Brutus was Caesar’s best friend, yet he worked to find a way to kill Caesar. Is Brutus really an honorable man? In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus was dishonorable by being untrustworthy and my betraying his own best friend.
To start off, Brutus was a back stabber. He murdered his best friend, literally stabbed him. “He joined in a conspiracy against his best friend” according to Encyclopedia Britannica (¨Marcus Brutus¨).
It is not honorable to stab your best friend and kill him. When Caesar trusted Brutus, Brutus was conspiring to kill him. Caesar was shocked to be stabbed by his “best friend”. “And you too Brutus? In that case, die Caesar” (3,1,84) is what Caesar said after Brutus stabbed him. I think he was saying that since his best friend was now against him, he might as well be dead.
So, Brutus was in fact, dishonorable. If an entire country is in agreement with an action you took, but then so easily persuaded against you, does that
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In Antonyś speech during Caesar’s funeral, Antony said many times ¨Yet Brutus was an honorable man.¨ (4,3,96) Brutus thought of the good of Rome and the people of Rome before himself. Britannica Encyclopedia (¨Marcus Brutus¨) says, ¨Though he is Caesar’s friend and man of honour, Brutus convinces himself that Caesar’s death is for the greater good of Rome.¨ Brutus was in total distress whether or not to join the conspiracy, but he was thinking about Rome going into tyranny.
Honorable men do not murder their best friends. Antony was a loyal friend who defended Caesar even in death. Caesar was already stabbed when Brutus stabbed him three more times. Which Brutus did not need to do.
In conclusion, Brutus was dishonorable because even though Brutus wanted to save Rome from the tyranny of Caesar….. Brutus, Cassius, and the other conspirators could have found another way to do so. Brutus gave in to the manipulation of Cassius in the play, The Tragedy of Julius
While Brutus was trying to be honorable to Rome, he betrayed his friendship to Caesar, making him dishonorable. I would disagree with anybody who would call Brutus honorable. Brutus also leaves Rome with no kind, ruler, or government. Once Caesar is dead, he has no plan for what will happen to Rome next, he just expects the people to figure it out. This also represents an example of Brutus being dishonorable.
Brutus was in fact a betrayer, and while he did feel sympathy for Caesar after he died, he killed him along with the other conspirators and even started a war of sorts in Rome, causing many to fall in battle- himself included. While Brutus was persuaded by fake letters, no man should be as gullible as him to completely switch sides on only the basis of three anonymous letters that were stuck to his window. Brutus was a villain who felt that he was the hero, more concerned about the safety of the government he loved rather than the friend that he loved.
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
Brutus wanting to be very honorable is part of his tragic flaw. He will do crazy stuff just be honorable. While talking with Cassius about why he is not himself, Brutus said “For it let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor than I fear the name of death” (I.II. 91-92). This quote shows that being honorable is a very big thing for Brutus since he would rather die with honor than die without honor. After talking with Lucius Brutus says, “It must be by his death, and for my part I know no personal cause to spurn at him but
Brutus is most definitely a honorable man because honor is the main reason why Brutus dies in the end. But, is also why he is titled a hero. After lucilius capture, he states “ i dare assure thee that no enemy shall ever take life of the Noble Brutus”.(6, 3) After the defeat of his army, Brutus wants to die nobly. It is achieved after he orders strato to kill him. Antony states “ this was the noblest Roman of them all” which to me says a lot of how people or other characters think about Brutus. Also Brutus had no personal Grudge towards Caesar what so ever it was just the simple fact that even the author states “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved
As noble and great as Brutus might be, all tragic heroes have some tragic flaws and make some errors of judgment, which leads them to their downfall. In this case Brutus's great flaw is that he is too honorable, and he's too naïve when he is dealing with people. An example of an error of judgment is when Brutus underestimates Antony, and thinks him incapable of being dangerous after Caesar's death, "For Antony is but a limb of Caesar...he can do no more than Caesar's arm When Caesar's head is off." This turns out not to be the case. One example of Brutus's excessive honor being damaging to him, is when he decides that only Caesar should die and no one else even if they seem to threaten his cause, as Cassius warns repeatedly that Antony does.
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.
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.
Would you kill your best friend because you thought it was the only way to save your country? Such an extreme situation exists in Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar. To protect the future of his republic, Brutus kills Caesar, which leads to the big takeaway question: Is Brutus a patriot or a betrayer? Some people may believe that Brutus is a betrayer because he stabbed his friend in the back. However, Brutus did what most people don’t have the courage to do; he stood up for what he believed in and acted upon it; most people would just wish they did something. Brutus’s love for his country compelled him to protect its future from Caesar’s ambition. As a result, he did what he thought was right in order to protect his country. Brutus’s actions define his role as a patriot.
Brutus is one of Julius Caesar’s best friends and is viewed as either a patriot or betrayer. Brutus takes Caesar’s life claiming that it’s for the benefit of Rome just as Caesar is about obtain the Roman Empire essentially. I view Brutus as a betrayer and nothing more than a murderer because of his actions and the blood of Julius Caesar that is undoubtedly staining his hands. Some might disagree and claim him to be a patriot because he fought for what Rome really needed and saved them from Caesar’s rule that would only worsen Rome’s situation and the daily lives of the Roman citizens. Brutus fought for what he believed in that is undeniable, but it’s up to you and me to decide whether or not those beliefs made him into a betrayer or patriot.
In the end, Brutus was both a patriot and a betrayer. While he did kill for Rome, he betrayed his friend. I slew my best lover.” He did, and spoke this, because he was focusing on his own selfish fears. Through it all, he did what he truly believed what was best for Rome, even if that means killing his friend. He even offered his own life to Rome “shall please my country to need my death.” Despite the sin he committed, Brutus was a patriot for Rome. He killed the serpent that terrified him and threatened his people, all for his beloved country. Only a true patriot could make such
Brutus believes nothing should be done without honor, which he illustrates by killing Caesar publicly. Some would say killing for political reasons, is more honorable than killing someone for pure revenge. He
“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 is truly “an honorable man.” He was initially resistant to Cassius’ suggestion to betray Caesar. Also, Brutus says, “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.”(3.2.22) This proves that he only does what he feels is necessary to protect the Rome. In act 4, Brutus sees the ghost of Caesar, and this tells us that he is regretting his actions. He never felt right about killing Caesar afterwards. In fact, when he realized that he was wrong, he used the knife that he stabbed Caesar to take his own
During the assassination of Caesar, Caesar took all the knife wounds caused by the other conspirators, but, when he saw Brutus with a knife in his hand he cried out “Et tu, Brute? (Even you, Brutus?)- Then fall Caesar!” This shows that he was very shocked at the best friend betraying him, because he was normally very loyal. After the assassination, Brutus speaks to the crowd, who were demanding an explanation. He was a good orator and when he justifies his reasons to kill Caesar he 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." This shows that he was truly noble as it proves he did it for all the right reasons. He also allowed Anthony to speak at Caesars funeral. While it was a dangerous decision, it was also a brave decision. However Anthony swings the crowd over to his side and he partners with Octavius to get revenge on the conspirators. Meanwhile, Brutus and Cassius are having an argument. Brutus is accusing Cassius of taking bribes, and therefore undoing the goodness that Brutus thought that killing Caesar had done. He accuses Cassius of having “an itchy palm.” This shows that he was righteous and he loved by high standards. At the end Brutus kills himself, by running on a sword, rather than being captured and then paraded as a disgrace. In roman times, killing yourself would be the noble thing to do.