Julius Caesar And Brutus Character Traits

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 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.

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.

He believes that he as a general, can calculate everything about the upcoming battle and makes tons of minor mistakes that should have told him that his methods were untrustworthy. Had he of listened to his friend Cassius, who was a seasoned general. Brutus might have avoided the military disaster that was brought about or at least made the battle have less casualties. He also believes that by killing Caesar it will send Rome into a peaceful golden age, but in reality Rome is thrust into upheaval and civil war. In Julius Caesar, the conspirators do not wish that they could act without suffering ill effects, as experienced politicians, they know full well their

They both share long conversation together that shows Brutus’ gullibility. Brutus is gullible for having a strong stance to be on Caesar’s side in the beginning of their conversation; however, throughout of the process of them talking, he falls into Cassius’ trap of plotting against Caesar. This first starts off with Brutus stating “I love him well” when is asked by Cassius how he feels about Caesar (I, ii, 82). Here Brutus is clearing taking a stand for Caesar in front of Cassius. This is only at the beginning of the speech where one will find Brutus being on the side of Caesar since after this Cassius will sway him adrift. Cassius is first able to do this by saying “ ‘Brutus,’ and ‘Caesar.’ What should be in that ‘Caesar’/Why should that name be sounded more than yours” (I, ii,142). Here Cassius is comparing their names. He trying to get Brutus to see himself has the same as Caesar by also following with “write them together; your is as fair a name” (I, ii,143). This gets Brutus listening to Cassius and considering why he is not as valued as Caesar. Consequently, Brutus’ walls are being taken down on how he originally felt on Caesar. Yet, Cassius takes it a step forward into trapping Brutus with his words by bringing up his ancestors. Cassius builds confidence in him by saying “There was a Brutus once that would have brooked/ the eternal devil to keep his state in Rome/ As easily as a king” (I, ii, 195-161). Here he states a story of Brutus’ ancestor who took care of and protected Rome. At this point in their conversation, Brutus as goon from being on Caesars side to being on plan to take Ceasar down; nevertheless, Brutus’ change has been sparked by Cassius comparing them along with boosting his confidence. This showing how gullibly Brutus is. This gullibility then translates to a bad potential leader since it often puts much pressure on others that

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.

Joining the Conspiracy Lloyd Banks once said “I take things like honor and loyalty seriously. It's more important to me than any materialistic thing or any fame I could have.” In this quote Banks explains that being loyal and honorable is extremely serious and should come before fame and materials. This is very relevant to Julius Caesar Act II, because Brutus has to decide whether to join the conspiracy or to tell Caesar about what Cassius plans to do.

Cassius flatters Brutus by saying that “[he] know[s] that virtue to be in ... Brutus,/ As well as [he does] know [his] outward favor”(Act.I.ii.97-98). Brutus is so immensely honorable that you can literally see it. Cassius lays down this foundation knowing that Brutus would want to cling to this fact. Subconsciously, he won’t go against what he was praised for since it had a positive effect on him and accentuated his feelings about his honor and pride. This pours into guilt, showing that if Brutus doesn’t join this Conspiracy, then he will lose his dignity and

In Act 1, we learn that Brutus respect Caesar and Caesar respects Brutus. Making this an easy target for Cassius to use Brutus to join the conspirators to kill Caesar. Brutus is loyal to Caesar but we know that Brutus will do anything to keep the people of Rome happy. He was willing to betray his friend in order to save the people of Rome. Although Brutus was assuming that Caesar would betray all his friends because he’s stronger than them; he is at war between betraying Caesar or betraying the people of Rome. Either way Brutus has to pick one and obviously from the context of his soliloquy, readers can tell that Brutus truly honors the citizens. Therefore he ends up betraying his friend (that trust him) and joins the conspirator. Another example

Julius Caesar is set in 44 BC were Rome was a republic. Roman influence had spread beyond Italy and through the Mediterranean and some of North Africa and also parts of Germany, Belgium and Britain. A senate governed Rome. The main objective of all this meant that not one person was solely in charge and had absolute power and were king like.

Brutus has many traits that resemble a hero. Like a hero, Brutus is brave, tenacious, and honest. Throughout the play, Brutus demonstrates his traits that make him a hero, not a traitor. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus was a hero to Rome.

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

Politics come with contrasting opinions. Many people can be for one thing and then for another, thus resulting in a split population. This split population can cause violence in a contrasting belief and uproar from the everyday people can occur. In the tragedy, Julius Caesar, and the real world, political opinions affect the strength of a relationship by completely destroying bonds between individuals.

Julius Caesar and Brutus are more similar than meets the eye. One could argue that both Julius and Brutus are tragic heroes in the tragic play Julius Caesar. This argument is false because Brutus is the one, and only, tragic hero. Brutus is the tragic hero because he possesses the heroic qualities of equality and respect, integrity, and concern for his county, as well as possessing a tragic flaw, which is his own naivety. Heroic qualities can be hard to define, but to simply put it, they are the defining qualities and famed features that define a conqueror. These beliefs often tell the customs and beliefs of the society the hero is from, because this is the way of life for the tragic hero. Every tragic also embeds himself with a tragic flaw. The tragic flaw is the one negative and shameful character trait found throughout that the character just cannot quite seem to control and will lead to their demise, no doubt about it.

According to the plebeians of Rome: Who understood better the nature of Caesar, Mark Anthony or Brutus? We will compare Brutus' view of Caesars ambition, honor, and love of Rome with Mark Anthony's view of his ambition, honor and love of Rome and how the people reacted to such.