Brutus's Loyalty In Julius Caesar

Brutus- A high-ranking well known nobleman in Rome. He has gained all his power from Caesar and is loved by the citizens of rome. Brutus has a high sense of honor and because of that he is easy to fool. Brutus later gets tricked by Cassius into joining the conspiracy and he kills Caesar. Because of Caesar's death he causes a big riot in Rome and then he later dies.

Unlike Cassius, Brutus is always doing what he feels is best for the Romans. In addition, Cassius feels inferior to Brutus. Brutus has much power from the people and is friends with the soon-to-be king, which is why Cassius is so desperate to have Brutus on his side. Once he persuades Brutus to join him, he shifts from being the leader of the conspirators to the subordinate of Brutus. For instance, Brutus gives Antony permission to speak at the funeral, even though this went against Cassius’ own will. Lastly, Cassius is quick to make decisions but Brutus analyzes things before coming to a final decision. It takes Brutus many days of agony to finally agree that joining Cassius was the right thing to do. In contrast, Cassius spends only a few seconds to decide on committing suicide. Directly after Pindarus says, “Now they are almost on him… And hark they shout for joy,” Cassius kills himself. (Act V Scene III Lines 31, 34) He is quick minded, not realizing that Brutus has actually not been captured.

     Cassius, up to the end of the play, was very aware of his fate and took the largest strides to overcome that. This is due to the fact that Cassius followed the Epicurean philosophy, which believes that the gods do not involve themselves directly in the fate of man. This belief was highlighted when he told Brutus “Men at some time are masters of their fates: the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our starts, but in ourselves, that we are underlings” (I. ii. 139-141). Because of this belief, he never resigned himself to live in the world in its current state. He always felt that there was something he could do to better his standing in life. This diligent effort to better himself led Caesar to comment “such men as he…are very dangerous” (I. ii. 209-210). Cassius’ role in the play was using his free will to overcome the fate that would come true, the fate that Caesar was one day going to become emperor. Because he was so driven by the desire to overcome this fate, he was

Brutus was very naive and got influenced by Cassius very easily. Cassius was very smart and manipulated Brutus to make him agree with him. Cassius said, “If I were Brutus now, and he were Cassius, He should not humour me.” (Shakespeare, p.13). Brutus believed that his friend, Caesar had a negative impact on Rome decided to join the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. Even though Caesar was his friend, Brutus always showed loyalty towards Rome. Brutus' tragic flaw is that he is not good at figuring out other’s intentions, and trusted Cassius. If Brutus never listened to Cassius in the first place, he would not have joined the conspiracy, and might not have had a tragic end.

In Act I, Scene 2, the purpose of Cassis’ speech is to persuade Brutus to distrust Caesar, and to join him in a conspiracy against Caesar. In his speech to Brutus, Cassius uses a variety of persuasive and rhetorical devices to persuade Brutus to join his cause against Caesar. Cassius is desperate to have Brutus on his side because of his close relation to Caesar and great respect and trust from the people of Rome. The tone of Cassius’ speech to Brutus is introduced with Cassius appealing to Brutus’ sense of responsibility towards Rome. Cassius tells Brutus that he has, “Heard where many of the best respect in Rome, except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus and groaning underneath this age’s yoke, have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes” (I.ii.64-68). Cassius tells Brutus that he is admired by Rome, appealing to Brutus’ value of putting Rome ahead of himself. Cassius uses knowledge of this value to his advantage in his speech, insisting that killing Caesar will be for the good of Rome. Cassius also introduces his speech by persuading Brutus that he is honorable and can be trusted. Cassius tells Brutus that, “Honor is the subject of my story”(I.ii.99). This appeals to the speaker Cassius’ credibility and has an ethical appeal on Brutus, or ethos. This appeal is effective because it connects with something that Brutus values, honor. In Cassius’ speech to Brutus, he uses a comparison comparing Caesar to a Colossus saying, “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonorable graves”(I.ii.142-144). Cassius is using an analogy comparing Caesar to Colossus, which was a large statue. Cassius again uses Brutus’ value of honor to persuade when he tells Brutus that if Caesar is in power, he and Brutus will die dishonorable deaths. During the time period, an honorable death was very important to noble Romans, especially Brutus. When Cassius is comparing the two names Brutus and Caesar, he uses the strategy of asking rhetorical questions. “Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that ‘Caesar?’ Why should that name be sounded more than yours?(I.ii.149-151).” Cassius also asks, “Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he

He states that Brutus is just as noble and worthy as Caesar. (Act 1, scene ii). He says that Brutus cannot see what everyone else does and recognize his worthiness. Cassius and the other senators do not want Caesar to be king because they would lose all their power. Cassius is slowly luring Brutus in to do his dirty work. He builds Brutus’s confidence up to make him thing that killing Caesar is the right thing to do. Cassius is basically playing with Brutus’s head because he knows Brutus will listen. So, Brutus joins the conspirators in killing Caesar. Cassius tells Brutus that it is for the good of Rome, and that he is saving them from a dictatorship. Cassius is going for Brutus’s weakest point, his care and concern for Rome. He knows that if Brutus believes the people distrust Caesar, then he will be convinced that Caesar must be thwarted. Brutus knew that if Caesar was crowned, he would never have a chance, and he was power hungry. This is what ultimately leads to the tragedy of Julius Caesar. After Brutus kills Caesar off, he starts to feel guilty for killing his friend, thus creating an internal conflict. Brutus was so confident that the plan would go exactly as planned that he fell apart when they encountered problems. If Brutus and the other conspirators had taken more time to think things through, they probably would have been more prepared for the situation that was handed to them.

Cassius is a senator in Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar.” He is jealous of Julius Caesar because of all the power and love he gets, as shown in the quote "Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about."(Shakespeare 7) This quote basically states that Cassius is tired of Julius being better and that he thinks they should not be beneath him. Cassius also seeks to get his own power. To achieve this he manipulates Brutus as shown by this quote, “Well, Brutus, thou art noble I see, thy honourable metal may be wrought From that it is disposed: therefore it is meet That noble minds keep ever with their likes For who so firm that cannot be seduced?” (Shakespeare 12) This

To begin with, Brutus is too trusting of those around him. Brutus’s friend Cassius recognizes that Brutus is driven by what is best for Rome. Because of this Cassius devises a plan to plant a fake petition from the people of Rome stating that Caesar needs to be executed. Brutus never even questions that the petition is real. After reading the petition Brutus’ response is:

This speech symbolizes the similarities between Brutus and Caesar which leads Brutus to assume he is capable to rule Rome just like Caesar making Caesar expendable. During the speech, Cassius compliments is repetitive, he resorts to epistrophe technique "Write them", "sound them", "weigh them”, “Conjure with 'em" in order to emphasize that Brutus is

This also utilizes Cassius’ sullen behavior to accentuate Brutus’ unbiased and unprejudiced opinions. It supports the idea that Brutus is a fantastic decision maker because it reveals his apathetic nature. In addition to this, an example of the differences in the emotions of Brutus and Cassius is displayed when Brutus attempts to bury the death of Portia in his mind, “Speak no more of her.—Give me a bowl of wine.—/ In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius” (4.3.163-164). This asserts Brutus’ progressive nature because he wishes to move forward from Portia’s death. This sharply contrasts the pessimistic nature of Cassius. It juxtaposes the two to increase Brutus’ credibility as a leader. Likewise, Cassius is displayed as a foil to Brutus when he declares to Brutus what would happen if he was in charge: “Flatterers! Now, Brutus, you have only yourself to thank. / Antony wouldn’t be here to offend us today if you’d listened to me earlier” (5.1.47-49). This represents the violence and hatred inside Cassius’ heart. It contrasts this vengeful personality to Brutus’ forgiving and considerate nature. This portrays Brutus as an even more noble and honorable man because it points out his benevolence and affection for the people of Rome. Cassius and Brutus are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to their motivations and personalities, but they still manage to bring out the best in each other in various

In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, one must read the text closely to track the shifting motivations and loyalties of each character as the play progresses. An important factor that must be kept in mind while reading is the degree of loyalty, in other words, the degree to which characters act out of a motivation to help others. Throughout the play, each character's current degree of loyalty to others is clearly exhibited by words or behavior – this holds true for the characters of Brutus, Cassius, Antony, Portia, and Calpurnia. The focus on loyalty is critical because before the play ends an even-handed justice is meted out to a number of people who fail to live up to an expected standard of

In “Julius Caesar” (1623) by William Shakespeare, Cassius does not believe that Caesar deserves the glory that he receives from the Romans; thus Cassius makes an attempt to involve Brutus in on his plot against Caesar and join the conspiracy. Cassius does this by implying that Caesar is nothing more than an average man after telling the story of Caesar growing tired and weak after challenging Cassius to a race on the Tiber River; which resulted in Cassius jumping in to save the thought as mighty hero himself. With Cassius’ remark, “Why should that name be sounded more than yours? Write them together, yours is as fair a name;” (893), he's is asking Brutus a rhetorical question to give him understandings of why Caesar should be viewed as any

The opposing side says that Brutus was wrong when he joined the conspiracy. Others say that he should not have joined because the conspirators never gave Caesar a chance. However, if they had done so and he became unstoppable what could the risks have been? Caesar could have become a tyrant and uncontrollable leader. With no one to cease his rule, the Roman Empire would have been destroyed. Therefore, Caesar should never be given the chance to come to power as a king of the Roman Empire.

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: