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In his Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare uses a metaphor, aside, antithesis, and rhetorical questions to craft Brutus as an honorable and noble man manipulates by the conspirators in order to kill Caesar with the belief that Caesar’s death will benefit Rome. He is a loyal person who believes in the doing good for Rome and for his friend Julius Caesar. But in order to save Rome, he chooses his country, Rome over his friendship with Caesar. This task is hard on Brutus but killing a friend was what he had to do to save Rome.
Alone in his orchard, Brutus convinces himself that Cassius is correct. Caesar does pose a threat to his beloved Rome. The noble Brutus thinks in metaphor as he tries to decide if killing Caesar is the right thing to do.
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Brutus wants Caesar to think of him more than friends and it’s not the same thing when Caesar refers everyone as a friend. In the midst of jealousy he would aside quietly speak to himself “That every like is not the same, O Caesar, The heart of Brutus earns to think upon.” (II, ii, 138-139). This is when mostly everyone is in the same room with Caesar. Aside, Brutus said that he and Caesar are more than like friends. He loves Caesar very much. For Rome to be saved, he puts his emotions aside and do what’s right. This shows how much loyalty Brutus has toward his friend and how hard it is to kill …show more content…
His answer was “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?” (III, ii, 23-26). He uses antithesis to contrast the love for Caesar and his love for Rome. He actually said that his love for Caesar is the same but the love for Rome is more. In the rhetorical question, what he meant was, Do you rather want Caesar to live and die as slaves than Caesar be dead and live freely?. This means that under Caesar’s rule, the world will be under tyranny and nobody will be free. This proves how much Brutus fear Caesar but as an honorable and noble man that he
In his play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare employs various rhetorical strategies such as direct address, repetition, and apostrophe in Antony’s eulogy to convince the crowd into believing that Caesar was a good ruler. His excellent use of rhetoric begins before he starts his speech through the establishment of familiarity. Before Antony begins his speech, he refers to the crowd as “friends, romans, [and] countrymen” to establish a personal connection, indicating the use of direct address (3.2.82). By referring to the crowd as “friends,” Antony removes any separation between him and the audience, establishing a close bond by choice. As it came first on his list, it emphasizes the importance of his friendship with the audience as friendship implies
In Antony’s speech that Brutus allowed him to make, he uses a great deal of irony to turn Rome against Brutus and the conspirators. He makes ironic statements such as, “And Brutus is an honorable man.” (Shakespeare III. ii. 96); to turn the crowd against the conspirators by also disproving the fact that Brutus was an honorable man. Even though Brutus is a main character in this play, its not really about him. The play is about the state of Rome and its ups and downs through the rise and fall of various leaders. Brutus is one of these leaders that rises and falls around the state of Rome. Brutus is a dynamic character that experiences many ups and downs throughout the play. He changes from being one of Caesar’s closest friends to being one of Caesar’s biggest conspirators by claiming he was doing good for Rome. Brutus is one of the most complex characters in Julius Caesar and that is
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
Brutus is trying to justify to himself that killing Julius Caesar is the right thing to do for the good of Rome, because Caesar could become very dangerous if allowed to gain power by becoming king. His argument incorporates ethos, pathos, and logos to justify the necessity of Caesar’s death for the Roman people. Brutus establishes his credibility through ethos by stating: “I know no personal cause to spurn at him/ But for the general” (2.1.11-12). His claim demonstrates his moral righteousness and trustworthiness by explaining that he has no personal reasons for hating Caesar, and his sentiments are for the best interest of the Roman people. Brutus further argues the logical progression of ambition
Using rhetorical and literary devices like antithesis, parallism, and hyperbole, Brutus shows a persuasive and proud tone as he strives to convince the citizens of Rome that Caesar deserved to die. One device Brutus uses throughout his speech is antithesis; he says to the crowd that it is “Not that [he] loved Caesar less, but that [he] loved Rome more” (Shakespeare 42). Mentioning that he did not love Caesar less, shows
In the play Julius Caesar, Brutus kills Caesar for the good of Rome. Brutus was Caesar’s best friend. All the citizens of Rome knew they were to. Brutus says, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more΅(1249). He knew Caesar as well as Caesar knew himself. Because of that Brutus knew deep down this was the best thing for Rome, because he wasn’t strong enough to be the leader Rome needed. Brutus was hesitant to join the consailmen and their idea at first. He didn’t want to kill Caesar in the beginning, but then he realized that in the long run it was the best thing for Rome. Brutus
Brutus talks to Antony about Caesar's death and about being a conspirator, saying, "Our hearts you see not; they are pitiful; and pity to the general wrong of Rome..." (3.1.185-186). Brutus says that Antony cannot see the conspirators’ hearts, which are full of pity. This shows that Brutus loved and looked up to Caesar, but cared for Rome and its people more, which was the only cause that made him join the conspirators. Brutus has no personal connection to him that would make him abandon Caesar, and it shows that even those he loves and cares for the most cannot stand higher than the loyalty he has for Rome. Brutus shows his loyalty when comparing it with death, saying, “If it aught toward the general good, Set honor in one eye and death i’th’ other…as I love the name of honor more than I fear death”(1.2.85,86,89). Brutus would be willing to do anything for Rome and would be will to give his life for the “general good.” Brutus’s patriotism covers all aspects of society. When Brutus discusses killing Caesar with the other conspirators, he says “[Caesar’s] death is a benefit” and that they should go one the streets, shouting, “Peace, freedom, and liberty!" (3.1.103,110). Brutus wants to celebrate all of Rome’s triumphs; he is proud and loyal to his country. Brutus allows Rome to be the most important factor in his life and decisions, which demonstrates his immense
Caesar poses such a threat that his best friend would go so far as to compare him to a serpent. Brutus decides he must kill Caesar “in the shell”, or before he becomes too powerful and he nips it in the bud. Although Brutus wholeheartedly believes that he is killing Caesar for the common good, Caesar’s death still benefits Brutus. Since killing Caesar prevented him from becoming a power-hungry dictator, it saved Brutus’ back in a roundabout way. Since Brutus was best friends with Caesar, if Caesar became dictator for life and abused his position of power, Brutus would be looked down upon as well because he didn’t do anything to stop Caesar. Therefore, Caesar’s death benefitted Brutus in the way that it protected his
Throughout the book, Brutus presents himself as honorable and noble by his personal morals and his status in the Roman society. In Act 2, Scene 1, he contemplates alone about joining the conspirators on killing Caesar, thinking, “I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general.” This reveals how Brutus has nothing against Caesar for a valid reason to murder him except for the safety of the Roman citizens. From this soliloquy, Brutus shows that he is considerate when it comes to the lives of Romans, and is willing to do anything for their own good. The final speech given by Antony also shows that compared to the other conspirators, Brutus is the most honorable. Antony says, “He, only in a general honest thought and common good
To begin, Brutus was born in 85 BC in Macedonia (Biography.com Editors). He was the son of Servilia, who happened to be one of Caesar’s lover (Biography.com Editors). Brutus explained, “My ancestors did from the streets of Rome, the Tarquin drive when he was called a king” (Shakespeare 2. 1. 53-54.). In this statement, Brutus explains that his ancestors were involved in driving out the last Roman kings years before (Shakespeare 1. 2. 159-161.). As time goes on, Brutus begins to believe that Caesar will end up becoming too powerful (Shakespeare 2. 1. 10-34.). Since Brutus is believing Caesar will be too powerful, he decides to join a group of conspirators, and he thinks they are going to kill Julius for the good of Rome, so he decides to join them (Shakespeare 2. 1. 129-140.). When the conspirators propose they also kill Antony, Brutus explains, “ for Antony is but a limb of Caesar” (Shakespeare 2. 1. 166). That statement means, when Caesar is killed, Antony will not know what to do without him. Brutus also said, “ Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (Shakespeare 3. 2. 23.). That statement means, Brutus believed that he was killing Caesar out of the good of Rome, and not for anything other than that. To continue, in Antony’s speech at Caesar’s funeral, he starts out by saying that Brutus is an honorable man. However, as the speech continues, Antony begins to use
Brutus on the other hand thinks Caesar is an ambitious man. He states that he rose against Caesar because he didn’t love Caesar less, but he loved Rome more. He also asked
...wn emotions over for the fact that Caesar would become a king and then overtime tyrant, enslaving the people of Rome. He felt it was only way to protect the people of Rome, not for a personal reason, similar to the other men in the conspiracy. This quote in particular would change drastically in that his personal cause would be out his hatred and envy of Caesar and his adore for the general public of Rome. Brutus’ hatred and the love of Rome would be the only motivation to kill Caesar, making him not stopping for anything until his motivation was fulfilled.
Brutus feels that Caesar is trying to grow in power and control everyone he possibly can and Brutus wants to put an end to it before it gets out of
Cassius states, “Caesar doth bear me hard; but he loves Brutus.” Cassius sees that Brutus can be manipulated both in spite of and because of his nobility. Cassius flatters Brutus and appeals to his perception of equality. Brutus justifies murdering his closest friend, Ceaser, harming both himself and the people of Rome. Brutus is the most complex of the characters in this play. He is proud of his reputation for honor and nobleness, but he sometimes is not the most practical man, and is often naive. He is the only major character in the play dedicated to make his behavior fit a strict moral and ethical code. One of the themes that Shakespeare uses to develop ways that Brutus involves his attempt to perform the assassination of Caesar. He cannot
...wn emotions over for the fact that Caesar would become a king and then overtime tyrant, enslaving the people of Rome. He felt it was only way to protect the people of Rome, not for a personal reason, similar to the other men in the conspiracy. This quote in particular would change drastically in that his personal cause would be out his hatred and envy of Caesar and his adore for the general public of Rome. Brutus’ hatred and the love of Rome would be the only motivation to kill Caesar, making him not stopping for anything until his motivation was fulfilled.