Marcus Brutus In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

“This was the noblest Roman of them all…‘This was a man!’” (V, v, 68-75). In one of William Shakespeare's most renowned plays, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a nobleman by the name of Marcus Brutus is highly respected by his fellow “Romans, countrymen, and lovers” of Rome, including his adversary, Antony (III, ii, 13). Throughout this tragedy, Brutus in his admired state has the most considerable effect of any character on the play and advancement of the plot. This admiration is demonstrated several times in which Brutus is highly regarded among his numerous comrades, including the common people of Rome, a very intelligent man by the name of Gaius Cassius, and a man of very high rank in Julius Caesar. Due to Brutus’s noble and unfeigned reputation throughout Rome, these qualities make him the most eminent character in the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Brutus’s eminence is exposed greatest at the climax of the play following the assassination of Caesar. As the conspirators are just about to exit the Senate Cassius declares, “Brutus shall lead the way, and we will grace his heels / with the most boldest and best hearts of Rome” (III, i,

This respect is shown in a dependable source that states “[Cassius] nullifies his greatest asset when he allows Brutus to take effective control…” (Perry 86). Martha Perry’s work confirms the fact that even Cassius, a deceitful man, honors Brutus so much he can’t even use his “greatest asset”, the ability to manipulate people, against him (Perry 86). Consequently, Cassius allows Brutus to “take effective control” all through the play, including Brutus’s decisions to not kill Antony, allow Antony to speak at the funeral, and to besiege Antony’s army at Philippi instead of remaining at their campsite. These decisions that Cassius submitted to, demonstrate Brutus’s effect even on the most brilliant men of