Brutus's Reasoning in Julius Caesar by Shakespeare Essay

Brutus’s motivations behind the death of Caesar is clearly evident in his speech after the assassination. Throughout his speech, Brutus relies on reason and logical rationale and syllogisms to explain the reasons behind the assassination “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: 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 free man? /as he was ambitious, I slew him”. These strong and emotive words demonstrate Brutus strong love for Rome. Thus it can be said that, although Shakespeare presents various perceptions towards Julius Caesar, the composer’s bias is not negated.

In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, an honorable man, Brutus, is planning to overthrow the soon to be king, Julius Caesar. Brutus is persuaded by Cassius that Caesar is a liar, too ambitious, weak, and not fit to be Rome’s king. Brutus soon believed Cassius, and they and the conspirators made a plan to kill Caesar. After Caesar’s death, Brutus planned to justify his actions of killing Caesar at his funeral in his speech to the people. After Brutus’s speech, the citizens of Rome were all in agreement that Brutus did the right thing for Rome. Brutus then decides to allow Caesar’s best friend, Antony, to speak in honor of Caesar. Antony speaks, and he convinces the citizens that Brutus’s actions were unjust and turned the people against Brutus.

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.

In “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, Brutus was a villain. He was a man who loved Caesar and was a friend of Caesar’s throughout the play leading to his death. Throughout the play, Brutus fell for the manipulative ways of Cassius and the other conspirators. Brutus made several mistakes along with being a bad person in the play. He had several faults which involved him killing one of his closest friends one of the first acts of the play. There were some ways that Brutus is a good person, but those ways are hard to find over the bad choices he made over the course of the play.

In the play Julius Caesar written by the whimsical, sophisticated William Shakespeare both beloved Brutus and noble Antony deliver their most thorough attempts to win over the delicate citizens of Rome into what they believed was correct. Brutus gave it a valiant effort in trying to convince the citizens that murdering the noble Caesar was the best thing to do for the people. In the end Brutus’ effort was not enough because Antony was able to turn every Roman against Brutus and the other deceitful conspirators during his speech with his extraordinary use of logos, pathos, and ethos.

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.

    Shakespeare’s tragedy, Julius Caesar, displays Brutus as a tragic hero, blinded loyalty and devotion. Brutus's heroic belief of honor and virtue was so powerful that it drove him to perform villainous actions and lead to his destruction.

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

He compares Caesar to a serpent in an egg which he must kill before it hatches. Brutus knows that Caesar is gaining too much power too quickly and it must come to an end. He shows his belief in a republic government by saying, “We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar / And in the spirit of men there is no blood" (II.i. 180-181). Cassius is a character who is jealous of Caesar’s power and also wants it to end. He forms a group of conspirators who are against Julius Caesar. He persuades Brutus to help him and the other conspirators to kill Caesar during the ides of March. Brutus joins but only due to his love for Rome and its people. He proves this by saying "Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius." (II.i. 179). This also proves his love for Caesar because he wants to kill him with some sort of honor. Brutus wants the citizens to look at him not as a murderer but for someone who cares for his country. He expresses his ideas toward the stabbing by saying , “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer-not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" (III, ii, 17-19).

    Brutus and Cassius are both conspirators against Caesar, but for diverse reasons. Brutus, though pressured for the wrong reasons by his friend Cassius, joins the conspirators solely to promote the well being of Rome. Through out the play Julius Caesar, the guilt of the thought of slaughtering his benevolent friend Caesar overwhelms him. His wife Portia comments on the anguish caused from his inner battle between his love for Rome and his love for his Caesar. "Yesternight at supper you suddenly arose and walked about, musing and sighing, with your arms across" (Julius Caesar, 571, act 2, scene 1). Portia displays her concern of her husband's problems,

As shown in the previous paragraph, The conflicts revolve around Brutus. Brutus himself is a sincere and honorable man which is a trait of a protagonist. Another trait that makes Brutus the protagonist is his change. In the beginning of the play, Brutus is shown as a honorable and respected Roman. The play also shows Brutus as a naive man, who trusts the conspirators not to betray him. He only does this because he would not betray them. In act IV Brutus starts to change. One of his changes is when he accuses Cassius of taking bribes. “Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself Are much condemned to have an itching palm, To sell and mart your offices for gold To undeservers”. Other change occurs in act V. In the beginning of scene five, Brutus asks the others to kill him, but Brutus had said that suicide was dishonorable. Strato holds Brutus’s sword so Brutus can run on to it and kill

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

Brutus made an overwhelming amount of decisions based on the good of Rome, not contemplating how it could affect or hurt himself or those around him. One example of this is after Brutus and the conspirators killed Brutus he gave a speech. In this speech he said, “If then that friend demand why/ Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not/ that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (3.2.20-22). This quote is saying that the reason Brutus killed Caesar was not because he disliked him, but because he thought it was for the good of Rome. Brutus made this decision solely based on patriotism. He never thought about the effects or consequences it

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.