Cassius speaks to Brutus in order to upend his loyalty to Caesar and convince Brutus to support Cassius and his group. Caesar was steadily accumulating power, which caused fears that Caesar would become a dictator and threaten the republic of Rome. Therefore, Cassius feels an urgency to protect his home and those close to him. As a prominent member of the Roman Republic, Brutus influences other senators and the citizens of Rome. Cassius pleads with Brutus to recognize the dangers of Caesar in order to prevent an ordinary citizen from controlling all of Rome.
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. " 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; yet, 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;
/ Write them together, yours is as fair a name; / Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well; / Weigh them, it is as heavy" (1.2.142-146). Cassius continues in his adulation of his friend, in contrast to the mockery of Caesar. By showing loyalty and feigning agreement with Brutus' love of democratic government, Cassius develops ethos further and re-establishes his role as a dear friend. Though it is implied that Cassius is in the conspiracy because of his disdain for Caesar himself and not for a monarchy in
During Act 1 Scene 2, of Shakespeare's play, Julius Ceasar, Cassius gives a lengthy speech in which he uses multiple forms of rhetoric to persuade Brutus of Caesar’s many faults. Cassius discredits Caesar by using logos to exemplify Caesar’s weakness when he claims that Caesar dared him to jump into a river but could not follow, and instead,"[He] cried 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink!'"(Shakespeare). Cassius uses this example to demonstrate that because Caesar cannot swim or follow through with his own challenges, he is not as powerful as the Roman people believe him to be. Cassius also appeals to Brutus’ pride by saying that “ …[Caesar] doth bestride the narrow world Like a colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about…”(Shakespeare).
The audience learns Cassius is a leader and does not believe any of his equals have the right to be above to him. It is apparent Cassius declares Caesar as his equal when he states, (1.2 99-101) “ I was born as free as Caesar, so were you. / We both have fed as well, and we can both / Endure the winter’s cold as well as he”.
He could be manipulative and scheming, allowing his flesh to rule his heart. Cassius hated to be subservient to any man, and especially to Caesar. Upset by the rich and powerful who allowed Caesar to rule, he began to think of a way to remove Caesar from his throne. By using other men's good intentions, Cassius orchestrated and
Cassius totally self-centered was only worried about himself and his quest to ascend to power. He needed Caesar gone to make way for himself. His plan was off Caesar, play the conspirators and ascend to power. “I cannot tell what you and other men, Think of this life, but, for my single self, I had as lief not be as live to be, In awe of such a thing as I myself. I was born free as Caesar.
Cassius believes that Caeser’s powers as ruler will change him in order to influence others of this Cassius states, “think him as a serpent's egg, Which, hatch'd, would as his kind grow mischievous, And kill him in the shell (Shakespeare I.ii.28-34)”. Cassius believes that Caeser is a serpent's egg innocent at nature but will grow to be a snake, a creature of evil. Cassius believes the power will change Caeser and thinks he should kill him to stop it from happening he breaks their friendship because of power and how he thinks it might alter Caesar’s views. This is similar to what happens in media today. In the Star Wars there are two sides primarily the light and the dark side they were to political parties fighting to have order in the galaxy but the dark side was very power hungry which led to them becoming corrupt and doing many bad things to get power and rule the galaxy.
Caesar is a young man who the public think would put himself before others and do what's best for him and not the people of Rome. Cassius thinks Brutus is easy to manipulate and trick,so giving him false letters from angry citizens wanting him to take action against Caesar. Brutus becomes convinced that the citizens want to stop Caesar from becoming emperor of Rome as a result of the false letters. Why would Caesar be a bad leader? Rome would fall if Caesar had it in his hands.
If Brutus was a leader, so many citizens wouldn't have struggled under Caesar’s rule. Third of all, Cassius believed that Caesar did not deserve all of the power that he received which led him to performing these tasks of manipulation. Another reason in saying that Cassius was a villain is that Cassius killed Julius Caesar. First, he was an active part in the murder.
Cassius manipulates Brutus to the point of making him feel as if there are several people wanting Brutus to do something about Caesar. Cassius also wants to convince Brutus that “Caesar’s ambition shall be glanced at” so they can eliminate his power for fear that “worse days [may] endure”. Cassius is not the only senator wanting to eliminate Caesar’s growing
In Cassius’s eloquent speech against Caesar, he primarily utilizes persuasion through tools such as pathos, rhetorical questions, and compare and contrast. Cassius uses pathos to begin his monologue when he claims, “I know that virtue be in you, Brutus, / As well as I do know your outward favor” (Shakespeare 1.2.95-96). By expressing that Brutus has “virtue” and “outward favor”, Cassius appeals to Brutus’s emotions, but not to an exaggerated extent. This emotional appeal is a persuasion technique because it is used in moderation and in pertinent locations. The context is appropriate since rather than using it as a tool to feed on Brutus’s emotions, Cassius only uses it to get Brutus’s attention as an appropriate hook.
He ends up joining them for honor for Rome, not jealousy of Caesar’s power, and it ends up very badly for him. As you can see, manipulation is a major theme in this play and becomes very clear because of the way Cassius, Antony, and Decius manipulate the people of Rome. The way Cassius manipulates is very smart, and this is because of his interactions with Brutus. The fact that Brutus wanted to honor Rome so much that he is able to get manipulated by him makes Brutus ignorant and Cassius’ way of manipulating people to do what he wants is very clever and sly.
In the play, Julius Caesar, there are several themes portrayed throughout the entire text. The theme of ambition and conflict is extremely prevalent and important. William Shakespeare uses the characters Cassius and Caesar to represent how too much ambition can cause a great amount of conflict. This major theme is also in conflict with the theme of public self versus private self. William Shakespeare uses two themes against each other to create a conflicting poem.
Cassius has proven physical superiority over Caesar but he once more uses the Metaphor of his weakness in power as a wretched creature to represent Caesar as a dictator to Brutus. When Cassius speaks to Casca to convince him to be a conspirator he states “Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man most like this dreadful night that thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars as doth the lion in the Capitol.” (Shakespeare 1.3.73-76) Cassius uses metaphorical language to compare Caesar to a god, he uses the metaphor of a lion whose roar disrupts the entire capitol to show Casca that Caesar’s political might has risen to a Godly state has Rome has fallen into his hands. Lastly, in convincing Casca Cassius utters “And why should Caesar be a tyrant then? Poor man!
