Marcus Brutus In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare illustrates Brutus to have outstanding morals but also displays Brutus’s naive and over-trusting personality which becomes his tragic flaw. For example, when Brutus suffers from an internal conflict on deciding if Caesar should be emperor or not, Cassius takes advantage of his confusion and naïve personality to act as the “glass [that] will modestly discover [Brutus] ... / [t]hat ... [shows Brutus’s appearance] which … [he] yet know not of ” (1.2. 68-70) and then says, “‘Brutus,’ and ‘Caesar’: what should be in that ‘Caesar’? / Why should that name be sounded more than yours[, Brutus]” (1.2.142-43). From this conversation, Brutus is shown to allow his naïve and over-trusting personality overcome him. As a result, Brutus follows his close allies in the path considered to be the most noble. Moreover, this characteristic of Brutus makes him weak enough to eventually trust the conspirator, Cassius, to take down Caesar, his own brother. This eventually leads to Brutus’s downfall

He had many positive qualities. I wish to bring these to a light and explore how they affected the plot. Brutus believes that his role in

Brutus was a man of noble birth. He had multiple servants and was often referred to as “Lord”, which indicates a certain level of respect for him. He was a very highly thought of

In “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, Brutus was a villain. He was a man who loved Caesar and was a friend of Caesar’s throughout the play leading to his death. Throughout the play, Brutus fell for the manipulative ways of Cassius and the other conspirators. Brutus made several mistakes along with being a bad person in the play. He had several faults which involved him killing one of his closest friends one of the first acts of the play. There were some ways that Brutus is a good person, but those ways are hard to find over the bad choices he made over the course of the play.

Brutus is an important character in the play ‘Julius Caesar’ as he is portrayed as a tragic hero where he possessed heroic traits such as being noble and honourable that earn the sympathy of the audience. However, he also has flaws and made many mistakes and hamartias that ultimately lead to his downfall.

Brutus’s patriotism enables him to be a strong leader because his desire for a strong republic is based on his devotion to the Roman citizens and not selfishness, like Caesar was. His debate of

Cassius and Brutus start to fight over the fact that Cassius is taking bribes. Brutus fights Cassius on this because in his mind this makes him a bad man because what Cassius is doing is against his moral code. “You have done that you should be sorry for. There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats; For I am armed so strong in honesty That they pass by me as the idle wind, Which I respect not. I did send to you For certain sums of gold, which you denied me; For I can raise no money by vile means. By heaven, I had rather coin my heart And drop my blood for drachmas” (4.2.65-73).

Brutus agrees to do whatever it takes to help Rome receive justice, even if it means to use violence against his friend. Lastly, due to Brutus killing Caesar, war broke out in Rome. Brutus is creating more chaos for Rome than Caesar is. He is naive and thinks he is doing what is best for Rome, but really ends up hurting Rome. A true hero would have been sceptical about the petition before making decisions about it. Since Brutus is too trusting he did not think twice about the petition which ultimately, leads to his downfall.

This showed that he had his heart set on protecting Rome from Caesar no matter what it took. Because of this, he was honored for his nobility. Brutus was willing to give his life to better Rome. He knew that if he killed Caesar, (someone who was popular with the people), he would be hunted down if he couldn’t convince the people that what he was doing was for the best. Brutus ended up using logos in his speech, which was overpowered by Antony’s speech that included pathos.

Brutus was born in Macedonia 85 BCE. He had a happy childhood with a positive upbringing. Brutus had a wealthy family so his next meal or clothes were never a problem, he lived in the lap of luxury for a large portion of his life. As Brutus got older he dreamed of being a king or a general, he just wanted to have power. He decided to join the Roman army and he made his way up the ranks fast because of family ties he had throughout the military. After only a few years in the army Brutus became a general and his dream had finally came true. He began conquering land and fighting in many battles. After countless victories, Brutus started to become very bored, and his fellow general Julius Caesar was making more of a name for himself. Brutus became very jealous of Julius because he strived to be the best at everything, even if he was surpassing a good friend 's achievements. As time passed by

Brutus is a noble person with a strong moral character. Julius Caesar likes Marcus Brutus very much, as Brutus is an honorable man. “Et tu, Brutè?”, Caesar is surprised that Brutus stabbed him, because he trusted Brutus and thought they were friends (70). Instead of murdering Caesar for his own personal benefit, Brutus sacrifices him for the good of Rome, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more,” (79). Brutus respects others, even his wife Portia.

He addresses the speech to the Plebeians, and he sounds believable and honorable, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (3.2.21-22) This in itself shows how noble and caring Brutus is. He was willing to do nearly anything to help or boost Rome. Also, Brutus tells the crowd how he was worried for Rome, and why he was growing wary of Caesar’s ambition.

In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare creates the character of Marcus Brutus in order to create a Connection. This connection was written on purpose to supply the reader with a feeling of pity for Brutus. An analysis of Marcus Brutus starts with his first appearance in the play Julius Caesar. In the play Brutus is written as a character who is well liked but with conflicting emotions and thoughts. William Shakespeare creates dialogue for Brutus to allow the reader to interpret his mindset throughout the play. This interpretation is applied in many different parts of the play.

Brutus possesses many ideals and mannerisms that make him the tragic hero in William Shakespeare’s tragedy. To begin with, Brutus has a deep sense of love for his city, and concerns himself with its well-being. His concern for Rome is actually what causes him to backstab Caesar. He worries that he is too arrogant to be an adequate leader, “I do fear the people/ Choose Caesar for their king.” (Shakespeare I.ii. 85-86). Secondly, Brutus has an undying moral compass that navigates him on his integrity driven choices. Brutus thinks long and hard before he joins the conspirators, and wonders whether or not it is the right choice and questions his choices, “Into what dangers would you lead me…/ That you would have me seek into myself/ For which is not in me?” (Shakespeare I.ii. 69-71). His strong beliefs are what ultimately convince him to join the conspirators, for the good of Rome. Also, Brutus believes in equality and respect. He gives a speech to the public because he feels they deserve to know the reason why Caesar dies, ‘And, waving our red weapons o’er our heads,/ Let’s all cry “Peace, freedom, and liberty!”’. (Shakespeare III.i. 121-122). This heroic quality is one of the things that drives him to be a good leader, and a good person as well. As much as these traits lead us to believe