Julius Caesar: Is Brutus A Victim Or Villain?

Rome more”(3.2) and that he cared for Rome more than anything else. Also Brutus decided not to tell Portia his plan to murder Caesar because he feels like she's going through a lot of stress already and she doesn't need his plans on her life. That's an act of selflessness which i think is honorable. Brutus shows true honor and love for the people of Rome,” Am I entreated to speak and strike? Of Rome i make thee promise, if the redress will follow, the receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus”(2.3). Even though Brutus did stab Caesar he had a lot of compassion for him and he and as other conspirators helped clean up his body. Agin This is the selflessness that Brutus had and the kind of

    Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar is a tragic play, where the renowned Julius Caesar is on the brink of achieving total control and power by becoming emperor of the Roman Empire. Ironically enough, when he thinks he is one step away from pulling it off, his "friends" (most from the senate) decide to overthrow him, with Caesar's most trusted friend, Marcus Brutus, acting as leader of the conspirators. Though the fall of Caesar from the most powerful man in the world to a man who's been betrayed and stabbed 30 times is a great downfall, he is not the tragic hero. Shakespeare's main focus is Marcus Brutus, a noble man who brings upon himself a great misfortune by his own actions,

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.

In his own way, Brutus was a patriot. He had to murder his dear friend Caesar for the sake of his beloved Rome. Everything he did, every action, every speech, every thought was for Rome. “Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his.” He did a hard painful thing in killing Caesar, but he did it for his true love: Rome. “And therefore think him as a serpent's egg, Which, hatched, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, And kill him in the shell.” However, when Brutus spoke these fateful words he showed his true colors. He killed Caesar out of his own fear. Because Brutus was afraid of a new leader, he committed a terrible act of murder.

“The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious. If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answered it.” - William Shakespeare. Brutus was once a noble honest man. Everyone loved him until one day he decided to join the conspiracy group. The group had a plan to kill Caesar, but had one problem. The city of Rome would look down on the conspiracy group if they did not have someone they favored in the group. That is when they had asked Brutus to join. And so he did, but then that is where they went wrong. It was not just about having Brutus. They needed actual proof on why they needed to assassinate Caesar. But yet everything they had that would unwelcome him turned out to be untrue, and they were not thinking of

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight. This quote can be assimilates to Brutus in Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar. In a way he died as a hero but he did live long enough and saw himself becoming the villain. Throughout the play, Brutus had been consumed in a lot of drama and deaths. The readers can tell the internal arguments he has with himself about it too. In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, there are many tragic deaths, drama, and heroes and villains. The question is, who is the hero and who is the villain.

As for Brutus’s motives, it is clear that all said actions were done in order to retain democracy within Rome, and what negative could result from such a notion? It turns out that all of what Brutus has done, ends up backfiring in the end. In his article, “Shakespeare’s Brutus: A Man Torn by Conflicting Values,” J.L. Simmons states “Brutus’s attempt proved futile, but it was nevertheless honorable” (Simmons 69). Here, Simmons implies that everything Brutus did, including killing Caesar, ended up not working out in his favor, although that is not the importance of the tragic hero. Brutus serves as an obvious inspiration to be taken from the play, furthermore, he serves to represent the average person. Shakespeare uses his tragic hero to display the truly unpredictable, even ironic nature of life, and how it affects everyone equally. This can be implied directly from Brutus, when in the field of battle in 4.3 he states “Good reasons must of force give place to better” (Shakespeare 4.3. 202). This is raw irony at its best. Brutus knows of the nobleness of retaining democracy by killing Caesar, allowing innocent Antony to live and even going to war, therefore he feels relatively confident in the notion that only good can come from his actions. As the nature of life ensues, nothing

He said, “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more,” as well as “I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general.” Although, Brutus thinks he’s doing good for the sake of Rome, his acts out of his own opinion. It was Cassius who persuaded Brutus into killing him and he sent letters to Brutus posing as a citizen concerned about Caesar's power. This pushes Brutus to his final decision of killing Caesar. Brutus also perceived Caesar as ambitious, someone who would abuse his power as king.

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar, the character of Marcus Brutus is tasked with making a difficult choice: either kill one of his most beloved friends, or risk the corruption and downfall of Rome. Though Brutus acknowledges the ethical and moral concerns of his actions, he commits to the conspiracy against Caesar, and carries it out with conviction. The question, however, is whether or not Brutus’ actions are justifiable from an objective point of view. Unlike most other political assassinations, Brutus isn’t a hysterical stranger distraught with the target, but a close ally, and trusted friend. Brutus justifies his own doings by convincing himself and others that they’re sacrificing, not murder Caesar, and acting not out

Clearly, Brutus feel that he is responsible to save the republic and that he will go as far as it takes to protect what his ancestors build. So his love for his friend is not enough to stop him from committing murder for the sack of general good. Mark Antony his main rival in the play will describe him in the very last scene as “the noblest Roman of them all.” Never the less, Antony confirms what Brutus constantly said in the play and that he did what he did for the common good. In Arabic there is famous saying that “ best credit what comes from enemies “ and that what Brutus got from Antony. Barbara Gaines, the theater's artistic director, in her comparison between Brutus motivation and the rest of conspirators say:

Yet Antony now praises Brutus, not to bury him. Of all the conspirators, only Brutus thought of the "common good", and had honest intentions toward the general populace. The rest merely invaded Caesars greatness. Brutus thought it was a serious threat to Republic.

As the story progresses, we see Brutus plan and carry out Caesar’s brutal assassination. However, his motives can be perceived as honorable, even selfless. He acted on behalf of the citizens of Rome, not for himself. While Caesar’s murder

Brutus a high-ranking, well-regarded Roman nobleman that killed Julius Caesar, went to the top of the ranks and was crowned king. Even though Brutus was able to become king, he was not going to get that title without killing Caesar. In the play Julius Caesar, Brutus agrees to kill Caesar and is one of the three murderers that stabbed Julius Caesar. In Act III scene i William Shakespeare writes “CASCA and the other conspirators stab CAESAR. BRUTUS stabs him last.” This is when Brutus’s fate begins because he starts listening to the wrong people such as, when Cassius uses his power and authority to convince Brutus that he loves Caesar but loves Rome more. This is quoted when Shakespeare writes in Act III scene ii, “ I say to him that my love for Caesar was no less than his. If, then, that friend demands to know why I rose up against Caesar, this is my answer: it’s not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” This shows Brutus’s major flaw and when he starts to believe things that other people tell him. Brutus shows that he is the Tragic Hero right when he agrees to kill Caesar because this is his tragic flaw that begins the downfall of himself.

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

What is a villain or a hero? Are they simply defined by everyone’s own interpretation, perhaps but in many ways there is support one way or the other. In the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, there is a character named Brutus who is resulted in a lot of controversy. A villain is a person who is a major role to the play and changes the outcome of the play, and Brutus fits that role exactly. What Brutus does in the play is he murders a and a key character that would change the outcome of the play. He changes the entire outcome of Rome and what would happen to the great civilization that it was. Brutus is a villain and has committed the actions that back up that statement. He murdered Caesar for his own selfish benefit and waged war on his own people, the Romans. He makes a fake Mirage of being honorable and an upstanding person only to commit the actions that contradict his own image of himself. Although it is more honorable to stab someone than to poison them, if a person has 23 swords coming at one person it is not a possibility for one to defend oneself. It is simple and thorough murder with a complete and utterly shameful way of doing with so with the large number of people doing such things. Brutus acts dishonorable and cowardly in the play for the way he treats his friend. He becomes a key factor to the murder of someone who trusted him and attempted to take his power.