Julius Caesar Seminar Questions On Brutus Essay

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.

Both Cassius and Brutus play major roles in the play Julius Caesar. Cassius and Brutus both plan Caesar’s death. Although they are working towards a common goal, Cassius and Brutus have very different motivations for doing this. On the one hand, Cassius sees it as a way to gain more power for himself while destroying the king and all his power. On the other hand, Brutus believes that in killing Caesar he is preserving peace for the Romans’ future years. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses different techniques to create biased characterizations of the two men so that readers and viewers develop identical attitudes towards each of them. In Julius Caesar, Cassius is portrayed as a greedy villain while Brutus is depicted as an

Shakespeare’s complex play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar contains several tragic heroes; a tragic hero holds high political or social esteem yet possesses an obvious character flaw. This discernible hubris undoubtedly causes the character’s demise or a severe forfeiture, which forces the character to undergo an unfeigned moment of enlightenment and shear reconciliation. Brutus, one of these tragic heroes, is a devout friend of the great Julius Caesar, that is, until he makes many execrable decisions he will soon regret; he becomes involved in a plot to kill the omniscient ruler of Rome during 44 B.C. After committing the crime, Mark Antony, an avid, passionate follower of Caesar, is left alive under Brutus’s orders to take his revenge on

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

In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius are contrasting characters. They differ in the way they perceive Antony as a threat to the assassination plot, their dominance in personality, and their moral fiber. In Julius Caesar, Brutus is the more naïve, dominant and noble character, while Cassius is the more perceptive, submissive, and manipulative person.

Although the conspirators believe that enlisting Brutus in the conspiracy will ensure their success, Brutus’s flaws of naivety and pride ultimately doom their plan to failure. For example, Brutus doesn’t require the conspirators to take oaths because he is naïve. He believes because his fellow conspirators are loyal, they will not leak word of the conspiracy. Cassius strongly disagrees with Brutus and claims that the conspirators need to take an oath because he believes that some conspirators are dishonest and disloyal. “And let us swear our resolution,” Cassius assures Brutus willingly. However, Brutus states that the conspirators are loyal enough not to have to take an oath. “And what other oath than honestly engag’d that this shall be or will fall for it,” Brutus triumphantly

blame. Brutuses actions were based only for good of Rome, and even then he was acting

To start, Brutus is characterized and honorable through his actions and motives. Before Brutus joins the conspirators, he says to Cassius, “If it’s anything to do with the welfare of the people, show me honor on the one hand, and death in the other” (I.ii.84-85). Brutus is telling Cassius that he would do anything for the Roman people no matter the cost. Brutus wants to keep his honor and would rather die than lose his honorable reputation. When Brutus finally decides to join the conspirators, he feels obligated to kill Caesar because not saving the Roman people would cause him to lose his honor. Brutus feels this way because Cassius delivered false letters to his house that Brutus believed were from the Roman people. The letters read, “Brutus, you are asleep. Wake up!... Speak out! Strike out! Reform!” (II.i.48-55). These notes convince Brutus that the Roman people do not wish to have Caesar as a dictator. In response, Brutus says, “Oh Rome, I make you this promise: if reform will follow from my intervention, you will have the services of Brutus unreservedly” (II.i.56-58). When Brutus says this, he has decided to intervene in the path of Caesar becoming dictator because in his view the Roman people

(III. iii. 137). After Antony gives his speech, he is able to win control over the Plebeians and turns them into monsters filled with rage because of their ability to be easily manipulated. Brutus fails to see that the Plebeians have the propensity to rebel when a few moments ago, they nearly wanted to crown

“A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to their own destruction.” –Aristotle. Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare has two main examples of tragic heroes, Brutus and Julius Caesar. In traditional Greek tragedies, the hero must be of noble birth. Tragic heroes attempt to do the right things and follow the moral path, only to fail in the end and end up dead. Both Caesar and Brutus could be considered tragic heroes. Caesar is of noble birth, but Brutus is the only one whose actions were for the good of his country and followed his moral compass. Brutus is the true tragic hero of the play, because of his desire to do what was right.

Marcus Brutus function in the play is to kill Caesar and win over the people of Rome. He believes that Caesar will become a tyrant and enslave the people. When he says, “Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war, Forgets the shows of love to other men,” we start to realize his decision to stab Caesar in the back wasn’t an easy one (1.2.51-53). As the reader, we get to know him through his soliloquies that his motives that drove him to action. Brutus had an internal conflict between his loyalty to Rome and to his friend, who seems to care for power rather the people.

Antony clearly loved Caesar, believing he was his “friend, faithful and just to” him. Due to this compassion, Antony could not stand idly as Brutus devastated the great idea the plebeians held of Caesar. This bond induces Antony to stress the most seemingly generous acts Caesar performed, rendering him as a man with a vast heart, for “when [that] the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept”. Furthermore, Antony speaks of Caesar refusing a “kingly crown” “thrice presented”, allowing all to view him as some sort of virtuous figure. It is almost as if Antony’s adoration for Caesar obligated him to avenge his friend’s death; fooling the plebeians “to mourn for him” by compelling them to believe they have “lost their reason”, while simultaneously tempting them to listen to the testament they allegedly aren’t intended to.

Julius Caesar was about to become king but he got assassinated by Brutus and also by many conspirators. Soon after Caesar's death Brutus gave a speech about how his love for Rome became more powerful than his love for Caesar. His speech concluded reasoning why they killed Julius and he said would you rather live as slaves with Caesar living or live as free men with him dead. He asked if he has offended anyone with his opinion and everyone agreed with his reasoning. “ I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus”.

Caesar’s assassination had taken the Romans off guard, leaving utter chaos in the streets. In an attempt to calm the plebeians, Brutus says, “...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 freemen?” (III,ii, 21-26). Brutus appeals to the Romans’ ideals, of living as free men.

Should the protagonist still be the protagonist even though they get killed through the first half of a tragic drama? I feel that it should be okay in certain ways, but if certain things happen, and they are somehow still in the play. In a tragic drama the main character dies. Caesar dies so Shakespeare could be stating that Caesar is the main character/protagonist. Other people do die but Caesar is the one that dies first. His name is continued throughout the play, he is not left behind, they refer back to him in many ways. The citizens kind have have a natural liking for him. They cheer him on when he got back from his fight with Pompeii, they cheered him on. Brutus had to do a speech, that was long, and kind of boring to get everyone to