Micah Carpenter
Mrs.Padgett
English 10C
15 December 2015
Persuasive essay
What is “Julius Caesar”? It was a play based on the death of Julius Caesar. This play was written by the playwright William Shakespeare. This play consisted, in my standpoint of writing this, two main characteristic of rulers. The question is what are the two main characteristics of rulers? The two main types of ruling characteristics that are expressed in this play are pragmatism and a man of principle. Now the question is what is better? A ruler that is a man of principle is better because this person is idealistic, has self-control, and is honorable.
In the play “Julius Caesar” an example of a pragmatic character would be Cassius, and an example of a character that
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One quality that this ruler would have as a man of principle would be idealism. Someone that is idealistic is someone that pursues a high moral standard. This is said about Brutus in his speech; “No, not on oath. If not the face of men,/The sufferance of our souls, the time’s abuse-/If these be motives weak, break off betimes,/And every man hence to his idle bed./So let high-sighted tyranny range on/Till each man drop by lottery. But if these/(As I am sure they do) bear fire enough/To kindle cowards and to steel with valor/The melting spirts of women, then, countrymen,/What need we any spur but our own cause/To prick us to redress? What other oath/Than honesty to honesty engaged/That this shall be, or we will fall for it?/Swear priest and cowards and men cautelous,/Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls/That welcome wrongs; unto bad causes swear/Such creatures as men doubt; but do not stain/The even virtue of our enterprise,/Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits,/To think that of our cause or our performance/Did need an oath when every drop of blood/That ever Roman bears, and nobly bears,/Is guilty of a several bastardy/If he do break the smallest particle/Of any promise that hath passed from him” (II.i.114-140). Brutus’s speech basically says that this conspiracy is only true if done through honesty (Brutus is worried about the principle of how this is conspiracy is carried …show more content…
This characteristic is shown in Brutus when he is talking to Cassius. He says, “I would not, Cassius, yet I love him well./But wherefore do you hold me here so long?/What is it that you would impart to me?/If it be aught toward the general good,/Set honor in one eye and death i’ the 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/”(I.ii.82-89). This conversation shows that Brutus wants to be honorable more than he fears death. He also is shown to be noble (honorable) when Antony is speaking at the very end of the play. He said “This was the noblest Roman of them all./All the conspirators save only he/Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;/He, only in a general honest thought/And common good to all, made one of them./His life was gentle, and the elements/So mixed in him that Nature might stand up/And say to all the world, ‘This was a man!”(VI.vi.68-75). Brutus, being a man of principle, is highly respected for his
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.
Shortly before his death Caesar was given several warnings throughout ActsⅡand Ⅲ , however he still went to meet with the Senate due to the fact he thought he was needed. He had an alliance with his adopted sons and valued soldiers Octavius and Antony. The play is about the events that follow his death making him an important secondary character that also portrays a protagonist. Caesar faced many conflicts throughout his lifetime, some internal and some external. He fought a war against Pompey ,which lead to conspirators plotting his death, and he was troubled by the fact that his wife could not provide him with a child. He showcased this by publicly asking Antony to touch her as he passed her, hoping that this would bring healing to her barren womb. He also went through several character changes. When he returned from war, he returned believing that the people would be ecstatic to have him as an emperor. Nonetheless when the people of Rome did not respond the way he expected he knew he had to play on their emotions. He did this by refusing the crown three times and by offering to kill himself to prove his honesty and trustworthiness. This gave him the desired effect, so he returned to knowing that the crowd wanted him as a king. The driving force of the play was the unfortunate murder of Caesar or what happened afterwards. Throughout this play many of the characters go through many unique changes, although Julius Caesar experienced some very significant character changes. The theatrical work exhibits Julius Caesar’s actions, alliances, character developments, and internal and external conflicts which in turn showcase his various changes. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a brilliant piece of work that thoroughly covers the story of Julius Caesar, a protagonistic secondary character. Julius Caesar was the unofficial emperor of Rome. He was a war General and he fought
Brutus also places his faith in the honor of others, refusing to take a group oath assuming the honor of the individual is the strongest thing there is. Brutus lives his life based almost entirely on the idea of honor, yet he somehow fails to see the dishonor in killing his close friend to prevent him from rising to power.
The book Julius Caesar is full of happiness, conspiracy, power, and betrayal. The people of Rome deeply loved julius Caesar and wished to make him their king. A group of senators however were not so fond of this idea and formed a conspiracy. The leader of this group was a man by the name of Cassius. In order to make sure that his scheme of killing Caesar would work and would look honorable he had to convince a senator by the name of Brutus to help. After being convinced that they had to kill Caesar to protect Rome from a tyrant Brutus joined the conspiracy and soon became the principal conspirator.On the day in which Caesar was to be crowned king he was on the way to the senate when he was stabbed by all the conspirators panic ensued and to convince Rome of their honorable intentions Brutus gave a funeral speech. Mark Antony, a very close friend of Caesar, gave his speech after Brutus had given his. Mark Antony’s speech is more persuasive to the Roman people because of his outstanding use of pathos, sarcasm, and logos.
his honor in many ways. Brutus is obsequious when he is needed to abet his
One of the first occasions presented was the plotting of Caesar’s assassination. Cassius, Casca, Trebonius, Ligarius and the other conspirators all wanted to rid Rome of Caesar. However, not one of them could give the green light.” They needed one who held a high place in the hearts of the people, to support them and to justify their actions. They needed an “honorable” man.
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.
He ruined an entire empire with his quick and stupid decisions. Many, many people died that did not need to. How can a person be considered honorable when they are responsible for so many lost lives and the loss of an empire? Brutus was not a very good military leader. His action when his army first arrived in Phillipi was to march down from the mountains.
For example, when he addresses the crowd in his funeral speech, Brutus states, “Believe me/for mine honor and have respect to mine honor/that you may believe” (3.2.15-17). Brutus appeals to ethos and establishes his credibility by repeating “honor”. The public now believes that he does indeed have “honor”. He also convinces the public that he is trustworthy by appealing to ethos. Similarly after Brutus’ death Antony states, “This was the noblest Roman…/All of the conspirators, save only he/did that they did in envy of great Caesar” (5.5.74-76). Antony is the enemy of Brutus and yet he still refers to Brutus as the “noblest Roman”, which verifies that Brutus is actually honorable. Antony is stating that while all the other senators kill Caesar out of “envy”, Brutus’ intentions to kill Caesar was for the good of Rome and its citizens. This reveals that Brutus has no other hidden agenda for wanting to execute Caesar, and therefore Brutus has the most purest intentions out of all the other conspirators. This confirms that he is the most noble Roman because he is not thinking about what he wants. Instead, he is thinking about the people and how they would feel if Caesar becomes a dictator. Brutus possesses nobility and honor. Those two qualities are vital to being an effective leader because the people can then
...s to make Rome a democracy and through it he faced his sorrows like a god and held a good reputation in society. He made his own enemies look up to him with respect and never gave up his great moral character. He turns nobler through every act and scene. A noble person is someone with moral character, courage, generosity, honor and bravery to do what is right. They are the people who show respect for what is right and face obstacles, challenges and risks and face the consequences and challenges to prove what is right. They are strong, honorable and face their sorrows in silence. They find the truth and reason in everything that happens. They are great people like Martin Luther King, Jr., honorable soldiers and senators like Brutus. Brutus was a man of courage, generosity, honor, bravery and honor. He was the noblest of them all.
Brutus was a man of noble birth. He had multiple servants and was often referred to as “Lord”, which indicates a certain level of respect for him. He was a very highly thought of person in Rome. At no point did he ever betray anyone, although he did kill Caesar, he did it to better Rome, not to mislead him. Everything he did was for the advantage of someone else. Even after Brutus dies, Marc Antony says “This was the noblest roman of them all; all the conspirators, save only he, did that they did in the envy of Caesar; he only in a general honest thought and common good to all...” This shows that regardless of brutus killing Caesar, he is still considered noble because he had good intentions. Brutus was also the best friend of Julius Caesar, the most powerful man in Rome. Had he been a commoner, Caesar most likely would not have associated with him or trusted him as a friend.
Bloom, Harold. William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Chelsea House Publisher; Connecticut, New York, & Pennsylvania. 1988, Pg. #33 - 36
Two powerful leaders, one power hungry whose ambitious ideas lead to his downfall, the other mindful of people who deserve their higher positions. A true leader is someone who has a vision, a drive and commitment to achieve what's best. In the play written by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Brutus and Caesar are one of the main characters. They demonstrate leadership qualities that are still relevant to today. They are both very ambitious characters; however, they do so for different reasons and differ in their openness to others. There are many similarities and differences that lie between them. Both are noble and great men with loyal followers and neither man questions the rightness of his own path. Both made crucial mistakes that resulted in their death. However, Caesar acts out of love for for himself, his country, and to retain his power as ruler of Rome. Brutus on the other hand acts out of love for freedom of Rome. This essay will discuss and compare their qualities as leaders as well as their styles and how they are effective/ineffective in the play.
The motif of ambition runs continuously throughout Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, which originates in Ancient Rome and highlights the power struggles, politics and deceit of those vying for power. Ambition leads many of the characters such as Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus to a fate different from what they expected. The play revolves around Caesar, his ascent to power and his eventual loss of everything. Although ambition may lead these public officials to power, it is the same ambition that will be their downfall, ultimately resulting in the death of Julius Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus.
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.