Essay on Cassius vs. Brutus in Julius Caesar

Cassius’s thinking is that when Caesar falls, Antony is not to be trusted and will most likely seek revenge. However, Brutus once again disagrees with Cassius’s opinion thinking that Antony is an honorable man who, without Caesar, is too weak to actually take revenge against them. Brutus and Cassius’s contradicting thoughts on Antony are shown when Brutus says,

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.

As noble and great as Brutus might be, all tragic heroes have some tragic flaws and make some errors of judgment, which leads them to their downfall. In this case Brutus's great flaw is that he is too honorable, and he's too naïve when he is dealing with people. An example of an error of judgment is when Brutus underestimates Antony, and thinks him incapable of being dangerous after Caesar's death, "For Antony is but a limb of Caesar...he can do no more than Caesar's arm When Caesar's head is off."  This turns out not to be the case. One example of Brutus's excessive honor being damaging to him, is when he decides that only Caesar should die and no one else even if they seem to threaten his cause, as Cassius warns repeatedly that Antony does.

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.

William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar was an famous portrait of Brutus' betrayal to Caesar and the chaos that ensued afterwards. Brutus was a very complex and complicated man. He professed to have honor, and he thought his honor was the reason for many of his detestable judgement. Was Brutus truly honorable? Or was he more naive and arrogant?

Brutus is an honorable man in this play but when Cassius, one of the main characters, and antagonists from the play, points out to Brutus why he

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).

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 William Shakespeare?s Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius are very influential characters. Each character makes many mistakes with the assassination plans and the strategies at Philippi. Each man has his reasons for their mistakes, if it is either their idealism, being uncompassionate or not, fully thinking for their actions. Brutus and Cassius are very contrasting people; one man is better suited to be a leader of a battle and an Empire, than the other. That man is: Marcus Brutus. Although Brutus makes many consequential mistakes, his errors are made because his nobleness outranks his intelligence. Whereas for Cassius, his mistakes are made from poor decision making. Brutus himself knows that he is often too honourable and not as

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

Cassius' loyalty line goes the other way. In the beginning he is out to set himself up in a position of power, and through Caesar's death he continues to act out of self-interest. By the end of the play, however, he has developed a sense of loyalty to Brutus and to Titinius. Brutus's pattern lies somewhere in between Antony's and Cassius's. In the beginning of the play most students feel that Brutus' loyalty is ambiguous. Although he seems loyal to Caesar, he is swayed by flattery to himself. By 2.1, when he makes the decision to participate in the murder, Brutus seems to be acting out of self-interest, though he disguises it in a rationalization of the good of the country. I find that students often engage in a really interesting discussion of the subtle shifts in Brutus' use of language; he shifts, for instance, to the use of the royal "we." By the end of the play Brutus, like Cassius, develops a sense of loyalty to his new comrades, and his last words, like Cassius's, are a self-condemning recognition of

To compare humans you are simply comparing ideas. Thoughts, experiences and philosophies that all combine together to create individuals. Two experiences and two people who see the same scenario with different perspectives. Such is the way with Brutus and Cassius. This pair of Roman senators shows us the difficulty of having a realist and an idealist work together, yet the pair manages to overcome their different views on the world to work together and assassinate “the foremost man of all this world.” Though, the pair of friends and lovers differences does not simply end at idealism versus realism. The pair seems to be naturally against each other in terms as ideas, it’s a wonder that with such different personalities, oeadership and

In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius are contrasting characters. They differ in the way they perceive Antony as a threat to the assassination plot, their dominance in personality, and their moral fiber. In Julius Caesar, Brutus is the more naïve, dominant and noble character, while Cassius is the more perceptive, submissive, and manipulative person.

While Brutus is a very powerful man, he is persuaded by Cassius to make decisions. For example, Jeffrey J Yu writes,” Cassius offers to serve as Brutus’s mirror…” (Yu 5). This means that Cassius can help Brutus make decisions and serve as his other half. Cassius tells Brutus that they need to get rid of Caesar and do what is right for Rome. Cassius is seducing Brutus into doing what Cassius wants. This quote is definitely in support that Brutus

    In the play Julius Caesar, written and preformed by William Shakespeare, there are many characters, but two, Brutus and Cassius, stood out. The play begins in Rome where a celebration of Julius Caesar's victory over the former ruler of Rome, Pompeii. The victory leads to Caesar's betrayal by his jealous companions. Senators and other high status figures are jealous of Caesar's new and growing power, while others, like Brutus, fear the tyrannical rule Caesar could enforce. The conspirators, Brutus and Cassius being the most important, assassinate Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius, better known as Antony, and Octavius Caesar, Caesar's heir to the thrown, revenge Caesar's