In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar's assassination brings up many important moral questions, most importantly that of whether Caesar's death was justified. During Caesar’s process of becoming the emperor of Rome, he takes humble approaches to become a suitable ruler for Rome. Even though he does everything right and takes precise steps to becoming emperor, he is still very despised. A group of conspirators end up murdering Caesar out of pure arrogance. Essentially, Julius Caesar’s murder was not justified because the men would construct reasons out of their own jealousy and anger to justify Caesar’s death. During the play Caesar demonstrates humility and respect for his people: “And then he offered it the third time. He put it the/ third time by, …show more content…
And for mine own part, I durst not/ laugh for fear of opening my lips and receiving the bad air” (1.2.253-261). Even though Caesar wanted the crown and to rule Rome, he still refused the crown three times. He was reluctant to receive power because he wanted to prove his humility to the people of Rome; this meant he wanted to be forced by the people to receive the crown, rather than simply taking it and risking being viewed as a boastful ruler. By proving his humility, he shows that as a ruler, he will put his people first rather than his personal wants or needs. When the conspirators plotted Caesar’s death, they only focused on his few downsides, rather than thinking about his positive attributes, including how he had the best intentions for Rome. In addition, Caesar wants his people to feel at ease with him as a ruler and ultimately wants the best for his people: “Here is the will, under Caesar’s seal/ to every Roman citizen he gives/ to every several man-seventy-five drachmas/” (3.2.232-341).
Throughout Julius Caesar Brutus acts in accordance with his morals, which makes his eventual fall all the more tragic as Brutus genuinely believed his actions benefitted the future of Rome. Unlike most of the self-interested people around him, Brutus genuinely cares for the continued well-being of the Roman republic. Brutus sees Caesar's rise to power and imminent crowning as a danger to the freedom of the people in Rome since, "crown [Caesar] that, and then I grant we put a sting in him that at his will he may do danger with. Th' abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power" (2.1.15-19). Brutus knows that many past rulers have turned into tyrants and oppressed their people after gaining substantial authority, and fears that the same tragedy will befall Rome if the Senate crowns Caesar. And although Brutus conspires to kill Caesar rather than finding a peaceful solution to this disagreement, he tells the other conspirators to limit their violence as "this shall make our purpose necessary and not envious, which so appearing to the common eyes, we shall be called purgers, not murderers" (2.1.175-178). Brutus' constant requests to preform the assassination quickly and honorably reveal his concern about the fate of the Romans acts as the motivation behind his actions (unlike the other conspirators who "did that they did in envy of great Caesar") (5.5.71).
In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, one must read the text closely to track the shifting motivations and loyalties of each character as the play progresses. An important factor that must be kept in mind while reading is the degree of loyalty, in other words, the degree to which characters act out of a motivation to help others. Throughout the play, each character's current degree of loyalty to others is clearly exhibited by words or behavior – this holds true for the characters of Brutus, Cassius, Antony, Portia, and Calpurnia. The focus on loyalty is critical because before the play ends an even-handed justice is meted out to a number of people who fail to live up to an expected standard of loyalty to others.
First of all, Caesar always felt entitled to himself and always had the audacity to see everyone as beneath him. A great example of Caesar’s bravery and fearlessness is when he was eighteen and was escape the punishment from the dictator Sulla, so in the process he was captured by pirates, who decided to be help for ransom. “When they demanded twenty talents for his ransom, he laughed at them for not knowing who he was, and spontaneously promised to give them fifty talents instead, Next after he had dispatched friends to various cites to gather the money…he felt so superior to them that whenever he wanted to sleep, he would order them to be quiet” . Even being surrounded by murderous pirates clearly out numbered, he refused to let them think that they were in charge while he was in their captivity for thirty-eight days.
Honor and power is what drives the conspirators to assassinate Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Caesar is now the single leader of Rome, and members of the Senate have concerns that he will abuse his sole power. Therefore, they plot and accomplish the assassination of Caesar in an attempt to rebuild the balance of Rome. Rome falls into chaos with an unknown future with no central leader for the people to follow. In Act I, Scene 2, Cassius, a member of the Senate, explains to his friend, Brutus, that Caesar is not the god he makes himself out to be. Instead, he argues both he and Brutus are equal to Caesar and are just as deserving of the throne. Cassius’ speech to Brutus diminishes Caesar’s godly demeanor through
Caesar was an arrogant man who thought of himself as the strongest and the most powerful man in Rome. When his wife Calpurnia tried to stop Caesar from going to the Capitol for fear of his life was in danger, Caesar said that he had no need to be afraid for he was even more formidable than danger itself. “Danger knows full well that Caesar is more dangerous than he" (2, 2, 44-45). This showed the great confidence he had in himself and his certitude that no one would dare to harm him. Caesar took immense pride in his conquests and believed that it would be shameful for him to lie to the senators about the reason of his absence from the Capitol on the ides of March. “Have I in conquest stretched mine arm so far to be a feared to tell greybeards the truth?" (2, 2, 66-67) His confidence that a simple “Caesar will not come" would be sufficient enough, for the senators were another sign of the high esteem he held of himself.
Have you ever thought about an assassination and why it occurred? Many people have been assainated for a number of reasons.Sometimes these assainations can be unjust and wrongful.One famous assaination was Julius Ceasar.Julius Casear was born July 12 ,100 BCE in Rome ,Italy.His parents were far from rich. He married Cornelia the daughter of Sulla a Roman general. Caesar went into the military to get away from Sulla because he wanted him to divorce his wife or give up his land.He soon returned after the death of Sulla.After returning from the military he began his career in politics.He was said to have one of the greatest intellects on military leadership in history. When he returned he started his military and political career. Julius Caesar assassination was unjustified because he was a great military leader who solved many economic problems; although people may argue he had too much power.
Julius Caesar was one of the most important political and military leaders in the history of Rome, with many major achievements. Caesar is known to have never lost a single war. His most honorable conquests include the capture of Gaul that extended the Rome boundaries to the Atlantic Ocean; and the Roman invasion of Britain. Julius was also a historian and an incredible orator. He authored many comprehensive journals, named Commentaries that provided the details of his military campaign. Caesar is also said to have produced Acta Diurna, which is the first newspaper that let the public know about the actions of the Assembly and the Senate. He was a successful statesman and changed several laws for the wellbeing if the public. He was the one who fixed the calendar because the days weren’t in pace with the seasons and suggested the science behind it. He was clearly one of the most important political and military leaders in the history of Rome
Would an honorable man murder his best friend? In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Caesar started as an innocent citizen of Rome, but soon made his way to the throne. Caesar started bettering Rome, but certain men accused him of becoming too ambitious. The conspirators, the men against Caesar, brutally murdered him because of his “ambition”. Marcus Brutus was Caesar’s supposed best friend but led the revolt against him. Brutus is characterized in the play as being gullible, noble, and naïve.
His reasoning has only to do with his ambition for power and glory. Caesar is offered the crown, but refuses it multiple times. He is trying to prove to the plebeians that he is not only interested in power. The crowd’s reaction was not what he expected.
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. Upon telling Caesar the letter is concerning him, Caesar simply brushes it off and responds, “What touches oneself shall be served last”(III,I, 8). Caesar altruistically puts aside an urgent manner concerning him to accept the offer of becoming King of Rome, which is the reason he went to the Capitol in the first place, which shows he is a benevolent, thoughtful person. In
In addition, “Might fire the blood of ordinary men/ To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood” (III.i.41&44). This quote demonstrates Caesar’s arrogance because he is implying that he is not a commoner, but a more powerful figure. “I rather tell thee what is to be feared/Than what I fear; for always I am Caesar” (I.ii.221-222). This quote demonstrates that Caesar is arrogant because he would never admit to the words he says due to the fact that it is the shameful truth. Also, “Help ho, they murder Caesar” (II.ii.3). This quote shows Caesar’s arrogance because he calls himself from the third person. This can demonstrate his tragic flaw because every commoner refers to themselves using first person nouns and since Caesar is more superior then others, he will act differently around the commoners. In addition to that, “Delay not, Caesar; read it instantly/ What is the fellow mad” (III.i.9-10). This quote demonstrates Caesar’s arrogance because he does not listen to Artemidorus’ warning that during the Ides of March, the conspirators (Metellus, Brutus, Cassius, Cinna, Decius, and Casca) will kill him. The reason he does not listen to his warnings because “Danger knows full well/ That Caesar is
Imagine living in a city ruled by the greatest dictator. The city is called Rome. Your city’s general or dictator, Julius Caesar, gets killed by his friends after he had a relationship with Cleopatra. After his death, she moved on to having a relationship with Marc Antony. Marc Antony was told that Cleopatra was dead, so he attempted to kill himself. When she knew he was really dead, she committed suicide as well.
Julius Caesar was a great leader, strategist, and thinker. On the 15th of March, 44 B.C., he was stabbed by members of the roman senate and bled to death. This gruesome homicide has been reviewed by many historians, but the most famous account is “Julius Caesar” by Shakespeare. Throughout reading this play, the audience must make the hard decision between whether or not they believe Brutus’ motives were justifiable, or if Caesar was the victim of a cruel, heinous crime. This opens up the question, is murder ever justifiable?
The assassination of Julius Caesar was due to his increased power and the senate’s fear of losing political relevance. They were losing their freedoms and thought the only way to resolve this problem was to kill Caesar. Killing Caesar never really did anything to help make the government a democracy like the senate had wanted. Marcus Brutus and Cassius ended up leaving Rome, so their plot did not do anything to help them. Caesar was the leader of Rome, the top of the Roman Empire. The people he thought he could trust most, his so-called friends, took him to the bottom of the Roman Empire, to his grave.
Caesar is always looking forward to succeed and gain power. As they parade through the streets of Rome Casca tells Brutus how Caesar was offered a crown by Marc Antony. Although Caesar did not accept it and pushed it away he would have really wanted it. “Then he offered it to him again; then he put it by again; but to my thinking, he was very loath to lay his fingers off it” (I.ii.243-245). On the other hand, Brutus was not ambitious. Brutus joined the conspiracy because he was afraid that Caesar’s ambition will over power Rome. “Shall Rome, &c.' Thus must I piece it out: Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, Rome?” (II.i.656). He explains how Rome should not be ruled by one person, as agreeing to the conspirators and thus, joining them