Does loyalty to your people or its leader come first? In William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” written in 1599, loyalty to your people came first. William Shakespeare's play “Julius Caesar” explores the changing loyalty between the people and leader through Brutus’s conflicting motivations and interactions. Like all of Shakespeare’s characters, Brutus evolves throughout the play and his conflicting motivations change from one side to the other. The changing of Brutus’s loyalty between the people and leader show his conflicting motivations while his soliloquy in Act II Scene I shows his conflicting interactions. In the course of these, Brutus demonstrates a theme of the need for open mindedness by not listening or taking in the ideas of his fellow peers.
William Shakespeare beautifully crafts the character of Brutus by showing his conflicting and changing loyalty between the people and the leader. “If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his. 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” (54.19.24). The conflicting loyalty of Brutus is excellently laid out in this quote. Brutus begins by saying that his love and loyalty towards Caesar is great but his love and loyalty towards the people of Rome is greater. At first, Brutus’s loyalty towards Caesar convinces him not to assassinate him, but as the time
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".. 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" . 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.
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
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.
Selflessness, a noble trait to have, but when one puts everything before themselves, it will only lead to tragedy. The character Brutus in ¨The tragedy of Julius Caesar” makes the choice to murder his personal friend Caesar, the soon to be ruler of Rome, for the future of his country. This leads to Caesar's second in command, Antony, to pursue Brutus and the others involved in the murder until their death. In William Shakespeare's play ¨The tragedy of Julius Caesar” Brutus through his selflessness in acting for the better of Rome instead of himself, and putting aside personal matters for his country becomes the tragic character.
Brutus’s character goes from a well respected and honored man to a traitor in a few short acts. Brutus is introduced to the audience with a bang, quite literally, as the city of Rome celebrates Caesar’s triumphs. This dramatic entrance fits Brutus’s personality and growth over the play. Brutus struggles with a love for country and a love for a man in Scene 2, “I know no personal cause to spurn at [Caesar], / But for the general. He would be crown’d: / How that might change his nature, there’s the question” (JC 2.1.11-13). Brutus is more afraid of what might happen if Caesar is crowned King to realize that Caesar is still the man that Brutus knows. In the end, Brutus chooses his fear of the future and Caesar falls, knowing the man he considered a son had betrayed him. Brutus’s lack of empathy with Caesar causes much of the tension in the later half of the play. Brutus acknowledges his choice to kill his paternal figure here, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome / more” (JC 3.2.23-24). Brutus sees himself as connected to the people of Rome through his love for them but fails to see how the plebeians loved noble Caesar. He also fails to see the implications of his actions on his loved ones.
(II, i, 15-22) His love for Rome and his pure intentions behind his decision-making are shown in his soliloquy. It is revealed later in the play that Brutus was truly the only conspirator who had noble intentions behind his actions. Even though Antony discredits Brutus’s reasoning for Caesar’s ambition in his funeral speech, Brutus truly believes that Caesar’s ambition poses a threat. Furthermore, if you were put in the exact position that Brutus was in, would you not choose what was best for the greater good of the people?
Julius Caesar Argumentative Essay Imagine a world where loyalty and betrayal collide, where personal convictions shape destinies, and where the consequences of one's actions reverberate through history. This is the world we enter when we delve into Brutus' funeral speech for Julius Caesar. Prior to the speeches, the Roman Republic was in a state of confusion following the assassination of Julius Caesar. In the assassination, Brutus wasn’t the only one who had committed the murder, it was both Brutus & Antony, and they had found themselves in positions of shaping public opinion. Brutus was known for his good character and deep love for Rome, he believed that Caesar’s desire caused a threat to the republic.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a very influential play by Shakespeare. Written in the 1800’s, this play has many important themes. Themes of revenge, love, trust, and betrayal. Loyalty is one of those themes. Loyalty in the play is shown through the characters in Brutus’ love of Rome, Titinius’ love for his friends, and Mark Antony’s love for Caesar.
Brutus' speech show that his loyalty is given first to Rome then to his close friends. He is justifying the death of Julius Caesar.
Brutus is loyal in an uncanny sort of manner. As he is informed of Caesar being crowned he says “What means this shouting? I do fear the people choose Caesar for their king” (Shakespeare 1.2.85-89). Brutus is unsettled by the fact that the people want Caesar as their king after he has already declined the crown multiple times.
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
Finally we have to say that; Brutus of William Shakespeare will continue troubling the audience of Julius Caesar’s play. While some people consider Brutus as a traitor, others recognize him as a principle man who stands for what he believes. However, examining Brutus in the three contexts of his political motivation, personal and inner-contention beside his apocalyptic fate can help to build better understanding for the character. Shakespeare brilliantly, succeed to present this complex character in the stage and gives the audience the opportunity to live the experience of the politician who made a difficult decision and then struggle an inner conflict to justify his decision and at the end pay the high price for his action. In the end I would
In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Julius Caesar, the protagonist, Brutus, conspires against and successfully kills Caesar; to only find the city he loves in chaos and mutiny from his actions. Brutus in the eyes of many people was a noble and honorable man who loved and adored the city of Rome, and no person thought more of this than Caesar. To Caesar, Brutus was the son he never had, and his love of Brutus was known, therefore the thought of Brutus betraying him was absurd. However, imagine if not only Brutus did not love Caesar, but he hated him. If that was the situation in the Julius Caesar, the play would then change drastically, with almost every quote from Brutus changing. If this is the case, Brutus’ hatred of Caesar and love of
Being Patriotic is a great thing until it goes bad. Over the course of the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus was a very impactful character. He was one of the main leaders of the conspiracy that killed Caesar. Brutus had a wife named Portia, who later in the play died. After the conspiracy killed Caesar, there were two speeches spoken one from Brutus and the other from Antony who was Caesar's right hand man. Soon after the death of Caesar, Brutus and Antony fought in a battle against each other. The battle lead to countless people left dead and Brutus kills himself. During the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare Brutus patriotism caused him to make decisions based on the good of Rome, not thinking of others’ thoughts, or opinions including his own.
Shakespeare shows how power and the prospect of power changes people through the character of Brutus. Brutus’ attitude changes as he acquires power and detects the possibility of being powerful. Originally, everything Brutus does is for the good of the people and Rome itself. He recognizes that he has “no personal cause to spurn at [Caesar]” (I.I.11); however, he considers doing it “for the general” (I.I.12). Power has not yet changed Brutus’ attitude; he still focuses on the good of Rome as a whole and not just gaining power for himself. As the play continues, Brutus’ ongoing internal struggle of whether or not he should kill Caesar ends when he decides to kill him. He wants to kill him in a very specific way so that the people hate Caesar rather