William Shakepeare's Julius Caesar
Mark Antony proves to be the most skilful politician in the play. Do you agree?
Power is the ability to influence the behaviour of others - whether this is achieved with or without resistance, for good or for bad. Some would go as far as to say that all human behaviour is propelled by the want of power. One can conclude, however, that power is inevitable in the human society. It’s natural. William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, is brimming with humans fighting for power, and the one who stands out as the most skilful of these is not the play’s tragic hero Brutus, but Mark Antony, Caesar’s confidant and friend.
During Lupercal, Caesar shows his keen insight by remaking to Antony that Cassius
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He’s also impulsive and unscrupulous, and has no misconceptions on the way the political game is played, enabling him to see the motives behind men’s actions. He is unconcerned with using unethical means to further his own cause, such as ruthlessly raising taxes. Cassius’ most significant characteristic is the one Caesar had observed in him, that is, his ability to perceive the true motives of men. He uses his sharp insight to deceive Brutus, by means of a long and passionate argument and fake letters, into joining his conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. He knows that Brutus’ noble nature will serve as a catalyst to recruit more nobles into his conspiracy. Ironically, his success leads to his own decline in influence within the group of conspirators. A costly mistake of Cassius is his relenting to Brutus, even though he disagrees with most of Brutus’ decisions, as most of the tactical decisions that Brutus makes eventually proves disastrous.
Brutus’ strict moral and ethic code and rigid idealism is both his greatest virtue and his most deadly flaw, as he assumes a naïve view of the world. He doesn’t see through the roles played by Cassius, Casca and Antony, and is unable to recognise the fictitious letters that would tip off a more perceptive man. In a world of self-serving ambition, his qualities are fatal when competing in public with those who do not have the same moral standards as himself. He repeatedly makes
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.
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
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.
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
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.
In the play Julius Caesar written by the whimsical, sophisticated William Shakespeare both beloved Brutus and noble Antony deliver their most thorough attempts to win over the delicate citizens of Rome into what they believed was correct. Brutus gave it a valiant effort in trying to convince the citizens that murdering the noble Caesar was the best thing to do for the people. In the end Brutus’ effort was not enough because Antony was able to turn every Roman against Brutus and the other deceitful conspirators during his speech with his extraordinary use of logos, pathos, and ethos.
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is full of characters distinguished by honorability or corruption. Honor is awarded by high respect, admiration, and acclamation. Those who are corrupt display dishonesty, alteration of the truth, and immoral behavior. Although there are many honorable characters in Julius Caesar, one is more prominent that the others. Mark Antony is by far the most honorable character because he stands up for what he believes in, will risk everything for the right cause, and is noble to Caesar even after he is gone.
Because of Brutus’s naiveté, he is flawed in his ability to be an honorable man. “Speak, strike, redress!” Am I entreated… They full petition at the hand of Brutus!”
Brutus thinks of himself as an honorable man. He also bases his decisions for the common good of Rome. However, Brutus might not be as honorable as he thinks he is. We uncover the egotistical nature of Brutus by comparing what he says to his “honorable” acts. Brutus has the closest relationship with Caesar, yet he kills him because he thinks he is being noble.
Cassius is clever because he knows exactly how to manipulate people into doing what he wants. For example, he knew what to say to persuade Brutus to join his cause. Cassius complimented Brutus and planted papers where discovery was easy so that Brutus would feel that he himself is better than Caesar. Cassius is also connected because he knows many people who share his cause. By being connected,
There is many of times that Brutus would not be in trouble if he would be more conserved. This is observed when Cassius gives him letters that are “from the Roman citizens”. But it is known by the reader that these letters are fake and actually written by the Conspirators (2.1.45-61). Although an honorable man, Brutus does not see the deceptive nature in others.
Brutus lives by a strict moral compass and code of ethics entwined with a rigid sense of idealism. All of which are great virtues but are also deadly flaws. Brutus acts out of a desire to limit the self-serving aspects of his actions. Ironically, however, in each instance, he dooms the very cause that he seeks to promote, which does no one any good. Also, his commitment to principle repeatedly leads him to make mistakes.
Brutus, a conflicted senator obsessed with his civic duty, convinces the people of Rome that his motives in killing Caesar were just and noble by rhetoric. Brutus is the only conspirator to have impersonal motives in killing Caesar. In fact, his motives are trying to find the best solution for Rome, and in the end, he must make the hard choice of killing his best friend for his homeland. As early as Brutus’ conversation with Cassius in Act I, Brutus exhibits this deep love and respect for Rome and how this love is conflicting with his love for his friend, Caesar: “[P]oor Brutus, with himself at war, / Forgets the shows of love to other men” (I.ii.51-52). Brutus brings up this internal conflict again when he tells the crowds that although he did love Caesar, he loved Rome and its people more. After Brutus’ murder of Caesar, he realizes that the issue of the public opinion of Rome is of the utmost importance. Because of this love for Rome, Brutus uses rhetoric to persuade these plebeians to approve of him and his cause. When Cassius warns Brutus about “how much the people will be moved / By that which [Marc Antony] will utter[!]” (III.i.252-253), Brutus tells Cassius that letting Marc Antony speak “shall advantage us more than do us wrong” (III.i.261). In these cases, Brutus demonstrates his awareness of
Mark Antony: the great speaker During Julius Caesar’s funeral, following the murder of Rome’s great leader, in William Shakespeare's famous play, Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 2, Roman political figure, Brutus, talks to the Roman citizens (plebeians), who want answers about Caesar’s death. He delivers the citizens an explanation about why Caesar couldn’t be trusted and enrichment about why the people of Rome would suffer with the ambitious tyrant. Mark Antony, another political figure of Rome, detailed why Caesar was a honorable man who shouldn’t have died and wasn’t what Brutus had said of Caesar. Mark Antony gave an explanation that Caesar wasn’t much a tyrant but a man of great dignity and who gave to the people.