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The tragedy of julius caesar brutus character
Critically analyse the role of brutus in julius caesar
The character of brutus in julius caesar
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Although the conspirators believe that enlisting Brutus in the conspiracy will ensure their success, Brutus’s tragic flaws of naiveté and pride cause him to make a number of errors in judgment that ultimately doom their “noble enterprise” to failure. For example, Brutus shows his naiveté by not making an oath with the other conspirators. Cassius and Casca believe that all the conspirators should make an oath together because they know that it is going to get severe and very hard not to crack under pressure when the crowd finds out they killed Caesar. Cassius wants to “swear our revolution” to make sure that nobody collapses when times get tough. Brutus, on the other hand, thinks the conspirators should not do an oath. He believes that if the conspirators feel so strongly as how they say they do about Caesar, then they do not need the oath to motivate them or keep them together. …show more content…
In addition, Brutus foolishly allows Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Cassius tells Brutus that Antony should not speak at the funeral ordination. “Know you how much the people may be moved/By that what which he will utter?” Cassius whispers to Brutus after Antony asks to speak. Cassius knows that Antony is a great orator and wants to persuade the people and turn the mob around because he is upset about the death of Caesar. Brutus, however, does not listen due to his pride and believes that he can restrict Antony from proclaiming things and winning the mob over. “I will myself into the pulpit first/And show the reason of our Caesar’s death,” Brutus whispers to calm Cassius. Brutus deems that if he talks first that he can soothe everything over and what Antony says will not matter. Brutus also does not let Antony blame the conspirators, and Antony has to say that Brutus let him
Antony also uses the power of his speech, similar to Cassius, to influence the plebeians of Rome by carefully structuring his words together and using various tones to appeal to the audience. Antony uses repetition, such as this quote, “I thrice presented him a kingly crown,/ Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?/Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,/And sure he is an honourable man.”(III.ii.94-97) Antony uses this repetition of giving evidence to the people of what Caesar’s characteristics were really like, showing them that Caesar was not as ambitious as Brutus said, and calling Brutus an honourable man. The repetition allows for the plebeians to realize the truth because of Antony’s multiple exposures of verification that Caesar was not ambitious and how Brutus and the other conspirators are at fault. It also influences the plebeians to believe that Brutus is not noble at all because of how deceitful he acts when justifying his causes to murder Caesar. Antony then says, “[...]Bear with me./My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,/and I must pause till it come back to me.”(III.ii.103-105). Antony indicates how close his relationship to Caesar and that he feels so heartbroken that he chokes up from all the overwhelming emotions he feels. The tone of his speech elicits sympathy from the plebeians due to the
Analysis of the Funeral Speeches of Brutus and Marc Antony from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar At the funeral of Julius Caesar two characters make speeches to the plebeian mob, Brutus and Marc Antony. Shakespeare shows us the personalities of the two orators and gives one an advantage over the other. Marc Antony has an advantage over Brutus because he speaks after Brutus and he has Caesar’s body. He also interrupts Brutus’ speech.
“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’s be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius” (II.i.161-165). This shows that Brutus would not kill without a proper reason showing he is a right-minded man which justifies the killing of Caesar. “No, not an oath. If not the face of men, the sufferance of our souls, the time’s abuse — 115 If these be motives weak, break off betimes, And every man hence to his idle bed” (II.i.114-117). This is almost a turning point that it is obvious that the reason for the conspiracy is strong enough that it needs no oath. There should not have to be another reason as the cause should be for the fate of
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.
Each ruler of Rome seemed to have made poor decisions, and this is exactly what occurred with Brutus. Brutus became very naïve. All of the conspirators confronted Brutus with the idea of killing Mark Antony. They believed he would continue Caesar’s legacy but Brutus thought differently. Brutus added, “And for Mark Antony, think not of him, for he can do no more than Caesar’s arm” (Shakespeare, 24). He proposed that Antony was too weak for them to worry about while this was actually what brought about his fall. When the murder of Caesar had concluded, Antony wished to speak in honor of Caesar. Brutus agreed with the idea but Cassius was hesitant. Cassius insulted, “You know not what you do. Do not consent that Antony speak in his funeral. Know you how much the people may be moved by that which he will utter” (Shakespeare, 44). Cassius feared that Antony’s persuasive speech would turn the citizens against the conspirators. Brutus continued to ignore Cassius’s warning, but was proven wrong immediately. The locals were influenced by Antony and led an angered march to end the conspirators. Brutus caused their arrangement to fail by lack of
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight. This quote can be assimilates to Brutus in Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar. In a way he died as a hero but he did live long enough and saw himself becoming the villain. Throughout the play, Brutus had been consumed in a lot of drama and deaths. The readers can tell the internal arguments he has with himself about it too. In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, there are many tragic deaths, drama, and heroes and villains. The question is, who is the hero and who is the villain.
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.
Brutus was a very respected and honest man. Casca, one of the conspirators, said that he was very respected by the people by saying “O, he sits high in all the people’s hearts, And that which would appear offence in us, His countenance, like richest alchemy, Will change to virtue and to worthiness.” (I, iii, l 157-160) Casca said this to Cassius. Marcus Brutus was very essential to the conspirators because this would have ensured that the people would listen to them. Brutus was also a true Roman. When Cassius and all of the other conspirators met Brutus at his house and all of them decided to murder Caesar, Cassius said that all of them should swear. Brutus then said, “No, not an oath: if the face of men, The sufferance of our souls, the time’s abuse—If these be motives weak, break off betimes,” (II, i, l 114-116) and “Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word And will not palter?” (II, i, l 125-126) Here, Brutus is saying that if they are true and honest Romans they do not have to take an oath, their word should be good enough.
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).
In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus uses a combination of logic and reasoning in his approach to ensure that the crowd understands why Julius Caesar had to be killed. Firstly, Brutus tells the audience that he was a close friend of Caesar and along with that, being a respected figure enticed the people into listening and hear him out before making a decision. He then goes along to say, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men” (III.ii.11-14). In this statement it is prevalent that from the beginning Brutus’s motivation is to assure that the crowd is aware that he had no evil intentions for murdering Caesar
Brutus has several tragic flaws. One of these tragic flaws is how he trusts people a lot. Brutus says that he “know[s] that we shall have [Antony] well to a friend” (1140). He trusts Antony will be a friend of the conspirators, yet he seems to not realize that Antony is obliviously against them, because they killed his friend. Brutus trusts Antony so much, that he lets Antony speak to the public alone. Antony turns the people against Brutus and the conspirators, leading to the wars where Brutus takes his own life. Brutus also receives letters, supposedly from the people of Rome. As he reads the letter out loud, Brutus remarks “‘Speak, strike, redress!’ Am I entreated to speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise, if thy redress will follow, thy receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus” (1118).
Brutus's fatal flaw is his trustworthy nature. He joins the conspiracy not because he "loved Caesar less but loved Rome more." ( ) Brutus joins the conspiracy under the impression that he is preventing Caesar's tyranny and saving the people of Rome. He also trusts the motives of the other conspirators. In entering the conspiracy he is also responsible for the death of Caesar and the movement of the plot. The civil war is a direct result of Caesar's assassination and eventually Brutus's own death. Brutus's fall is definitely caused by his trustworthy nature.
Brutus also frequently demonstrated many acts of affection toward others. In Act 1, Scene 2, he is reluctant to join Cassius's conspiracy because he did not want to betray Caesar. He had to weigh his choices and in Act 3, Scene 2, Brutus kills Caesar only because he is afraid of what will happen to Rome if Caesar remains ruler. He knew the commoners life would be difficult with the ruling of Caesar. He realizes what a honorable man Caesar was. This is shown again in the same Act and Scene when Brutus allows Mark Antony to speak at Caesar's funeral even though Cassius highly disagreed. Brutus realized Caesar deserved an proper ceremony, and that the best way to do that would be to let Caesar's best friend speak.
In front of the people of Rome at Caesar’s funeral whilst giving his speech, Antony makes up Brutus to up to be this honorable and noble man, nonetheless Brutus is one of the conspirators who ended Caesar’s life. Caesar has been slain by, Trebonius, Cinna, Cassius, Brutus, Ligarius, Decius, Metellus and Casca. All because most had felt that he was too ambitious for their liking, Cassius has manipulated each one of them into committing the crime alongside him. Once Caesar is killed, Brutus delivers his speech, saying, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”(lll.ii.20). Basically just trying to justify the reason he helped to kill one of the most loved Romans in all of Rome. Antony then comes out and begins his speech at Caesar’s
Cassius aggressively warns Brutus to have mind upon health, tempt me no further." Before allowing Mark Anthony to address the crowd, Brutus himself. delivers a speech to the crowd at Caesars funeral. In his speech he also stressed that Anthony was only speaking under his 'Brutus'. permission. Please use the following form.