“Et tu Brute?'; Caesar sputtered before falling into the darkness known as death. But this was not the end of Caesar however. Caesar returns to this world as a “shade'; or ghost form. In fact, in this form he exerts more influence over Brutus than he ever did in mortal form. “Caesar is more powerful in his spirit for to affect Brutus than in his mortal form. It is in this ghost form, Caesar full-fills his revenge on Brutus.'; (netessays.net) Revenge did not occur in the ancient world only in plays and stories. Revenge was a way of life, an every day belief of the ancient times.
In ancient times, the times of the Greeks and Romans to be precise, the inhabitants believed that death was most certainly not the end. As a matter of fact, many of these people built entire religions around the prospect of life after death, such as the Greeks and the Romans. A strong belief of the Greeks was that the ghost or “shade'; was so extremely powerful that “many a time the murderer would mutilate his victim to flee the dead man’s direct revenge.'; (B-Revenge)
Another strong belief in the idea of blood-revenge centered around native gods. The people of the time believed that the gods played an important role in blood-revenge, especially if one of their laws were defied. In the Odyssey, Zeus and Athena intervene on Odysseus’ behalf when Odysseus wishes to destroy the suitors that had plagued his palace for a number of years. Zeus intervenes after his sacred policy, his policy of hospitality, was violated and for that the suitors were punished. In Julius Caesar, there is no evidence of any specific gods interfering, such as dialogue or actions, but there are many supernatural occurrences. These omens show that something supernatural, be it a god or fate, knows what is going to occur in the near future. Therefore, the omens show evidence of god-like activity foreshadowing, either warning or maybe even sponsoring, the revenge.
For every sin committed there is an unavoidable consequence, as is the case when the conspirators try to harness the future. Even though Brutus’ actions are noble, no one can ever hope to control history, those who try suffer a terrible fate. “Caesar, Brutus, and Cassius are all guilty of arrogance in believing they can control history; as a consequence, Caesar precipitates his own death and the other two merit the retribution that overtakes them.
In addition to this characteristic of Cassius, he also has a devious nature. This attribute allows him to invent informed manipulative plans to eliminate his opponents. For instance, after saying his farewells to Brutus, he gives a soliloquy that reveals his idea of throwing writings of different handwritings in Brutus’ windows “as if they came from several citizens” all of which “tending to the great opinion that Rome holds of his name, wherein obscurely Caesar’s ambition shall be glancéd at” (Shakespeare I. ii. 306-309). Since Brutus and Cassius have been friends for a long period of time, Cassius holds an abundance of knowledge pertaining to his values--in this case being his honor and desire to please Rome’s citizens. This undermining plot Cassius has devised is based on an informed opinion of the most effective way to subvert Caesar’s authority, and because of the valid observations made of Brutus by Cassius, the likelihood that this clever scheme will be carried out successfully should make Caesar concerned about the intentions of his judicial
Both Caesar and Brutus have a tragic flaw. In the beginning of the play a soothsayer is telling Caesar to beware the ides of march Caesar Responds “He is a dreamer; Brutus leave him. Pass” (shakespeare page??? line????) When Caesar tells the soothsayer this it shows that he does not believe that he could be harmed. Just like caesar, Brutus suffered a tragic flaw, his being trusting everyone. After Caesar is dead Antony wants to say a speech at Caesar 's funeral, after making the crowd violent says “Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot, take thou the course thou wilt.”(shakespeare3.2.266-264). Brutus trusted Antony to say some nice words about Caesar, instead he turn the crowd violent. Caesar and Brutus love the roman people and would sacrifice anything for them. after Caesar dies Antony reads “ to every roman citizen he gives, to every several man, seventy-five drachmas”( page lines title). Caesar loved the romans so much he gave them all a bit of his money after he died. Even though he was prideful he loved the romans as much as Brutus. Brutus saw that under Caesar 's rule romans were suffering and says” Not that i love Caesar less, but that I loved/Rome more”(?) He Explains why he felt
To be noble is to be honorable, not only by birth, but as a person. Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare that summarizes the infamous death of Julius Caesar, a Roman dictator, and the whereabouts of the Romans who were involved with his death. William Shakespeare, in his play Julius Caesar, contrasts honor and tortility using the imperial Marcus Brutus and the barbaric dictator Julius Caesar to reveal the importance of internal values among the Roman people.
William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar examines the theme fate vs free will. Shakespeare does this while asking his audience timeless questions. This is done through the portrayal of the tragic hero, Brutus, who struggles to participate in the conspiracy to kill Caesar.
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.
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.
Each of the two characters gained some kind of wisdom before they came to an unhappy end. Caesar found out that one of his best friends, Brutus, had betrayed him just seconds before he died from the daggers of the conspirators. Brutus also learns something before he dies. When he knows that Cassius had committed suicide, he too commits suicide. He knew that be doing that, Caesar’s ghost was truly avenged.
Brutus and Cassius overreacted in their assumption that Caesar would become a tyrant. Caesar hadn’t done anything to show he was going to mistreat his power. Cassius wants to be king so bad that he has tricked Brutus into thinking Caesar would be the downfall of Rome. Caesar turned down the crown three times, he was still human like everyone else, and he loved the Roman people and country. These three reasons help show that Brutus and Cassius overreacted.
Cassius was the one who approached Brutus with the idea of conspiring to kill Caesar, who would soon become the king of Rome. Cassius proposed this matter to Brutus because he knows that Brutus is one of the most noblest men in Rome and would do anything for his country even if it meant sacrificing his own life. They both knew that Caesar’s upcoming coronation posed a threat to the ideals of Roman society because he intended to bring monarchy back to the Roman government. Later on the system of monarchy will soon turn into a tyranny. That is what Brutus and Cassius are afraid will happen if Caesar becomes king.
What does violence do to people exposed to it? This question tends to come up a lot when reading Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare. I believe that since violence tends to reverberate so much throughout the story with the characters of Julius Caesar, they continue that tendency for violence not only with others, but themselves. This causes more than enough trauma and stress the character, thus making the plot of the story more riveting.
Monumental egoism blinds the title character to even the slightest possibility of losing his power, let alone being killed, especially by a man he considered himself to be on good terms with (Isherwood). Previous to being approached by Cassius, lead collaborator and plotter, Brutus did not seem to think that Caesar’s excessive pride was such a horrible thing. He was prepared to allow him to take the throne and be crowned king! It is not until after listening to the ideas of the other members of the conspiracy that he is beguiled. This being noted proves self-evident that Brutus being deceived is the key event which caused the murder of Caesar for no actual apparent reason besides the personal opinions and anxieties of
(transition), Cassius uses a fair amount of trickery in order to recruit Brutus for his conspiracy. Many of the conspirators voice their desire to have Brutus on their side during the conspiracy. Casca states the benefits of working with Brutus by saying, “Oh, he sits high in all the people’s hearts, / And that which would appear offense in us, / His countenance, like richest alchemy, / Will change to virtue and to worthiness” (I,iii,159-162). The senators believe that anything they do to Caesar will look bad in the eyes of the people, but Brutus, whom the plebeians love, will make their actions appear honorable. In order to achieve this, Cassius creates a plan in order to prod Brutus in favor of the assassination:
Throughout this play, readers see what the motives of Cassius, Brutus, and Antony drive each of them to do, and how this affects their outcomes. Though these motives did not lead to a tragic downfall for each of these characters, motives are often taken too far. They prove to be so strong that they blind characters from making educated decisions and having a sense of rationality. The many deaths in this play all started out with one person being motivated to do something, and one things leads to another. Motivation fueled by loyalty can be just as dangerous as motivation fueled by hatred. The strength of that motivation is what can really make it dangerous, and cause lives to be lost.
The ambition possessed by each character, leads Caesar, Brutus, and Cassius to power. It will be the same ambition, that quest for power, that makes each one susceptible to their own weakness. For Caesar, it will be his ego and inability to heed warnings, Brutus his love of Rome, and Cassius his dedication to power. These qualities prove that although intentions may be noble, ambition can make a person ruthless and blind them to their original goals. Ambition kills those who lose sight of their conscience and although it may prove beneficial in many instances, in this case, it leads the characters to lose all that they
Revenge. Revenge causes one to act blindly without reason. It is based on the principle of an eye for an eye, however this principle is not always a justified one to follow. In Julius Caesar, Antony seeks to avenge the death of Caesar. Antony acts on emotion which leads to the demise of Brutus, who is a noble man that does not deserve to be killed. Revenge is a central theme within Julius Caesar. This is demonstrated through Antony's desire to avenge Caesar's death, and also the return of Julius Caesar's ghost. Revenge is again exemplified through the violent course of action, which is taken by the Plebeians in an attempt to seek justice for the assassination of their Roman superior.