The Evil, Hate, Deceit, and Envy of Cassius

Cassius is a senator in Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar.” He is jealous of Julius Caesar because of all the power and love he gets, as shown in the quote "Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about."(Shakespeare 7) This quote basically states that Cassius is tired of Julius being better and that he thinks they should not be beneath him. Cassius also seeks to get his own power. To achieve this he manipulates Brutus as shown by this quote, “Well, Brutus, thou art noble I see, thy honourable metal may be wrought From that it is disposed: therefore it is meet That noble minds keep ever with their likes For who so firm that cannot be seduced?” (Shakespeare 12) This

In Act I, Scene 2, the purpose of Cassis’ speech is to persuade Brutus to distrust Caesar, and to join him in a conspiracy against Caesar. In his speech to Brutus, Cassius uses a variety of persuasive and rhetorical devices to persuade Brutus to join his cause against Caesar. Cassius is desperate to have Brutus on his side because of his close relation to Caesar and great respect and trust from the people of Rome. The tone of Cassius’ speech to Brutus is introduced with Cassius appealing to Brutus’ sense of responsibility towards Rome. Cassius tells Brutus that he has, “Heard where many of the best respect in Rome, except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus and groaning underneath this age’s yoke, have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes” (I.ii.64-68). Cassius tells Brutus that he is admired by Rome, appealing to Brutus’ value of putting Rome ahead of himself. Cassius uses knowledge of this value to his advantage in his speech, insisting that killing Caesar will be for the good of Rome. Cassius also introduces his speech by persuading Brutus that he is honorable and can be trusted. Cassius tells Brutus that, “Honor is the subject of my story”(I.ii.99). This appeals to the speaker Cassius’ credibility and has an ethical appeal on Brutus, or ethos. This appeal is effective because it connects with something that Brutus values, honor. In Cassius’ speech to Brutus, he uses a comparison comparing Caesar to a Colossus saying, “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonorable graves”(I.ii.142-144). Cassius is using an analogy comparing Caesar to Colossus, which was a large statue. Cassius again uses Brutus’ value of honor to persuade when he tells Brutus that if Caesar is in power, he and Brutus will die dishonorable deaths. During the time period, an honorable death was very important to noble Romans, especially Brutus. When Cassius is comparing the two names Brutus and Caesar, he uses the strategy of asking rhetorical questions. “Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that ‘Caesar?’ Why should that name be sounded more than yours?(I.ii.149-151).” Cassius also asks, “Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he

We learn a lot about the ?evil, mischievous, deceptive? Cassius in one of his soliloquy. He reflects on the weakness of Brutus and how he is better than Brutus. He says that is he had been Brutus and Brutus him, he would not of joined the conspiracy. ?Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet I see, / Thy honourable mettle may be wrought / ?If I were Brutus now, and he were Cassius, / he should not humour me.? (Act I Scene II, L. 308 ? 309, 314 ? 315). In the same soliloquy we learn that he is a very deceptive person. He decides that he will throw letters into Brutus?s house, chair that he as wrote. Brutus will think the letters are from citizens, who disagree with Caesar and the future of Rome. ?I will this night/ In several hands, in at his window throw, / As if they came from several citizens, / Writings, all tending the great opinion / That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely / Caesar?s ambition shall be glanced at:? (Act I, Scene II, L315 ? 320.) Deceptiveness is one of Cassius greatest strengths. A man who is as deceptive as Cassius is not fit to lead a battle, not to mention an Empire.

The audience also sees him as a manipulative friend who really only has his own interests in mind. When it looks like he is trying to help Brutus out earlier in the play by finding him some confidence, Cassius is really only setting him up for failure. He goes to great lengths to get Brutus to do what he wants. Cassius formulates a plan to throw letters into Brutus's window in different handwriting to convince Brutus that other people want him to be ruler too. This is very manipulative of him because he is tricking Brutus by disguising his handwriting.

Cassius is a man shrouded in mystery the only thing we need to know is he isn’t the good guy in this story. The play itself starts off with a cobler and guard then Cesar comes in and after a soothsayer says “beware the ides of march”(17). warning caesar about his soon to be doom, we get Cassius first appearance where he makes himself out to be a friend and supporter of Caesar and after that we see him go and talk to Brutus. Cassius starts by saying “You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand over your friend that loves you”(36). Cassius is using pathos and connotative words to suggest a tone; he uses the words love and friend to try and gain Brutus trust. Most of Cassius speeches are made using pathos to convince the people he needs on his

Brutus was very naive and got influenced by Cassius very easily. Cassius was very smart and manipulated Brutus to make him agree with him. Cassius said, “If I were Brutus now, and he were Cassius, He should not humour me.” (Shakespeare, p.13). Brutus believed that his friend, Caesar had a negative impact on Rome decided to join the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. Even though Caesar was his friend, Brutus always showed loyalty towards Rome. Brutus' tragic flaw is that he is not good at figuring out other’s intentions, and trusted Cassius. If Brutus never listened to Cassius in the first place, he would not have joined the conspiracy, and might not have had a tragic end.

Cassius’s character was sneaky and conniving with the motive to kill Caesar for his country because of his jealousy. His role being the mastermind behind the plan led Cassius to deceive a group of people. Cassius’s character was sneaky because he convinced many people to do what he wanted to be done. Which caused the death of Caesar because he thought it would make his country a better place. Cassius was also jealous of Caesar because Caesar had all the power in Rome. Consequently, the jealous man turned against Caesar because he wanted to have the power of Caesar.

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.

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

Tricking him into doing “what's good for the people” . The next way they try to manipulate Brutus is by flattering him. In the play Brutus is a very self conscious character. He might be the same as Caesar but he doesn't see this. “I have heard Where many of the best respect in Rome, Except Immortal Caesar speaking of Brutus and groaning underneath his age’s yoke Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes” (I.ii.60). Cassius is convincing Brutus into believing he really is a brave and noble man. By doing this Brutus will be more offended by Caesar's remarks and want to join the conspiracy. To wrap up, Brutus is in fact manipulated into killing Caesar.

Cassius is a talented general, and does not like the fact that Caesar has become `god-like' in the Roman people's minds (see above quote Act I, Scene ii). Cassius can be seen as a

By his rhetoric, Cassius is able to make Brutus join the conspirators so that Cassius’ personal fear of Caesar becoming king will not play out.

Cassius displays the personality of a shrewd opportunist, who doesn’t believe in the rule of one person. He believes there should be an elected set of officials; to decide on the laws for Rome. He resides as a very close friend to Julius Caesar, before he became the Roman king. Cassius played a large role in the assassination of Julius Caesar (I.ii.90-115). When Julius Caesar became godlike to the roman people, Cassius had much dislike toward Julius. He thought that Julius appeared too incompetent and weak to the point of embarrassment, and wanted him removed from the throne. In the play, Cassius manipulates Brutus into thinking that Caesar has become too powerful and that he needed to be killed. He also uses flattery to sway Brutus into becoming part of his plan (I.ii.48-51). Cassius tricked Brutus into finally believing the Roman people wanted Caesar dead by forging letters from the people that do convey these thoughts (I.iii.142-148). He also made Brutus feel like it was his civic duty to the Roman people. Cassius seems like just a very evil or cruel man, he committed suicide once he thought that his best friend Brutus was killed in the

In the beginning of the play, we meet Brutus, a highly respected, much loved, senator of Rome. He loved Rome as a republic and he has a good life until he is led astray by Cassius. When he becomes embroiled in the assassination of Caesar, he is very reluctant to do so. In the way he acted, you could tell he has sleepless nights over what he should do. He decided to kill Caesar for

Without Cassius’ persuasive abilities, Brutus would not have been able to join in on the plan and work his magic with the plebeians. He exploits Brutus’ greatest weakness, his love for Rome. Cassius exploits this by writing letters as if they were written by a Romans who were unhappy with caesar’s rule. He did this to appeal to Brutus in such a way that he could not refuse. It was an excellent move on Cassius’ part because he knows that Brutus could never refuse the word of the people. Cassius suggests that these letters should be “throw[n] [at Brutus’] window; set this up with wax upon old Brutus’ statue” (1.3.145-146). Cassius proves to Brutus that Caesar is weak. He tells him a story of when they went swimming in the Tiber and Caesar started drowning, begging like a little girl for Cassius to save him. Cassius says that “Brutus, thou art noble; yet I see thy honorable mettle may be wrought fromt hat it is disposed; therefore it is meet that noble minds keep ever with their likes” (1.2.308-311). Even Brutus who was the most pragmatic man is susceptible to Cassius’ flattery and manipulation. No one is “so firm that cannot be seduced” (1.2.312). Cassius is the only character who can convince and seduce Brutus to join the plan, he is the only character who can appeal to Brutus’ ego. He flatters him and his reputation which appeals to pathos. He convinces him that Caesar is not a good fit to be king, which appeals to logos. He writes letter from the Roman’s to reveal how much they do not want Caesar in the position of power, which appeals to ethos. Cassius is such a skillful speaker that he appeals to all and can make himself appear honorable and