Cassius Manipulation And Manipulation

Brutus is shown as being easily manipulated in the play. This trait is shown a few times in the play. At the beginning, Brutus is tricked by Cassius into believing that killing Julius Caesar would be for the better of Rome (1, 2, ll. 32-321). Cassius is able to deviously influence Brutus into thinking that Caesar is no different from Brutus. He says, “Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that Caesar?/ Why should that name be

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

Cassius’s jealousy caused all the events in the play to be set in motion, and thus led to his downfall. A prominent example of this would be when Brutus and Cassius are speaking and Cassius is trying to convince Brutus to join his plot by telling a story of how Caesar had to ask for Cassius’s help because he was too weak and tired to continue swimming. This leads Cassius to say, “Did I the tired Caesar. And this a man / Is now become a god, and Cassius / A wretched creature and must bend his body / If Caesar carelessly but nod on him” (I.ii.115-118). This quote in modern times would say, “Caesar was tired. And this man is supposed to be a god, and I am a wretched creature who has to kneel to Caesar.” Cassius is implying that Caesar is supposed to be this strong god and Cassius a wretched creature, yet Cassius had to save Caesar from drowning. This quote leads to Cassius’s downfall because it shows his jealousy through what he is feeling towards Caesar. His downfall is also shown because this scene is Cassius trying to convince Brutus to join his plot. Another quote that proves Cassius’s tragic flaw occurs after Brutus has died. Messala is asking

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

Ex. 2: “Although Cassius was a great manipulator, especially towards Brutus, he dug himself too deep into the Caesar situations. There were many moments in the play that Cassius was manipulative. He convinced Brutus to kill Caesar out of revenge, persuaded Brutus that he could be king, and then led them to war.”

Cassius displays the personality of a shrewd opportunist, who doesn’t believe in the rule of one person. He believes there should be an elected set of officials; to decide on the laws for Rome. He resides as a very close friend to Julius Caesar, before he became the Roman king. Cassius played a large role in the assassination of Julius Caesar (I.ii.90-115). When Julius Caesar became godlike to the roman people, Cassius had much dislike toward Julius. He thought that Julius appeared too incompetent and weak to the point of embarrassment, and wanted him removed from the throne. In the play, Cassius manipulates Brutus into thinking that Caesar has become too powerful and that he needed to be killed. He also uses flattery to sway Brutus into becoming part of his plan (I.ii.48-51). Cassius tricked Brutus into finally believing the Roman people wanted Caesar dead by forging letters from the people that do convey these thoughts (I.iii.142-148). He also made Brutus feel like it was his civic duty to the Roman people. Cassius seems like just a very evil or cruel man, he committed suicide once he thought that his best friend Brutus was killed in the

Tricking him into doing “what's good for the people” . The next way they try to manipulate Brutus is by flattering him. In the play Brutus is a very self conscious character. He might be the same as Caesar but he doesn't see this. “I have heard Where many of the best respect in Rome, Except Immortal Caesar speaking of Brutus and groaning underneath his age’s yoke Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes” (I.ii.60). Cassius is convincing Brutus into believing he really is a brave and noble man. By doing this Brutus will be more offended by Caesar's remarks and want to join the conspiracy. To wrap up, Brutus is in fact manipulated into killing Caesar.

Cassius appeals to pathos where he targeted Brutus' emotions and values it which led to Brutus betraying Caesar. Cassius knew Brutus is self-inflicted because Brutus does not approve Caesar as a ruler but still considers Caesar as a friend so he decides to praise Brutus by saying:

Cassius and Brutus’ interactions in the early parts of the play solidify Cassius’ role as a foil, and also accentuate some

Cassius displays his infidelity very early in the opening of the play. Approaching Brutus during the Festival of Lupercal, Cassius attempts to recruit Brutus to the conspiracy against Caesar. By stating he has the same intentions to kill Caesar as Brutus does, Cassius makes an effort to appeal to Brutus’ nobility. In a soliloquy,

Throughout the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Cassius struggles to free himself from his greed for power, this want for power is ultimately the catalyst for the entire play. Cassius´ desire for power leads him to conspire against Julius Caesar. In Act One, Cassius´ clear envy of Caesar's power further motivates Cassius´ power hungry ways. His speech distinctly emphasizes his resentment and jealousy of Caesar, stating how weak Caesar is in comparison to himself, and that now Caesar has ¨become a god¨ with Cassius forced to ¨bend his body if Caesar carelessly but nod on him¨. Establishing that Cassius believes that Caesar is undeserving of the power which he has gained.

In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the character Cassius can perfectly be described as a very manipulative man with very bad intentions. But even with that, as said by Caesar himself “So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much/ He is a great observer, and he looks/ Quite through the deeds of men”. Caesar here describes a very dangerous characteristic of Cassius, that he is able to see right through people and understand their secrets. Throughout the play, Cassius becomes very angry with the way Rome is beginning to become governed. He believes that the nobility of Rome are responsible for the government of Rome, but they have let one man gain excessive power so it's their right to stop him, and with Caesar being as loved and ambitious as he is, he believes assassination is the only way.

Cassius is trying to persuade Brutus that Caesar is trying to gain total power over Rome. He appeals to Brutus' loyalty to Rome as his reason that he must be killed.

Cassius uses rhetoric successfully to persuade Brutus to come over to his cause—killing Julius Caesar. Cassius is a sharp minded politician whose motivations are personal and not always in the interest of the state of Rome. He uses rhetoric as his means of convincing others to help him reach his cause and goal. Cassius uses many tactics