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Julius caesar cassius character analysis
The tragedy of brutus in julius caesar
The analysis of Julius Caesar
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Adam Hjouj Ms. Perrotta ENG1DB-05 2023-05-08 Selfishness and its Consequences, The Duality of Brutus and Cassius Oscar Wilde once said, “Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes.” Selfishness is a very common topic in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. It is evident that many people are only acting for themselves, especially leaders. In Julius Caesar, the two leaders Brutus and Cassius work together to assassinate the dictator Julius Caesar, but for very different reasons. Brutus is a noble leader looking out for Rome and its justice, while Cassius is a greedy man hungry for power.
By valuing the honor he gets from Rome rather than his own life, he is willing to risk everything if it means that he is able to be honorable and display his loyalty to Rome. This mindset all in all leads him to join the conspiracy and murder Caesar, fearing that Caesar will turn Rome into a dictatorship, dishonoring the place he calls home. Brutus displays all the traits of a hero like loyalty, proving to Rome that he has honor for his home and is willing to die for it. In his insane commitment to Rome, Brutus sets an example of heroism from a sense of loyalty, not for one, but for
If you are reading your history book, a play, or even watching the news today, you will see how people abuse the power that they have over somethings. There have been many leaders and people who abuse their power over civilization and places. Even the littlest taste of power often leads them to corruption. Many times, citizens and adversaries riot over some of the things that they disagree on and, in some cases, murder comes in to play.
Brutus also contains several other characteristics of a tragic hero. For example, Brutus possesses a hamartia. “Th’ abuse of greatness is when it disjoins/ Remorse from power; and, to speak truth of Caesar” (Shakespeare II.1.18-19). In this quote from the story, Brutus is saying that he believes Caesar would abuse the power of being crowned king.
Throughout his speech, Brutus makes use of rhetorical questions to appeal to the emotions of the crowd. He asks the people of Rome to consider whether Caesar was ambitious, to which the crowd responds that he was. Brutus then asks whether it is nobler to let Caesar live and let the consequences fall where they may or to take arms against a sea of troubles and end them (3.2.13-16). This rhetorical question effectively portrays Brutus as a man of noble character, acting in the best interest of Rome. Moreover, Brutus also makes use of parallel structure in his speech.
Brutus’s tragic flaw was that he was naive. He trusted people to easily, especially the conspirators. They used him to make their actions seem honorable and just. When reality they just wanted Caesar dead for their own personal gain. Caesar was Brutus’s friend so it took him some convincing for him to be able to justify his actions.
(V, 1, 59-60) this illustrates Brutus’s strive for power because after he killed Caesar he now had all kinds of power. Brutus now starts acting as if killing Caesar was a chore or a burden. He is acting like he could of paid or forced someone to do it for him. With power came an even more powerful ego. Brutus now wants to keep all the power to himself.
This delusion is evident when Brutus rationalizes his decision to assassinate Caesar by claiming that it was an act of noble patriotism. He believes that by killing Caesar, he is protecting the Roman Republic and preserving its values, but in reality he does not care that deeply about Rome, rather making it himself seem virtuous in the public eye. SInce the most valued thing to Brutus is his honorability, he is easily manipulated by Cassius, because Cassius is aware of this intense characteristic and uses it against him. Cassius knows that Brutus can give the conspirators inside information because of their close friendship, but Brutus is oblivious to what is happening to him because he is more focused on being an honorable man. “There was a Brutus once that would have brooked / Th’ eternal devil to keep his state in Rome / As easily as a king,” (I.ii.
(Act 3, Scene 1). This quote showcases Caesar’s shock and betrayal upon realizing that even someone he considers a close confidant has joined the conspiracy against him. Caesar’s appeal to the ethos of their friendship emphasizes the depth of his trust in Brutus, highlighting how his flawed judgment in trusting the wrong person plays a significant role in his tragic
He says Brutus is honorable in a way that suggests the opposite. This creates a sense of dramatic irony and builds tension, which helps to keep the crowd engaged and receptive to his message. Brutus saw Caesar as a competitor and a threat. Furthermore, Antony tells the crowd that they would have benefited from Caesar’s rule. In the closing words of his speech he delivers, “he hath left them you, And to your heirs for ever—common pleasures, To walk abroad and recreate yourselves.
/ Why should that name be sounded more than yours[, Brutus]” (I, ii, 142-143). From this conversation, Brutus is shown to let his naive and too trusting personality overcome him to the point he could be guided by his close friends as seen with Cassius in following whatever path they consider to be noble. Moreover, Brutus is shown to have a weak personality, a characteristic of a tragic hero, since he is easily persuaded in following Cassius’s idea that Caesar is indeed not fit to rule Rome as an emperor and should be taken down, and this naivety of his leads to his own downfall by trusting the wrong person. In addition, due to this tragic flaw, he is taken advantage of by his friends. For instance, when Brutus trusts the words of Mark Antony, a man who is very loyal to Caesar and hates the conspirators who killed Caesar, as Brutus asks him to promise that he “shall not in [his] funeral speech blame [the conspirators]” (III, i, 245) to which Antony, taking advantage of Brutus’s flaw, says “[b]e it so, I do desire no more” (III, i, 253), but as Antony does his speech, he describes
Brutus has negatively affected the outlook of Rome and created more harm than good for the situation. Not only did it harm Rome, but it brought his own demise and hallucinations of Caesar’s ghost. Brutus’s speech to the plebeians after Caesar’s death, about his dilemma and his viewpoint towards Caesar, influenced the viewpoints of the plebeians and causes them to believe he is the best roman until Antony speaks to them. Brutus’s idealism led to his own death later on and brought him more misery than his idealism could
Brutus is an honorable man who respects the people of Rome and will do whatever it takes to keep the peace. When he realizes his best friend is becoming too powerful he decides to take matters into his own hands. Caesar’s Ambition had him killed by one of the most respectable
In “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, Caesar’s main flaw is his arrogance and ambition, which both led to his doom. His overconfidence and self-love blinded him of the sharp thorns growing from his sides which were masked with loyalty and care. Viciously assassinated by the closest people in his heart, Julius Caesar had been known for centuries as the blind conceited man. On the other hand, loyalty conflicted Brutus, who is argued to be the protagonist of the tragedy. Although he was loyal to Caesar, he was loyal to his nation too and thought that the death of Caesar would be for the best for the nation.
This example explicitly shows that Brutus’s nobility makes him an easy target for others to manipulate. Furthermore, Brutus’s nobility makes him naive. In Act 3, Scene 2, Brutus departs, fully trusting Mark Antony on his words to make a speech that does not blame the conspirators. This, however, is a huge mistake because Antony seeks this chance to successfully turn the crowd against the conspirators. Brutus, who is so noble, is too naive to understand that others may not act as righteously as he does.
