Cassius As A Leader In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

In life there are few leaders and many followers. Leaders will heavily influence their followers as well as their opposers. In times of crisis, citizens will look upon their leaders for guidance. They trust that the leader will construct an efficient solution, and that the solution benefits everyone. Truly good leaders will sway their followers towards a noble intention, an intention that will contribute to the common good. They will always be altruistic, putting the well-being of their people in front of their own personal desires. That includes having the courage to stand up for your people and putting your well-being on the line for theirs. In addition to these characteristics, they are required to be objectively successful, whether it

They must fulfill all these doctrines, and in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, conspirator and Roman senator Caius Cassius fails to exemplify these by displaying outbursts of greed, manipulation, corruption, and poor military strategy as the story continues. His ultimate character is revealed throughout the story, and as the power flows to him, he completely abuses it.

In the latter stages of Act I Scene II, Cassius displays his manipulative and greedy characteristics in the public square where Caesar is speaking. Strangely enough, the reader is unaware that Cassius is exerting these characteristics here, but they make sense in the later acts. After Caesar is done speaking and everyone clears, only Cassius and a man named Brutus are left. With nobody around to eavesdrop, Cassius attempts to convince Brutus, who is a well-respected senator of Rome, to join his cause in

During a fiery dispute at the tents, Brutus is infuriated and accuses Cassius of corrupting his army: “Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself are much condemned to have an itching palm to sell and mart your offices for gold to undeservers.” Brutus is accusing Cassius of selling important positions in his army to unqualified people. With unqualified army officials, Cassius’s army has a likely chance to fail. Brutus now realizes that Cassius had manipulated him and only cared for money and political power. Brutus is deeply angered because he killed Caesar to combat corruption: “Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? What villain touched his body, that did stab, and not for justice?” Like manipulation, corruption is unfortunately common in leadership. Corruption prevents knowledgeable people from holding positions, and instead gives those positions to the rich. This has a detrimental effect on the citizens, because the officials’ lack of knowledge can lead them to make poor decisions which hurt the