the conspirators look good to the people of Rome. Since Antony gets to talk this leads to them going to battle and Brutus killing himself.
In the play Julius Caesar, written and preformed by William Shakespeare, there are many characters, but two, Brutus and Cassius, stood out. The play begins in Rome where a celebration of Julius Caesar's victory over the former ruler of Rome, Pompeii. The victory leads to Caesar's betrayal by his jealous companions. Senators and other high status figures are jealous of Caesar's new and growing power, while others, like Brutus, fear the tyrannical rule Caesar could enforce. The conspirators, Brutus and Cassius being the most important, assassinate Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius, better known as Antony, and Octavius Caesar, Caesar's heir to the thrown, revenge Caesar's death. Antony convinces the Roman populous to destroy the conspirators and eventually begins a war with Cassius and Brutus' armies. Both Cassius and Brutus commit suicide to save their honor and Antony and Octavius win the war. The characterizations of Brutus and Cassius show a distinct contrast in their character traits and motives for the assassination of Julius Caesar.