Brutus is not a villain or a hero, or dishonorable, either. Cassius is the villain because he tricks Brutus into turning against his best friend, Caesar. Cassius is jealous of Caesar's power and wants to get rid of him. To do so, “Cassius needed Brutus to lend his plot respectability…” (Reeb). Brutus’ thoughts of Caesar are altered by manipulation. Cassius states that he plans on writing multiple letters in different handwritings that express concern about Caesar being a tyrant, knowing that this would cause Brutus to side with him against Caesar. Due to Brutus’ desire to have the best for the people, he is driven to believe that killing his best friend is necessary for the good of Rome to rid them of the supposed tyrant. Cassius makes Brutus question his morals and loyalty to his best friend. “The two most prominent plotters of Caesar's assassination exhibit very different characters: Cassius is eager to proceed…” (Reeb). Cassius has no problem with getting rid of Caesar just for the purpose of gaining more power, whereas Brutus needs to hear from multiple citizens that Caesar is a tyrant in order for him to want to assassinate him. Most of Rome loves Caesar, it is only Cassius and the conspirators who have an issue with …show more content…
“He is most classically the Roman patriot putting the general good before his valued self-control and his esteemed Caesar” (Jorgensen). What Brutus believed to be good was not but he cannot be considered a villain due to his misunderstanding. Brutus also goes against villainous characteristics when the conspirators suggest killing Antony along with Caesar and Brutus convinces them all of how that would be overkill and reminds them of their goal of removing a tyrant, and nothing more. This demonstrates the lack of villainous qualities Brutus has, but he is still not a hero. In most cases, to be a hero, the heroic acts need to result in a good