Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Julius Caesar, is rife with meaning. So many themes abound in this play. Yet, of all of these, the most prominent theme is moral ambiguity.
Early on, it is established that there are people who oppose Caesar, among them Brutus and his brother Cassius. Cassius strongly dislikes Caesar, whereas Brutus loves Caesar but is afraid of what will happen to Rome if he becomes king . Cassius tries to convince his brother that Caesar is power-hungry and vicious and that should he become king, the Romans will all be enslaved under his tyranny (1.2. 142-148). From that moment, it seems to be apparent that Caesar is the villain of the story. However, there seem to be moments that disprove that notion. In 1.2, shouts from a crowd are heard offstage, and Brutus thinks the people are shouting because they have made Caesar their king; yet later, in the same scene, Casca reveals that Caesar actually refused the crown and that’s why the people shouted. Later, in 3.1, Caesar displays both humility (“What touches us ourself shall be last served,” (8) in response to Artemidorus asking Caesar to read a letter that pertains to him) and then arrogance in boasting
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Indeed, throughout the play, it seems increasingly evident that Brutus was the only man out of all the conspirators who killed Caesar for the greater good of Rome and that the rest merely did it out of envy of his power. In fact, Mark Antony directly says: “All the conspirators save only he/Did that they did in envy of great Caesar./He only in a general honest thought/And common good to all made one of them./His life was gentle and the elements/So mixed in him that nature might stand up/And say to all the world ‘This was a man’” (75-81). This is a very strong statement, since Mark Antony has at last made peace with the man who killed his best friend and the ruler of
Once Cassius gets what he wants, Brutus to be on his side, they and some others begin to plan how they will get to Caesar and kill him. Then when Brutus agrees to join the conspiracy to annihilate Caesar, it is the beginning of him becoming the villain. He is still the hero though; he only joined the conspiracy for the good of Rome. "This was the noblest Roman of them all. All the conspirators save only he / Did that they did in envy of great Caesar. He only in a general honest thought / And common good to all, made one of them".. This quote is said by Antony at the end of the play. In that scene, he and Caesar's adopted son, Octavius have seen Brutus's dead body. They have seen the good in Brutus and have noticed that he has acted out of his love for Rome." ...not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" . That was part of the speech Brutus gave to the citizens after he and the other conspirators killed Caesar. This was the last act Brutus did before he started becoming more of a villain. This quote and the quote Antony says at the end of the play are the same. They both are saying how Brutus didn't really want to kill Caesar. He just felt like he had no choice, he saw that what Caesar was doing was changing Rome.
In William Shakespeare?s Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius are very influential characters. Each character makes many mistakes with the assassination plans and the strategies at Philippi. Each man has his reasons for their mistakes, if it is either their idealism, being uncompassionate or not, fully thinking for their actions. Brutus and Cassius are very contrasting people; one man is better suited to be a leader of a battle and an Empire, than the other. That man is: Marcus Brutus. Although Brutus makes many consequential mistakes, his errors are made because his nobleness outranks his intelligence. Whereas for Cassius, his mistakes are made from poor decision making. Brutus himself knows that he is often too honourable and not as
Brutus is one of the more complex character in Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Shakespeare added a lot of complexity to Brutus through dialogue, monologue, and soliloquy. Shakespeare created opposing desires in Brutus and created both hesitation and doubt. His major back-and-forth conflict is him trying to give himself an honorable reason for killing Caesar. He is manipulated by Cassius and the other conspirators into assassinating Caesar, a life-long friend of Brutus. “The ultimate factor in persuading Brutus to join the conspiracy is his belief, a belief based on the the letters cast in at his window or conspicuously left for him in public places” (Shalvi 71). When Caesar was attacked by the conspirators, it had been Brutus’ blade and betrayal that had finally killed him. During the beginning and the end of the play, Brutus struggled to accept that killing Caesar was not what he wanted to do. In his head, Brutus is content that he killed Caesar for the good of Rome. In a speech to Romans after Caesar’s death he says, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but
Marcus Brutus was a reputable man to the people of Rome and to his friend Caesar. Brutus had good intentions for Rome’s people, which is why he did not think Caesar would be a good leader. Although Caesar was in shock to see Brutus included in the men that stabbed him, Brutus only did it for the good of the people. Brutus reveals his nobility to his people when he says in Act 3, scene 2, “…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”(126). Brutus’s statement explains that he had all the respect for Caesar as anyone else, but the love for his people and home was much more prized. He killed Caesar out of fear of what may happen to the beloved people of Rome. This proves that Brutus’s intentions were just as honorable as the man he was. In addition to both characters being honorable, their actions got the best of them and may have changed them for the worst.
Clearly, Brutus thinks that by killing Antony alongside Caesar, the conspirators will be seen as butchers. Brutus’s idealism backfires against him as Antony later takes revenge against the conspirators for killing Caesar.
Once Cassius gets what he wants, Brutus to be on his side, they and some others begin to plan how they will get to Caesar and kill him. Then when Brutus agrees to join the conspiracy to annihilate Caesar, it is the beginning of him becoming the villain. He is still the hero though; he only joined the conspiracy for the good of Rome. "This was the noblest Roman of them all. / All the conspirators save only he / Did that they did in envy of great Caesar. / He only in a general honest thought / And common good to all, made one of them" (V.v.68-72). This quote is said by Antony at the end of the play. In that scene, he and Caesar's adopted son, Octavius have seen Brutus's dead body. They have seen the good in Brutus and have noticed that he has acted out of his love for Rome." ...not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" (III.ii.21). That was part of the speech Brutus gave to the citizens after he and the other conspirators killed Caesar. This was the last act Brutus did before he started becoming more of a villain. This quote and the quote Antony says at the end of the play are the same. They both are saying how Brutus didn't really want to kill Caesar. He just felt like he had no choice, he saw that what Caesar was doing was changing Rome.
In Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar defeats Pompey, the previous ruler of the Romans, and takes control of Rome. Many people object to it, including the conspirators who assassinate him. Marc Antony, an ally of Caesar, speaks at his funeral and turns the citizens of Rome against the conspirators which ultimately leads to the death of the majority of the assassins, including their unspoken leader, Brutus. A truly insightful glance is offered into the character Brutus in Act II, scene i, lines 120-146. At this point in the tragedy, conspirators led by Brutus are plotting the death of the tyrant of Rome, Julius Caesar, and moving on to the final stages of their planning stage, preparing
In the play Julius Caesar, written by Shakespeare, we are presented with two characters, Brutus, a noble congressman of the Roman republic, and Antony, a loyal lieutenant to Caesar. Brutus, who is manipulated by Cassius to kill Caesar, is led to believe that Caesar was ambitious and was seeking to destroy the Roman republic as well as becoming a tyrannical king. Brutus, being the patriotic congressman all of Rome knows him as, agrees for the good of Rome, to join the radical conspirators and help kill Caesar. Despite his solid reputation and strong ethos, Brutus’s weak pathos and logos doom his speech for failure once Antony gets up to speak.
“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
Brutus’ perception of reality is warped by Cassius’ manipulation to convince him that Caesar is a dictator to join his conspiracy. In Act 2, scene 1, Brutus contemplate whether he should join Cassius’ scheme to kill Caesar, for he claims that Caesar, “as a serpent’s egg which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous”(II, i, 32-35). Brutus is making assumptions about Caesar’s mettle and motives before finding the truth about his real intentions. He views Caesar as an evil tyrant who wants to overthrow the senate, and destroy the republic. However, Brutus has never questioned Julius Caesar if he wants to rule Rome with dictatorship; therefore he is making false accusations about Caesar.
(II, i, 15-22) His love for Rome and his pure intentions behind his decision-making are shown in his soliloquy. It is revealed later in the play that Brutus was truly the only conspirator who had noble intentions behind his actions. Even though Antony discredits Brutus’s reasoning for Caesar’s ambition in his funeral speech, Brutus truly believes that Caesar’s ambition poses a threat. Furthermore, if you were put in the exact position that Brutus was in, would you not choose what was best for the greater good of the people?
Historically, Brutus is considered to be one of the best men of Rome. In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Brutus is the man who led the conspirators to kill Caesar for his ambition and power. During the play Brutus displays nobility, wisdom, and honesty to the conspirators, as well as other Romans, changing their view of him and Caesar. In Act II, Brutus states, “Our course will seem bloody, Caius Cassius, to cut the head off, and then hack the limbs, like wrath in death, and envy afterwards; for Antony is but a limb of Caesar” (Shakespeare 24). This example shows Brutus does not find a need to kill Antony because it would be envious.
In Brutus’s mind it is necessary to kill Caesar because he wants to be the ruler of Rome. He thinks the only way to become ruler is to murder Caesar. In the play it says that Brutus states Caesar is becoming “overly ambitious”. Brutus is only concerned with the image people will have of him. Therefore, they decide to only kill Caesar with the help of the
In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, an honorable man, Brutus, is planning to overthrow the soon to be king, Julius Caesar. Brutus is persuaded by Cassius that Caesar is a liar, too ambitious, weak, and not fit to be Rome’s king. Brutus soon believed Cassius, and they and the conspirators made a plan to kill Caesar. After Caesar’s death, Brutus planned to justify his actions of killing Caesar at his funeral in his speech to the people. After Brutus’s speech, the citizens of Rome were all in agreement that Brutus did the right thing for Rome. Brutus then decides to allow Caesar’s best friend, Antony, to speak in honor of Caesar. Antony speaks, and he convinces the citizens that Brutus’s actions were unjust and turned the people against Brutus.