Throughout the Shakespearean play, Julius Caesar, the character Marcus Brutus deals with the struggles of attempting to make Rome as best as it can be. Conspiring with some fellow Romans, the noble Brutus helps assassinate the upcoming emperor Julius Caesar. This begins a war against those who advocate the rise of Caesar, including Caesar’s closest cohort, Mark Antony. At the place of Brutus’ death, Antony stands over his body and gives a short speech commemorating Brutus’ honor. In his brief eulogy, Antony uses the quote “This is a man” to describe Brutus. Mark Antony truly believes, as he states, that Brutus is an honorable Roman citizen. Being a dear friend of Caesar, Antony realizes that, unlike Marcus Brutus, the other conspirators
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 in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar In 'Julius Caesar', Shakespeare intended us to see Brutus as 'noble'. I wish to review his actions, and the motivating factors behind those actions. I intend to prove that Brutus had a strong and well-grounded character. He had good intentions, however, he made one fatal mistake and that was his downfall. When learn that Brutus is dedicated to the public, when Brutus decides Caesar must die, because he fears his ambition, this comes as a big shock to the Shakespearian audience as well as the modern day audience.
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 his soliloquy, Antony praised Caesar’s great personality but at the same time, he would keep saying positive things about Brutus. An example is when he says, “He was my friend, faithful and just to me; / But Brutus says he was ambitious, / And Brutus is an honorable man.” (3.2.85-87). The way in which he spoke and by telling the citizens the context of Caesar’s will, turned the mob against Brutus and the rest of the conspirators. The anger possessed by the countrymen can be shown when a plebeian says, “Most noble Caesar! We’ll revenge his death!” (2.2.244). This betrayal by Antony caused Brutus to break off their friendship.
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.
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.
Both Mark Antony and Marcus Brutus are great at using people’s emotions to grab their attention. In Brutus’s speech, he used the feeling of slavery: “Would you rather have Caesar alive and all die slaves, than Caesar dead to all live free men?” Nobody wants to be a slave and would feel angry if they were. Brutus is using this feeling to make it sound like Caesar would have made them all into slaves but because he is dead, they are all free. If one thinks about it some more, the people were like slaves under Caesar’s power. They weren’t free to do as they liked due to the fact that if it upset Caesar, you’d be executed. After Caesar was dead, the people were free to do as they pleased. Brutus used the emotion of anger to show that he killed Caesar so the people could be free of his controlling power.
Mark Antony, in the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, was a brave, intelligent, pleasure-loving, and cunning man. He was loyal to his friend, Caesar, whom he considered a true friend. He looked at life as a game in which he had a signified part to play, and played that part with excellent refinement and skill.
All throughout Rome, Brutus is known as being nobleman, yet, in his funeral speech to Caesar, he purposely talks in prose, a way of speaking or writing that is not formal. Brutus’ ethos of nobility is so strong that patricians, noblemen, and plebeians, commoners, directly address Brutus as “the noble Brutus” (III.ii.11) Being as noble as he his, the commoners have a difficult time relating to him; yes, they may respect him, but believing or being convincing in what he says is more difficult for Brutus than Antony. In contrast, Antony can relate to the commoners and is not seen to have an overruling ethos; so, this is why Antony ultimately has a more persuasive speech. At the beginning of his speech, he is presented as not being at all against the conspirators, the group Brutus was apart of. He repeatedly kept reassuring the crowd that the conspirators were "all honorable men" (III.ii.81). By reassuring that the conspirators are honorable, the commoners believe in Antony's statement, which increases his authority power. Noticing that his authority is becoming more powerful, Antony decides to secretly turn against the conspirators. He questions on Brutus’ statement, again, on his reasoning for killing Caesar; yes, Antony is well aware that “[Brutus] is an honorable
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.
“The Assassination of Julius Caesar” by Michael Parenti goes into details about the events that lead up to the death of Caesar due to class conflicts. In 44 BC, the assassination of Julius Caesar was lead by conspiring members of the Roman senate who wanted to remove the dictator, who was increasingly acquiring power, and to revive the Republic government. Parenti's book protests against the gentlemen historians and the class society that they used to describe the assassination of Julius Caesar. His book also gives us insight about the Late Republic and takes us through the events that were presented in the actions of
Antony's small speech depicts Brutus as a noble being and the ideal image of a man. Stating that nature would `stand and say to all the world', that Brutus was a man illustrates Brutus as being the idyllic man to become. Brutus is the only conspirator to maintain an honorable reason to assassinate Julius Caesar. Antony believes this, and states how only Brutus `in general honest thought and common good to all made one of them', implying that Brutus is the only one who possessed moral reasons for assassinating Caesar. Both Antony and Octavius, who were two of Brutus' most critical adversaries, state how Brutus is a dignified Roman.
Many people wonder whether Brutus should or should not join the conspiracy. In William Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar” play, Brutus is conflicted by joining the conspiracy, which helps Rome, but hurts his best friend Caesar in the process. Brutus did the right thing by joining the conspiracy for the better of Rome. He is able to use Logos, Ethos, and Pathos to justify the reasons for his actions against Caesar. Brutus’s main reason for killing Caesar is to stop him before he gets too powerful. As Brutus says in the story, “And therefore we think of him as a serpent’s egg which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, and kill him in the shell.” (II, i, 32-34). Not only does Brutus want to stop him before he gets to powerful, but he also
In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two potential protagonists are presented to the audience. Both Brutus and Caesar have been mentioned as possible protagonists, but there can only be one protagonist. But who is the real protagonist? Although there is proof to back up Caesar, Brutus has more proof and solid proof. Therefore, Brutus should be named protagonist of the story.
Marcus Brutus was a good friend to Julius Caesar, but not good enough. He had moral values dealing with Rome and its people. Brutus' values then made him join a conspiracy against Caesar put together by Cassius. Brutus joined mainly because he didn't want Caesar to turn his back on Rome so there would be a reasonable reason for killing Caesar.