In William Shakespeare's action-packed play Julius Caesar, much plotting and deceitfulness run throughout the story. Caesar was killed by his so-called friends, many of who hated him and plotted against him. They had many reasons to hate him, including greed, fear, jealousy, distrust, and concern about his bad ruling practices. In Act I, Caesar was returning to Rome in victory after killing Pompey. People began to celebrate, only to be stopped by two friends of Marcus Brutus, who said they should be scared of what a bad ruler Caesar would be. In Act II, Cassius approaches Brutus and begins the work of convincing Brutus to join in plotting to kill Caesar even though Brutus was loyal to Caesar. In Act III, Cassius spoke with Casca about conspiring …show more content…
Brutus has begun to distrust Cassius because Cassius is being a terrible ruler, even corrupting Rome. Cassius arrives with his soldiers to talk to Brutus, and Brutus suggests the two leaders take the discussion, or argument, into a tent so the soldiers will not have to witness it. Titinius and Lucius stand guard at the tent …show more content…
Brutus responds by accusing Cassius of taking bribes to get government jobs in Rome, which was something they had disliked about Caesar. Brutus pointed out Cassius' hypocrisy, which made him feel backed in a corner. Cassius knew he was in the wrong for what he was doing, and Brutus was calling him out about it. Despite the fact that Cassius knew he was doing wrong, he still argued that Caesar himself would never have accused him of such a thing. Brutus was angry that Cassius refused to give him money for his army despite the fact that Cassius was wealthy from his corrupt dealings. In his anger, Cassius starts making a big deal about telling Brutus to kill him if he was so corrupt and immoral. Brutus then lightens up on the argument and asks for forgiveness from Cassius. Cassius forgives Brutus and explains that he got his bad temper from his mother and that he was not responsible for his anger. After all this, a Poet enters the tent, arguing with Lucillius who was given the job of keeping people out. The Poet says a bad rhyme talking about how Brutus and Cassius should not be arguing. They send the Poet away, in agreement as they make fun of him. After that, Brutus tells Cassius that Portia killed herself by swallowing hot coals. She had had lost all hope and was afraid that Antony and Octavius
Cassius is unhappy about Caesar potentially becoming king of Rome and Cassius works to encourage Brutus to plot against Caesar by saying, “except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus and groaning underneath this age’s yoke, have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes” (1.2.61-64). Cassius mentions to Brutus that people are speaking about Rome and how they wish Brutus would notice what could happen if Caesar is crowned. Cassius reveals to Brutus that the people are wondering why someone as noble as Brutus is not aware of what could happen if Caesar is crowned. Cassius is practically stroking Brutus’ ego to make him feel as though he is wiser than Caesar and should do something about Caesar. Once Caesar is dead and the triumvirate and Cassius and Brutus’ armies are in battle, Cassius yet again proves he is dishonorable when he exclaims that, “If this be known, Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back, for I will slay myself” (3.1.24-26). Committing suicide was not an honorable thing to do because it was not accepting the consequences of one’s actions. Cassius does not have the same honest reasons for the conspiracy as Brutus does, so he is constantly worried about being caught. Throughout the play, Cassius threatens to kill himself because to him, it is the easy way out and he can escape his problems without solving them. In Act 4, Cassius plays the pity card in order to make Brutus feel bad for him when he complains, “Strike, as thou didst at Caesar. For I know when thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better than ever thou lovedst Cassius” (4.3.110-113). Cassius whines to Brutus that Brutus does not care as much about him as he did about Caesar. Cassius is manipulating Brutus to make him pity him. He knows that Brutus does not want Cassius to be upset so Brutus will try to reason with him, ultimately allowing Cassius to have his
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.
Brutus, the "noblest Roman of them all" (Julius Caesar,5.5.68) is the only innocent conspirator, according to Marcus Antonius. This tragedy presents the epitome of jealousy, along with envy, greed, and avarice. It is a true story based on Plutarch's "Life of Julius Caesar." Several of the major players are struck by jealousy and greed -- certainly Cassius, who begins this evil conspiracy to assassinate Caesar out of personal jealousy, but needs Brutus' credibility to make it happen. We eventually see Mark Antony gloat in his new-found influence and power over the mass of citizenry when he pronounces their interest in Caesar's will.
Brutus has a naive view of the world. He is unable to see through the roles being played by Cassius, Casca, and Antony. He does not even recognize the fake letters were sent from Cassius. Then Brutus says,“You shall not blame us Antony, in your funeral speech, but speak all the good you can of Caesar.
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.
In the beginning of the Book Cassius uses anecdotes of Caesar’s weakness and faults, argumentum ad antiquatum, and ethos on Brutus to persuade him to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar, this works on Brutus and shows that anyone, even people as stoic as Brutus, can be persuaded by appealing to their motivations. Cassius, a very suspicious character thru ought the play tells Brutus to “be not jealous on me” (827), in the quote he tells Brutus to not be suspicious of him because he is just a friend who genuinely cares. Cassius does this to put himself on Brutus’ side and not seem like a distant person, this allows him to criticize Caesar and suggest that he is a bad influence on Rome which appeals to Brutus’ desire to keeping Rome safe. After setting himself up as a friend to Brutus, Cassius uses harsh anecdotes on the weakness of Caesar to show that he isn’t fit to rule Rome. Cassius recollects on a time when he and Caesar went swimming in the river Tiber and Caesar screamed “Help me, Cassius or I sink” (828) to de...
When Cassius attempts to persuade Brutus that killing Caesar is good for Rome, he flatters Brutus by mentioning, “Why should that name be sounded more than yours?” Cassius asks this to Brutus to convince him that Caesar is not a greater man in Act 2, Scene 1. He later tells Brutus how he has ancestors that would save Rome from someone who believes they could control all of Rome similar to Caesar. This is a flaw of Brutus as he then thinks about Cassius’ words afterwards in which he makes the final decision to follow the conspirators. After killing Caesar, Brutus makes the mistake of trusting Antony to make a funeral speech. In Antony’s speech that follows up after Brutus’, he says, “They who have done this deed is honorable” multiple times in order to get a repetition for the Romans to get the hint in Act 3, Scene 2. This demonstrate how Brutus did not think about how Antony is capable of making them look bad when he agreed to allow Antony to say something. This is a fault because the Romans see the conspirators as bad after
“Assumptions are normally the mother of all mistakes,” a quote by the philosopher Eugene Fordsworthe. In 58 B.C., Julius Caesar was a Roman General who ruled Rome along with two other men, Crassus and Pompey. Caesar was renowned for his numerous victories against the Gauls. He even defeated one of his alleged partners Pompey, which ultimately gave Caesar full reign of Rome. Caesar was a brutal leader; he even appointed himself dictator for life. Many feared he would become king, and the Roman Republic would have to resort to the past ways of the Roman Monarchy. A group of ‘nobles’ took it upon themselves to assassinate Caesar. Caesar may have been a brutal ruler, but he was accused and judged for actions that had not taken place yet. Therefore, the ‘nobles’ should not have killed Caesar. The first reason they should not have killed him was the fact that they were basing their decisions and anger off of assumptions made about Caesar. Secondly, the death of Caesar created animosity among the Roman people spurring mobs. Lastly, all of the conspirators ended up on the same road as Caesar, and that road was death.
One source states, “The conspirators kill Caesar because of his egotism: as republicans, they fear he will become a dictator”(“Shakespeare ’s World of Death”p. 76). Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Cimber, Decius, Metallus, Lagarious, and many others were involved in the stabbing. His death is so tragic because he never would have thought that his best friends would betray him.
If then that friend demands why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." (3.2.19-24). His concentration on honor and nobility ends up being used against him by Cassius, who instigates him to kill his best friend. Cassius knows how naive and how moral Brutus is and he uses this information into making him help kill Caesar. Being naive and over trusting causes his first mistake and helps with his downfall when he refuses to listen to Cassius, who wants Antony to be also killed because he knows that he will seek revenge for Caesar. However, Brutus code of honor won 't let him approve the killing of Antony "Our plan will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius. We cut off the head and then hack the limbs, seem to kill Caesar in anger and then vent malice on his friends, for Antony is only a branch of Caesar."(2.1.169-172), he doesn 't want to be seen by the Roman people as a killer, but someone who 's doing what 's right for the people of
Brutus’ leadership and compassion for others make him a popular figure amongst the Roman people, and it is his reputation that establishes him as an influential individual. For example, despite the fact that Brutus loves Caesar like a brother, he warily joins the conspiracy to assassinate him. He does this because he believes that Caesar’s ambition would become tyranny and that Caesar’s death is a necessary evil in order to preserve the liberties of the Roman people. In his own words Brutus claims, “It must be by his death; and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general.”(Act 2, Scene 1, Page 1116). In addition, Brutus takes the reins of authority from Cassius and becomes the leader of the conspiracy. He gains this prerogative because of his convincing tongue and powerful influence. His leadership is evidenced when he begins to challenge Cassius’ ideas. When Cassius asks the conspirators to “swear our resolution”(Act 2...
In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar was a tragedy that is mainly based on the assassination of Julius Caesar. The character that was in charge of the assassination was Marcus Brutus. Brutus was the most complex character in the play. He was one of the men who assassinate Caesar in the Senate. Brutus was an honorable man. He was a servant and close friend to Julius Caesar. In Roman times, the only way for someone to get close to a person of high rank is if he/she is close to him/her. The reason of his complexity was because he did not kill Caesar for greed, envy, nor to preserve his social position like so many of the other conspirators. What would cause a person to kill a close friend? He joined the conspiracy in order to help the Romans get rid of Caesar. Brutus would not allow Caesar to rise to power and then turn his back onto the people of Rome. Brutus had a strong relationship with Caesar but a stronger relationship with Rome and its people. Brutus loved Caesar but feared his powers. Brutus advocates peace, freedom, and liberty, for all Romans, which shows that Brutus is an altruistic as well as an honorable man. Not that Brutus loved Caesar Less but he loved Rome more. Brutus had honored Caesar but Brutus felt that Caesar was too ambitious. He also felt that Caesar made the Romans as slaves. Brutus joined the conspiracy because he had the desire to help the commoners.
The conspirators had already decided how and when they would kill Caesar, and Brutus, Cassius, along with Decius, knew they had to lure Caesar close. They had an advantage at this because they knew that all they would have to do was prove to Caesar that they had a good, solid friendship, and this would help their situation and leave Caesar completely sightless to the fact that his situation had grown dire. So they decided to use their friendship with Caesar in a horribly deceptive manner, effectively, in order to kill him. Decius managed to start this off well by using flattery and quick wit in order to trick Caesar into going to the senate house, despite the fact that Caesars wife, Calpurnia had dreams of Caesars murder the night before.
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.
Shakespeare’s 1599 tragic play of Julius Caesar showcases the historical event that marked the stabbing of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar by Roman conspirators and the events that lead to his assassination. Julius Caesar, similar to many other plays created by Shakespeare, features a tragic death that dramatically affects the lives of other characters. While the play may be a fictional interpretation of history, it can connect to real historical events such as the assassination of Lincoln during the 1860s. In Harold Holzer’s Smithsonian article, “What the Newspapers Said When Lincoln was Killed,” the author explains the actions and words of the American people after John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln in the Ford Theatre. Although both