Julius Caesar Essay Honor

Brutus’s motivations behind the death of Caesar is clearly evident in his speech after the assassination. Throughout his speech, Brutus relies on reason and logical rationale and syllogisms to explain the reasons behind the assassination “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. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free man? /as he was ambitious, I slew him”. These strong and emotive words demonstrate Brutus strong love for Rome. Thus it can be said that, although Shakespeare presents various perceptions towards Julius Caesar, the composer’s bias is not negated.

In Roman history, some elite men held certain values that they felt strong enough to take their life in order to defend it. In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, there are certain characters portrayed to show how a person’s values or ideas can change their behavior and influence some significant decisions. The protagonist of the play, Marcus Brutus, supports this thought by having an idealistic view on the world and by showing his patriotism toward Rome. In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Shakespeare uses Brutus as an honorable, idealistic man in order to show the depth that a high-class Roman man will go through in order to defend his honor.

Brutus believes he must put his own personal self and relationships behind for the betterment of Rome, leading to the people turning against him. One of the first examples is when he was brought the concept of killing Caesar, after much thought and deliberation he decides he must put away his own relationships for the betterment of his country. “O conspiracy, Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, When evils are most free? O, then, by day Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy. Hide it in smiles and affability; For if thou path, thy native semblance on, Not Erebus itself were dim enough To hide thee from prevention.” (2.1.84-93) He knows that by doing this act he will inflict consequences of a great degree upon himself, but he knows he must do it for the betterment of Rome. He then

One of Brutus’ tragic flaws is his concern for the general good of Rome. Brutus’ flaw leads him to kill Caesar to protect Rome from a tyrant. Brutus knows he should not have to kill his friend for fear of him becoming overbearing. One night, while Brutus is in his garden, he is debating his love for Caesar and his concern for the good of Rome. He feels he should not kill his friend, but the good of Rome almost demands this horrid act. Brutus argues with

In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two speeches are given to the people of Rome about Caesar's death. In Act 3, Scene 2 of this play Brutus and Antony both try to sway the minds of the Romans toward their views. Brutus tried to make the people believe he killed Caesar for a noble cause. Antony tried to persuade the people that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward Caesar and were traitors. The effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both Antony's and Brutus's speech to the people are conveyed through tone and rhetorical devices.

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.

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

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).

The final demonstration of the theme is when Antony, a follower of Caesar, cleverly uses pleasant words against Brutus and the conspirators. In the scene where Antony speaks, Caesar is already dead and Antony could publicly speak only if he did not dirtied Brutus’s name or Caesar’s. He blatantly calls the conspirator honorable: “The noble Brutus/ Hath told you Caesar was ambitious. / If it were so, it was a grievous fault, / And grievously hath Caesar answered it. / Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest/ (For Brutus is an honorable man, / So are they all, all honorable men), / Come I to speak in Caesars’ funeral” (3.2. 912-13). The power of Antony’s speech and the manner her referred to his enemies was fabulous. He achieved the plebeians’ ultimate approval and will succeed in avenging Caesar’s death. He did so by using wise and well-chosen words.

Brutus uses a proud tone conveyed by many literary devices to convince the audience that Caesar's murder was justified. Brutus asks, "Would you rather, Caesar were living, and you all die slaves, than that Caesar were dead, so you all live freeman" (Shakespeare 3.2.20-22). Brutus tries to persuade the audience that Caesar's murder was justified through the use of a rhetorical question and a hyperbole. He tells the audience if Caesar was not killed, Caesar could have become a dictator, and the people would have been oppressed. This persuasive question gives the Roman citizens time to contemplate what Brutus is saying, and prompts them to visualize the

In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, one must read the text closely to track the shifting motivations and loyalties of each character as the play progresses. An important factor that must be kept in mind while reading is the degree of loyalty, in other words, the degree to which characters act out of a motivation to help others. Throughout the play, each character's current degree of loyalty to others is clearly exhibited by words or behavior – this holds true for the characters of Brutus, Cassius, Antony, Portia, and Calpurnia. The focus on loyalty is critical because before the play ends an even-handed justice is meted out to a number of people who fail to live up to an expected standard of

He also says that to make them think that Caesar actually is ambitious; although, without Caesar, Rome would have returned to tyranny and rebellion eventually. It's ironic for Brutus to say "as Caesar loved me, I weep for him" because he assassinated him. Instead of killing him, Brutus could have dethroned him that way it would have ended better for Caesar and he would still be alive. Brutus is also a rational man and believes that other men can be persuaded be reason.

Having honor is the main part of Brutus' character development, though some of the speeches giving the play the reader can easily see Brutus' nobility. Brutus' character is so honorable, his enemies, like Octavius and Mark Antony, all notice how noble he was. Brutus truly only acted for the good of the city and people of Rome. Other conspirators involved in the assassination, though loyal, would not have agreed to requirements like when Antony asked to have a proper burial and speak at Caesar's funeral. Shakespeare made readers clearly able to see Brutus' nobility through the admiration of the other characters witnessing his loyalty.

“It must be by his death. And for my part I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general.”(2.1.10-12) This is Brutus’s soliloquy showing that Brutus loved Caesar but wants the loyalty of Rome above all else. “[Enter the Ghost of Caesar]”(4.3.171), Brutus believed he was doing a good deed by killing Caesar for Rome, but come to find he wasn’t. His conscience perceived a ghost telling Brutus he will get the fate he deserved. This is much like a child when they do something bad but think it’s a good thing, for example, when they get in trouble knowing they upset someone makes them think they deserve to be punished. “[Brutus runs on his sword]”(5.5.207), by running on his sword Brutus is giving up because Rome, for which he killed his friend, is not thankful for Brutus doing

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