Leni Wicht GATE English 10 Mrs. Reed 9 May 2023 A Tale of Betrayal and Power “Et tu, Brute?” The famous line from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar captures the heart of a play that explores the consequences of loyalty, betrayal and power. As he is the character who undergoes the most significant transformation throughout the play, Brutus is a more complex and dynamic figure than Caesar. Additionally, naming the play after Brutus would help to shift the focus to the themes of power, loyalty, and betrayal that are central to the play, and would help to center the perspective of the conspirator. While Julius Caesar is traditionally named after its titular character, a more fitting title for the play would be “Brutus”. Naming the play “Brutus” would …show more content…
“If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper ‘Lo, Caesar is afraid’” (II.ii.105-106). Caesar refuses to hide from Brutus and will go and face him so he does not seem weak against Brutus. The murder of Caesar only happens because Brutus leads the conspirators against Caesar. The murder would not have happened if it were not for Brutus. So, even though Caesar is the one who is killed, Brutus is the brains behind the operation. “Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil” (IIII.iii.322).The reappearance of Caesar's ghost supports the fact that Caesar is the main character of the play and supports that the play should be named after him. But because Brutus is the one who organized the plan, Brutus should get credit because he and the other conspirators were saving the country from a weak ruler. It also emphasizes that Brutus is not a good character and should not have the play named after him because he betrayed Caesar by killing him. At the beginning he was considered a friend by Caesar, but in the end, he had completely stabbed Caesar in the back side. By naming the play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare ensures that the audience remains focused on the pivotal event that sets the plot in motion and allows the characters to reveal their true …show more content…
If Brutus was not in the play, readers would not know as much about the reason for the death and can not get as much background they would get when they can see different opinions. “Stoop, Romans, stoop, and let us bathe our hands in Caesar’s blood up to the elbows and besmear our swords then walk we forth, even to the marketplace” (III.i.117-120). Brutus wanted everyone to know that they killed Caesar and was not ashamed to walk in front of the city with his blood on his hands. Not only did he kill Caesar, he was proud and not afraid to show the citizens what the conspirators had done. “How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport, that now on Pompey’s basis [lies] along no worthier than the dust!” (III.i.127-129). By the end of the play, Brutus seems to be the main character. The only time Caesar really comes into play again was when his ghost appears to Brutus, and even then, it seems that Brutus is the main character because he is warned about his death and seeing Caesar again at