The Character of Marcus Brutus in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

640 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Character analysis of brutus in julius caesar

The Character of Brutus in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Brutus was first and foremost an honorable man, putting the safety of Rome above everything else. His three most noticeable characteristics were his honor, his naivete, and his stoicism. However, his honor, honesty, and trustfulness eventually became the things that killed him.

First of all, Brutus is a stoic. He and his wife Portia are both very stoic, and they don't show emotions towards things. The most striking instance of Brutus' stoicism is when Portia commits suicide. Cassius is having a hard time accepting Portia's death, but Brutus just shrugs it off. He immediately says to Cassius "Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of wine" (V. iii. 157-158). Another example is when Portia stabs herself in the thigh. Even after this Brutus does not tell her what his plan is and instead immediately sends her off. Finally, when facing the possibility of taking his own life, he shows little emotion and instead still thinks out everything extremely carefully.

Brutus' sense of honor and his love for Rome was his most striking quality. With those qualities also comes a sense of honesty. The best example of Brutus' honor was his decision to join the conspirators. Although he was a good friend to Caesar and Caesar had not done anything bad yet, the very threat of Caesar becoming a tyrant led Brutus to joining the conspirators. Cassius said Brutus could be swayed with his honor, meaning Brutus values his hono...

Show More
Related

  • Marcus Brutus: An Honorable Man

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    The second henious act Brutus commits is murder on his dear friend Caeser. After commiting the crime he said "If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caeser’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caeser was no less than his". Brutus killed his dear friend because of ambition. If only today’s leaders had some ambition! He said that he love Rome more than Caeser and that is why he commited one of the most dishonorable acts a humn being can commit. After the act, Antony appropriately and sarcastically called Brutus an honorable man. Unlike Brutus, Antony knew what honor was. Even though Brutus knew that Caeser had turned down the crown three times, he still felt he was to ambitious to rule over Rome. If only Brutus would have had a level head on his shoulders like Antony. If anyone can call a murderer honorable, let them be known.

    Read More

  • Brutus the Tragic Hero

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ation and well being of a country, people, and republic. “‘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’”(998). Although a seemingly menacing traitor to his country at first, Brutus makes the journey to a sympathetic and noble tragic hero in the end.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Honor In Julius Caesar

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Julius Caesar Loyalty Quotes

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brutus appears to be a selfless, thoughtful man who only wants the best for Rome, and is tormented by his fears towards Caesar ruling Rome.

    Read More

  • Brutus is a Good Leader in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

    332 Words  | 1 Pages

    entering Brutus had said to himself that Caesar must die. Brutus is also a very smart

    Read More

  • Who Is Brutus A Foil In Julius Caesar

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the entire play, Brutus proves to have Rome’s best interest in mind and strives to be honorable. In the beginning of the play, Brutus is talking to Cassius and he remarks, “set honor in one eye and death i' th' 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” (1.2.88-91). Brutus feels very strongly about having a humble mindset. Brutus is so humble that he worries more about

    Read More

  • Julius Caesar Quotes

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    Minor characteristics involved in virtue are honorability, respectability, dignity, integrity, nobility, purity, and rectitude. Brutus clearly shows all of these characteristics throughout the play. For example, he killed his friend Caesar, but only to protect Rome from Caesar. He clearly did this out of love and respect for Rome and out of dignity and nobility. But this action was slightly unconsciously hypocritical. Brutus believed that in spite of Caesar being his friend, assassinating him was the right thing to do for his country. But only because Cassius put it in his mind that is was. All of the other conspirators stabbed Caesar before Brutus. But when Brutus stabbed him, it was literally like getting stabbed in the back by your best friend. “Et tu, Bruté?—Then fall, Caesar.” (3.1.84) Caesar asks “You too Brutus?”, as if he didn’t expect Brutus to be the one to kill him. But even though this affected Brutus, he had to do this for his country. Unconscious hypocrisy is also an important characteristic of Brutus. There are many instances in which Brutus said that something was cowardly but he had the same thing or something similar. The reason he did those things is because Cassius manipulated him to do them. So he was expressing his beliefs but acting out Cassius’ manipulations on

    Read More

  • Free Julius Caesar Essays: The Tragic Hero

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    After the murderous confrontation, it was not too late to prevent the anger of Caesar’s allies and the citizens or, even, to avoid future civil war. But it was here that Brutus made his second and third mistakes. Marcus Brutus rose before the Roman populace and attempted to offer a justification of Caesar’s murder. His flawed judgment came when he deemed Antony trustworthy and allowed him to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus naively let Antony draw the mob in his favor. No one could dare refute Antony’s impassioned pleas in behalf of Caesar.

    Read More

  • Is Marcus Brutus An Honorable Man?

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brutus was a very selfish and self-centered person. He continually ignored Cassius’ and the conspirators’ ideas. He was the leader and everyone was supposed to go along with them. Not to mention that all of his decisions went against Cassius and they were all the wrong moves. Brutus refused to admit that he was wrong or listen to other people.

    Read More

  • Why Is Brutus A Good Hero In Julius Caesar

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Brutus, the Noblest Roman of them All

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    He reveals what makes Brutus noble from the rest of the Romans and how taking challenges, risks and being strong, honorable, and able to face sorrows is what makes someone noble. The noblest ones take risks and face the consequences and challenges of proving what is right. Brutus loved Rome and when Cassius asks him to join the conspiracy, he only agrees, knowing that Caesars death would make Rome a better place. Killing Caesar was hard for him to do, but it was a risk he was willing to take, knowing it would bring democracy to Rome. After Brutus forces himself to make the last stab in Caesars heart, he mentions in his speech, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I have loved Rome more” (iii. ii.

    Read More

  • The Flaws of Brutus in Julius Caesar by Shakespeare

    359 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the play Julius Caesar, Cassius and the other conspirators take advantage of Brutus’ honor. The conspirators wrote Brutus fake letters from the public to get him to join them. Once he joined the conspirators, they used him to bring good to killing Caesar. This idea worked until Antony showed up. That’s when Brutus’ second flaw kicked in (Plutarch).

    Read More

  • A Tragic Hero

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brutus has several tragic flaws. One of these tragic flaws is how he trusts people a lot. Brutus says that he “know[s] that we shall have [Antony] well to a friend” (1140). He trusts Antony will be a friend of the conspirators, yet he seems to not realize that Antony is obliviously against them, because they killed his friend. Brutus trusts Antony so much, that he lets Antony speak to the public alone. Antony turns the people against Brutus and the conspirators, leading to the wars where Brutus takes his own life. Brutus also receives letters, supposedly from the people of Rome. As he reads the letter out loud, Brutus remarks “‘Speak, strike, redress!’ Am I entreated to speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise, if thy redress will follow, thy receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus” (1118).

    Read More

  • Why Is Brutus An Honorable Man

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    During Caesar’s funeral, he is very respectful to those who mourn and sends his condolences to those who are very lost without their leader. In addition, Brutus knows how hurt Mark Antony is by Caesar’s death, so Brutus lets him speak at his funeral. Also,Cassius theorizes that Mark Antony may be dangerous and that they should kill him along with Caesar. However, Brutus declines his proposal because he thinks that Mark Antony is not a bad man and also thinks that he will have nothing left when his leader is dead. Casca says, “Oh, he sits high in all peoples hearts, and that which would appear offense in us, his countenance, like the richest alchemy, will change to virtue and to worthiness” (I.iii.159-162), this quote basically means that because of his honor, that he was very respected and loved by the people of Rome. Furthermore, Brutus’ honor and respect shows to all the citizens in Rome and he is mainly well known by these two traits. Overall, Brutus perfectly fits into all the categories that define a hero. Brutus is a true inspiration, not only to me, but to everyone who reads the

    Read More

  • Julius Caesar - A Comparison of Brutus and Cassius

    1631 Words  | 4 Pages

    Brutus was a loving friend of Julius Caesar and wished anything but death on his comrade, but his love and dedication to the majestic city of Rome would force him to commit anything. He fights a war to defend Rome from a king or emperor's tyrannical rule. When the war was over, even his enemies saw that he was the most respectable Roman of them all. This (Brutus' body) was the noblest Roman of them all. All conspirators, save only he did what they did in envy of great Caesar....

    Read More

More about The Character of Marcus Brutus in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Open Document