Julius Caesar - Analyses of Characters

In the determination of whether Julius Caesar was an intelligent, political hero or an egocentric, dictating villain, it is important to look at all of the facts. Born in 100 B.C.E. and assassinated in 44 B.C.E., Julius Caesar was legendary. He along Pompey, and Crassus created the first unofficial Triumvirate which was negotiated to appease both the Roman citizens and the power hungry rivals. Still, this agreement would not last long. After Pompey’s wife, Julia Caesar and daughter of Caesar’s daughter given to Pompey to establish the Trimvirate, dies in childbirth, civil war breaks out as Caesar leads his army against Rome. He fights until Pompey is murdered in Egypt. As Rome is “shattered,” Julius Caesar one person should rule. He

Throughout history, questions have arose about when it is right to kill someone. There are usually two sides to this argument: it is never right to kill someone, or it is better to kill one person and save thousands of lives than to risk the death of thousands of people. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, it can be argued that Caesar truly did deserve to die for various reasons. In Julius Caesar, Caesar deserved his fate because had many physical weaknesses, was too power-hungry and egotistical, and would have ultimately hurt Rome more than helped it.

Caius Cassius is a senator of Rome, brother-in-law to Marcus Brutus, and the sole person behind the group of conspirators who plotted the death of Julius Caesar. Cassius, unlike Brutus, acts out of his need for vengeance and devises certain plans due to his own personal vendettas. Mark Antony is another Roman politician and general and he is also a very devoted friend to Julius Caesar. Antony is calculating, slightly impulsive, and is the main opponent of Brutus and Cassius’ clique.

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.

“Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.”- T.S. Eliot. A seemingly good idea can quickly become a horrible one when put into action. In the play, Julius Caesar, a character named Brutus joined the conspirators in the killing of his friend, Caesar, even though he held no grudge towards him, in his mind, he is selfless by killing Caesar for the wellbeing of Rome. In his opinion, he thinks that there is a likely chance that Caesar might become corrupted with power and even though he has not become dangerous yet he might so he should kill him before it happened, that was Brutus’ justification for killing his friend. Brutus may have thought his action was selfless, but in a way it was morally questionable, Brutus is taking the life of another person because of the assumption someone was dangerous with no real evidence. He is using the fears and assumption in his mind to justify himself killing Caesar. What also makes it morally questionable is the fact that Caesar was a friend who always done right by him for the most part.A person killing someone they hate is one thing, but killing someone who’s been their friend just seems outright wrong. Altruistic motivations and ideas often result in immoral actions.

A death of a hero; the fate chosen for the protagonist in most dramatic tragedies. Though, in William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’, there are two characters that are given this outcome; Julius Caesar and Marcus Brutus. With the most potential, the self-titled, Julius Caesar possesses the characteristics that label him as this Tragic Hero. Caesar’s tragic flaw is hubris when he acknowledges himself. The insight of others that observe Caesar, prove his high ranking. Caesar also struggles with internal conflict when he makes key decisions in the play. By examining his tragic flaw, high rank, and internal conflict, Julius Caesar is clearly the tragic hero in this tragedy.

However, unlike Hamlet whose hesitation is strung by indecisiveness Cassius' inability to assume leadership is incited by the love of his brother-in-law, Brutus. The first and most crucial incidence of this was after Caesar's death when Brutus permits Mark Antony to speak at Caesar's funeral. Cassius argues against this saying "know you how much the people may be moved by that which he will utter?" Despite this, Brutus decides to let him speak and against his better judgement, Cassius acquiesces. If Cassius had ignored Brutus and acted on his own logic then Mark Antony would not be able to persuade the plebeians and the plebeians would not riot. As noted previously, Cassius was an accomplished general on the battlefield. However, in Act IV Cassius relinquishes his position as the superior general on the right side to Brutus and allows Brutus to make the decision of battling Mark Antony and Octavius at Philippi. At first, Cassius argues against this saying, "Tis better that the enemy seek us, so shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, doing himself offence, whilst we, lying still, are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness." However, Brutus refuses to listen and once again, against his better judgement, Cassius reluctantly follows Brutus' directives rather than acting on his own

He states that Caesar also gets sick, and is no god. That he alone can’t conquer the rest of the world , he isn’t capable of it. Cassius’s jealousy and selfish reasons fueled him to create a group of conspirators, He uses his friendship to manipulate Brutus and other senators to join him in seeing the end of Caesar. To get Brutus by his side he tells Brutus about his love for him. Nobility and honor were characteristics of Brutus, Badian E. writes that

Brutus and Cassius fear Cassius and what he could become, so they strike him down. Antony and Octavius love and respect Caesar, so they seek vengeance on those who ended his life. Without Caesar appearing as a worthy recipient for his both friends’ fear and respect, politics would not affect any of their characters the way it does. In order to provide reasonable motivations, Shakespeare shows Caesar to be both caring and an overly ambitious leader. Rome repeatedly offers Caesar the crown, and he “put[s] it by thrice”, wanting to appear unambitious in the public eye (1.2.236).

In his writings, Shakespeare makes Julius Caesar’s personas polar opposites. Public Caesar is very consistent and prideful. Private Caesar, on the other hand, is fearful, yet controlling. The Conspirators believe that the Private Caesar is the real Caesar, and in turn murder him due to his ambitious motives. Before they murder Julius, the Public Caesar comes out and makes the audience want the conspirators to kill Caesar due to his arrogant behavior. Conflict between the two images is shown when Caesar is fearful of going to the Capitol because of the omens that Calpurnia has seen, but goes anyway because Decius convinces him the omens were misinterpreted and were good signs. Calpurnia tells Caesar, “Do not go forth today. Call it my fear/ That keeps you in the house, and not your own,” (2.2 50-51). Caesar responds with, “Mark Antony shall say I am not well,/ And for thy humor I will stay at home,” (2.2. 55-56). This quotation shows that Caesar is very afraid and reserved. He has no excuse not to go, except for the omens of his death that Calpurnia has seen. Unfortunately for Caesar, his pride takes over and Decius convinces him that the dreams Calpurnia has seen are actually a positive sign. . Upon hearing this, Caesar tells Calpurnia, “How foolish do your fears seem now, Calphurnia!/ I am ashamèd I did yield to them./ Give me my robe, for I will go,” (2.2. 105-107). The Public Caesar, his prideful side, ultimately gets the best of him and Caesar goes to the Capitol, which leads to his downfall. Shakespeare creates friction between Caesar’s two personas so that the reader will question the motives of the conspirators. Shakespeare continually creates these clashes in order to keep the reader engaged and questioning which Caesar is the real Caesar and if he deserved

He experiences a downfall of being evicted from Rome, which leads to the death of his character. Rome is one of Brutus’ loves, and when he is evicted, everything that could possibly go wrong does. Antony and Octavius have a list of over 100 people that they are planning to execute. Brutus starts to become deranged after his argument with Cassius, and he sees Caesar’s ghost. The ghost says to Brutus, “To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi.” (IV. iii. 285). Brutus then knows that Caesar will get his revenge on the battlefield. Brutus’ whole point in killing Caesar is to protect Rome and its people. However, after Caesar’s death, everyone in Rome hates him. People are constantly being killed by Antony, and Brutus can do nothing to stop it. This upsets Brutus terribly. Lastly, Brutus’ argument with Cassius makes him uneasy. Harsh words are exchanged, about Cassius being greedy and taking blackmailed money. However, they make up and decide to move forward. Brutus is also on edge because of Portia’s death. Portia is a smart woman, and knows she will probably be killed for being the conspirator’s wife. So, she swallows a hot coal and dies. Starting with his eviction from Rome, Brutus experiences a downfall that leads to his

William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is generally focused on the assassination of Julius Caesar. Caesar valued Rome highly and did not have any intentions of abusing personal power. On the other hand, Brutus and Cassius craved power and their way of pursuing it was to assassinate Caesar. Moreover, Brutus feared that Caesar would rule as a tyrant which, he thought, would not be best for Rome. Brutus supposedly foresaw that Caesar would rule, but not with the desire to treat his people fairly.

Caesar is too easily controlled by his emotions and blinded by power and fails to comprehend the dangers that he faces. Had he taken the time to look at his options, reviewed all the bad omens and listened to those who attempted to warn him, he would not have died. Cassius, one of the conspirators who desire to kill Caesar, also is not fit to rule. While arguing with Brutus about whether or not to kill Antony, Cassius becomes blinded by bloodlust. “Let Antony and Caesar fall together,” (2.1 161) he says.

Having trust is a great quality to have, but sometimes there might be one person that takes advantage of that trait. For example, once they start trusting people too easily they might, or will, start taking advantage of them. In one of Shakespeare’s plays, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, it demonstrates that being too trusting of someone could end with bad consequences. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, one of the main characters, Brutus, trusted his best friend, Cassius, with everything. Brutus trusted that Cassius was right about him being a new ruler of Rome, how killing Caesar would make a safer and better living space for the community, and that the people would support Brutus while he was leading. Cassius saw that Brutus trusted him. He