Cassius and Brutus in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

2689 Words6 Pages

Cassius and Brutus in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar Julius Caesar is set in 44 BC were Rome was a republic. Roman influence had spread beyond Italy and through the Mediterranean and some of North Africa and also parts of Germany, Belgium and Britain. Rome was governed by a senate. The main objective of all this meant that not one person was solely in charge and had absolute power and were king like. Marcus Brutus is the most complex character in this play. Brutus is one of the men who assassinate Caesar in the senate. Brutus is complex, because he does not just kill Caesar for greed, envy or to preserve his social position like so many of the other conspirators. This Brutus makes very clear in his speech in act III, scene II (lines 12-76), where he explains his actions for being the good of Rome. Unlike the other conspirators, Brutus is in fact a dear friend of Caesar's but kills his ally not for who he is, but what he could become. It is for this reason that when Brutus dies by suicide in Act V, Mark Antony describes his bitter enemy by saying "This was the noblest roman of them all", (Act V, Scene V, line 68), Mark Antony recognising with these words that Brutus acted from a sense of civic duty, not malice. However, it is hard to ignore the fact that Brutus has one main weakness which is his pride. Furthermore, he has to appear noble to himself and everyone around him. So one of Brutus's motives is a sense of ancestral pride. He has to live up to the standard his ancestors had set and cannot belittle them in anyway. This is one of his main weaknesses in this play because his ancestor Brutus overthrew the last k... ... middle of paper ... ...n power and is pre-eminent. Also gestures in Macbeth as the storm symbolises prefigures suggest the violent change in society and symbolises prefigures of the fall of Caesar. Cassius speaks less in this scene because Brutus has simply destroyed all of Cassius authority in the conspiracy. What ever Cassius suggested Brutus just slapped it down And degraded and debased Cassius. Cassius at the start of the scene would have been confident to just come and inflate Brutus's ego further but Brutus was ready for Cassius and not imbalanced and wouldn't let Cassius inflate his ego further. Also, Brutus violently Disabuses Cassius forcing him onto the back foot and having to appear weaker in front of the pre- eminent Brutus. Also he would have to agree with everything Brutus said to regain a sense of pride and honour.

Open Document