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How Is Julius Caesar Honorable

650 Words3 Pages

A Descent Into Ignobility Does a noble man slaughter his superior? Does he give in to the blatant manipulation of his peers, and lie to those closest to him? Brutus does all of this, and yet Brutus is revered as a noble and honorable man. A noble man is steadfast in his relationships and to himself, yet throughout Julius Caesar one can see Brutus’s decline from nobility through his association with the conspirators. In his first interaction with a conspirator Brutus tells Cassius, in reference to Caesar, “Cassius, yet I love him well” (1.2.89). If Brutus is openly professing his love for Caesar, and yet can strike Caesar down, he is either lying or so easily persuaded that he can’t be trusted to be in a position of power. His loyalties …show more content…

In act one, Cassius asks Brutus why “I have not from your eyes that gentleness and show of love that I was wont to have” (1.2.38-39). Instead of replying truthfully and answering Cassius as to why he looks so melancholy, he persists that everything is alright. He does the same to his wife Portia, after he has joined the conspirators. Portia approaches Brutus and inquires of him what “will not let you eat nor talk nor sleep, and could it work so much upon your shape. As it hath much prevailed on your condition, I should not know you Brutus” (2.1.272-275). Instead of answering his wife honestly, as a noble man should, he brushes her concern aside. He replies with the simple lie of “I am not well in health, and that is all” (2.1.278). When he gives his funeral oration, Brutus remains faint and unclear in his defense of the conspirators Caesar’s garish murder. In the speech, Brutus alludes to a terrible future under Caesar saying “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen” (3.2.24-26). With this ungrounded accusation, Brutus leads the people astray in order to save the conspirators. Had he been a noble leader, he would have spoken honestly and unbiased to the people about the reasons for slaying

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