Julius Caesar Brutus Relationship

Brutus was a wise and intelligent Roman citizen, who claimed that he was Caesar’s friend. Yet, he was quickly swayed to the conspirators side by some anonymous letters and a bit of flattering.

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.

Marc Antony, Brutus, and Cassius are all critical characters in William Shakespeare’s famous play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Due to their distinctive personalities and values, there is no trait that all of these characters share, although they do share some traits with one another. Firstly, Marc Antony and Cassius are manipulative in nature, while Brutus is not. Secondly, the root of Brutus and Cassius’ failure is their personality flaw, while Marc Antony proves strong in all the ways they prove weak. Lastly, Antony and Cassius, unlike Brutus, do not separate their private affairs from their public actions while acts only with honor and virtue and completely ignores his personal concerns.

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

     In the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare shows how friends often betray each other. Julius Caesar is about to be crowned king of Rome, when some well-known Romans decide that it is not a good idea for this to happen. They form a conspiracy and kill Caesar. Brutus, an honorable Roman and a very good friend of Caesar’s, betrays Caesar by killing him for the good of Rome. Antony, Caesar’s best friend and another honorable Roman, betrays Brutus by turning against the conspirators. Cassius, a respected Roman, and Brutus betray each other by arguing and destroying their friendship. All this betraying lead to many deaths in the play.

In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar the main character, Brutus, experiences many things that lead him to become a tragic hero. From the interactions between Cassius and Brutus, the two characters contract each other, Brutus’s character develops into a tragic hero, and the plot advances and a theme is also created.

The play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare sets the stage for an honorable man named Marcus Brutus. His honor is characterized by several traits and actions present throughout the play. Brutus’ love to Rome proves honor by the things he sacrifices for the better of his people and country. His death resulting from guilt and the feeling of having to be with Caesar shows his modesty. In fact, his people, friends, and even enemies also perceive

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.

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

Brutus and Antony backup their claims on Caesars nature through the use of ethos. Brutus does this by saying “If there be any in this assembly, and, dear friend of Caesar to him I say that Brutus's love to Caesar was no less than his". In this statement Brutus establishes his love for Caesar as well as showing he is a friend to them by comparing the people of Rome's

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

As shown in the previous paragraph, The conflicts revolve around Brutus. Brutus himself is a sincere and honorable man which is a trait of a protagonist. Another trait that makes Brutus the protagonist is his change. In the beginning of the play, Brutus is shown as a honorable and respected Roman. The play also shows Brutus as a naive man, who trusts the conspirators not to betray him. He only does this because he would not betray them. In act IV Brutus starts to change. One of his changes is when he accuses Cassius of taking bribes. “Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself Are much condemned to have an itching palm, To sell and mart your offices for gold To undeservers”. Other change occurs in act V. In the beginning of scene five, Brutus asks the others to kill him, but Brutus had said that suicide was dishonorable. Strato holds Brutus’s sword so Brutus can run on to it and kill

By his rhetoric, Cassius is able to make Brutus join the conspirators so that Cassius’ personal fear of Caesar becoming king will not play out.

Admittedly, Brutus’ relationships with his former acquaintances are destroyed due to politics however, One might say that Brutus’ relationship with Cassius has strengthened due to politics. Brutus’ relationship with Cassius is actually non-existent because their relationship is solely based on politics, common beliefs, and opinions. Brutus’ most severed relationship would be the one with Mark Antony, since he sees Brutus as an enemy of the autocratic Roman Empire do to the backstabbing of Caesar. Mark Antony expresses his sorrows through one of his speeches to the Plebeians,” But were I Brutus, And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony Would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue In every wound of Caesar that should move The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny” (III.ii.239-243). The speech Mark Antony gives exemplifies the anger and the sense of betrayal Mark Antony has for Brutus. After Brutus and his conspirators kill Caesar Mark Antony immediately despises Brutus due to his actions with the politics of Rome. In conclusion Brutus used to be a good acquaintance with Mark Antony but after unfortunate events Brutus’ relationship with Mark Antony is completely severed.