Brutus Character Development

Brutus was a wise and intelligent Roman citizen, who claimed that he was Caesar’s friend. Yet, he was quickly swayed to the conspirators side by some anonymous letters and a bit of flattering.

All in all, Brutus shows his affection that he had towards Caesar, as a matter of fact, he had love for both Caesar and Rome, but mostly for Rome. He used more pathos rather than the other rhetorical

Antony and Cassius, unlike Brutus, never separate their private affairs from their public actions while Brutus tries to prove himself by acting only with respect to honor and virtue, completely ignoring his personal concerns. For example, Cassius disliked the fact that Caesar became “godlike” in the eyes of the Romans, so he leads Brutus to believe that Caesar had become too powerful and must die by sending him forged letters claiming that the Roman people support the death of Caesar, ultimately converting Brutus to his cause. At last Brutus ends up murdering his good friend in an act he truly believed was honorable. Marc Antony, who also shares in Cassius’ selfish trait, persuaded the conspirators that he is on their side, therefore gaining their leniency. He proceeds to persuade the plebeians of the conspirators’ injustice and gains support of the masses.

To start off, the character Brutus alienates from his indecisive, good hearted nature into a more powerful corrupted character who easily makes decisions that may not always be based off morality. For example, in the beginning of the play Brutus shows his good-hearted character when he states, "Nor construe any further [his] neglect than that poor Brutus with himself at war forgets the show of love to other men"(Shakespeare, 1.2.45-48). Clearly, before Brutus gained power he was unsure of himself, and still wasn’t against Caesar because his heart still pushed for moral choices. Furthermore, without power Brutus did not appear to be corrupted in anyway, and rather seems to want to do everything he can for the good of Rome. While it is true, that Brutus began as an innocent it is clear that further on in the play he began to be corrupted by power and this is seen when he states, "Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death and envy afterwards; For Antony is but a limb of Caesar" (Shakespeare, 2.1.162-165). Obviously, Brutus quickly becomes more confident and decisive in his decisions, and is even willing to tell the other conspirators what courses of action they must take. Therefore, further proving that as Brutus gains power his arrogance, and sense of control also increase.

Brutus is an important character in the play ‘Julius Caesar’ as he is portrayed as a tragic hero where he possessed heroic traits such as being noble and honourable that earn the sympathy of the audience. However, he also has flaws and made many mistakes and hamartias that ultimately lead to his downfall.

Once Cassius gets what he wants, Brutus to be on his side, they and some others begin to plan how they will get to Caesar and kill him. Then when Brutus agrees to join the conspiracy to annihilate Caesar, it is the beginning of him becoming the villain. He is still the hero though; he only joined the conspiracy for the good of Rome. "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" (V.v.68-72). This quote is said by Antony at the end of the play. In that scene, he and Caesar's adopted son, Octavius have seen Brutus's dead body. They have seen the good in Brutus and have noticed that he has acted out of his love for Rome." ...not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" (III.ii.21). That was part of the speech Brutus gave to the citizens after he and the other conspirators killed Caesar. This was the last act Brutus did before he started becoming more of a villain. This quote and the quote Antony says at the end of the play are the same. They both are saying how Brutus didn't really want to kill Caesar. He just felt like he had no choice, he saw that what Caesar was doing was changing Rome.

As a “speculative man of high motives and refined sensibility”(Catherine C. Dominic) Brutus does have his confusion of motives. Act I, scene ii, is the first we see his weakness, “his concern with reputation and appearance, his subtle vanity and pride”(Gayle Green). Yet the main bases of Brutus’s bewilderment of motives takes place in Act II, scene I, with his famous soliloquy beginning with “It must be by his death”. This speech may be the turning point in which Brutus feels better about the assassination of his once

Brutus is one of the more complex character in Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Shakespeare added a lot of complexity to Brutus through dialogue, monologue, and soliloquy. Shakespeare created opposing desires in Brutus and created both hesitation and doubt. His major back-and-forth conflict is him trying to give himself an honorable reason for killing Caesar. He is manipulated by Cassius and the other conspirators into assassinating Caesar, a life-long friend of Brutus. “The ultimate factor in persuading Brutus to join the conspiracy is his belief, a belief based on the the letters cast in at his window or conspicuously left for him in public places” (Shalvi 71). When Caesar was attacked by the conspirators, it had been Brutus’ blade and betrayal that had finally killed him. During the beginning and the end of the play, Brutus struggled to accept that killing Caesar was not what he wanted to do. In his head, Brutus is content that he killed Caesar for the good of Rome. In a speech to Romans after Caesar’s death he says, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but

As you read Julius Caesar you get to know the characters better and better. Like you start to understand that Cassius is way wrong with the whole plan to kill Caesar, and that Brutus should not have listened to him, but that we are talking about Brutus let me just say some things about him. Brutus was a fellow friend of Caesar but the problem was is that he started to listen to Cassius a fellow traitor of Caesar but used to be his friend a long time ago, in the story when Cassius and Brutus met on the day when Caesar has come from his conquest from Pompay Cassius told Brutus stories of how Caesar was a little girl and that he got cold for just falling in to the river and how he cried for help and Cassius helped him but he was a shamed of having such a little girl of a leader. To say the truth Brutus was not that bad of a person, he was a very good friend with Caesar, I bet he would have helped Caesar with anything, but the things changed and Cassius persuaded Brutus that Caesar was a

In the play Julius Caesar, written by Shakespeare, we are presented with two characters, Brutus, a noble congressman of the Roman republic, and Antony, a loyal lieutenant to Caesar. Brutus, who is manipulated by Cassius to kill Caesar, is led to believe that Caesar was ambitious and was seeking to destroy the Roman republic as well as becoming a tyrannical king. Brutus, being the patriotic congressman all of Rome knows him as, agrees for the good of Rome, to join the radical conspirators and help kill Caesar. Despite his solid reputation and strong ethos, Brutus’s weak pathos and logos doom his speech for failure once Antony gets up to speak.

Cassius manipulating Brutus is the start of tragedy for Brutus due to Cassius being the catalyst of Brutus’ death. Cassius shows this by influencing Brutus to join him and the other conspirators in killing Caesar. “And it is very much lamented, Brutus,/That you have no such mirrors as will turn/Your hidden worthiness into your eye,/That you might see your shadow. I have heard/Where many of the best respect in Rome” (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar I.ii.54-60). Cassius attempts to manipulate Brutus into killing Caesar with him by saying the people of Rome need him to. Cassius is fueling Brutus’ ego. Brutus takes the bait because of his aspiration to be the hero of Rome and his love for his country. Brutus does not realize he is being manipulated, which is what makes Cassius succeed at controlling him. Brutus does not realize he is being manipulated because he is oblivious to the outside world. He can only see and hear what Cassiuse is telling him about. This is what inevitably causes Brutus’ demise. Brutus’ death was impacted by his inability to see that Cassius was manipulated him. He is too blindsided by Cassius telling him he’ll be a hero to pay attention to the hidden meaning of his words. Cassius’ hunger for power leads him

Additionally, after Caesars death, Brutus becomes filled with pride. Brutus, an others feel such pride in what they have done, that they begin to put Caesars blood on themselves. Brutus is confident in what he has done, he genuinely believes he has saved Rome. His confidence in himself has grown so large, he no longer feels conflicted. He even tells the people (insertact3scene2). Not only does he confess to the people with full confidence, he even allows Antony to speak at Caesars funeral. Therefore, during this part of the play, Brutus becomes filled with pride, pride that will become the beginning of his

Brutus, a conflicted senator obsessed with his civic duty, convinces the people of Rome that his motives in killing Caesar were just and noble by rhetoric. Brutus is the only conspirator to have impersonal motives in killing Caesar. In fact, his motives are trying to find the best solution for Rome, and in the end, he must make the hard choice of killing his best friend for his homeland. As early as Brutus’ conversation with Cassius in Act I, Brutus exhibits this deep love and respect for Rome and how this love is conflicting with his love for his friend, Caesar: “[P]oor Brutus, with himself at war, / Forgets the shows of love to other men” (I.ii.51-52). Brutus brings up this internal conflict again when he tells the crowds that although he did love Caesar, he loved Rome and its people more. After Brutus’ murder of Caesar, he realizes that the issue of the public opinion of Rome is of the utmost importance. Because of this love for Rome, Brutus uses rhetoric to persuade these plebeians to approve of him and his cause. When Cassius warns Brutus about “how much the people will be moved / By that which [Marc Antony] will utter[!]” (III.i.252-253), Brutus tells Cassius that letting Marc Antony speak “shall advantage us more than do us wrong” (III.i.261). In these cases, Brutus demonstrates his awareness of

At the start of the timelessly classic play, Julius Caesar was in the final stages of parlaying his military prowess and growing cult of personality into enthronement as the long absent autocrat of Rome. His brother-in-arms, Marcus Brutus, after fighting at Caesar’s side for so long, was forced to weigh his loyalty to Caesar against his loyalty to Rome, setting the stage for the troubling events to come. As Caesar’s divine right to rule and infallibility were trumpeted throughout Rome, others were not so convinced of his purity and worthiness. Cassius, a dissident Senator, opened Brutus’ eyes to the circumstances unfolding before them and to what could be lost should Caesar take the throne. Cassius voiced his opposition strongly, saying:

A highly respected man, and admired by others that may of disliked him before it was Brutus’ end. “His life was gentle, and the elements/ So mixed in him that Nature might stand up/ And say to all the world, ‘This was a man!’” (5.5.73-75). Brutus is one with great leadership, and a loyal friend of Julius Caesar. He was easily convinced by Cassius and the conspirators that Julius Caesar was not fit for king of Rome. Before, Brutus was there and supported Caesar. Now, Cassius had talked to Brutus, and he changed his mind and thought it was best for Rome that Caesar was killed before he was crowned. Brutus then took control of the conspirators and became leader. Brutus made all the decisions with Cassius, then turned into Brutus making all the decisions by himself, regarding Cassius. Brutus’ decisions were not the best and that led him into his own death, when he ran himself into a sword. In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by, William Shakespeare, Brutus is a man that contains great leadership skills, and does what is right; but farther in, his decisions lead to a downfall of taking Cassius out of his place when he was a good leader already, and as well as killing himself.