In Julius Caesar, both Brutus, and Caesar die because they suffer from a critical main character disease named ‘hubris’. Brutus thinks of himself as a savior of Rome because he killed Caesar. When the conspirators knock of his door, Brutus acknowledges his visitors and he asks them to consider how loyal they are, “Sham’st thou to show thy dangerous brow” (Shakespeare, 2.1.78). His placement in this scene shows his way to seem in a higher standing than others.
his article addresses excessive pride on the part of Julius Caesar. When he was captured by pirates his ransom was going to be 20 talents, but Caesar said he was worth 50 talents. This would be an example of excessive pride because Caesar was suggesting to his captors that he was worth more than they felt he was worth. His pitifulness is apparent even in captivity. https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/1643This article addresses how his fate was greater than he deserved.
Pride can be defined as a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction from one’s own actions or achievements. Brutus has a lot of pride which can clearly be seen throughout the book and believes he is qualified to be the new leader. He makes a lot of decisions out of pride and confidence thinking his actions were best for Rome, like killing Julius Caesar. Pride is a very prominent sin throughout this novel, not just in Brutus, but in several characters. Wrath is extreme anger or fury.
Antony states, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; / Ambition should be made of sterner stuff” (III.ii.88-89). Antony shows this to define the true good quality traits of how great of a leader Caesar was. In Brutus’s speech he claims that Caesar was too ambitious, however, Antony’s statement refutes Brutus’s point. Antony desperately but trying to maintain as if he unknowingly says it feels that the conspirators had wrongfully murdered a good leader and man. As the speech continues on the crowd begins to get more and angrier over the murder of Julius Caesar.
Although Caesar, as the upcoming ruler of Rome in Julius Caesar, should be portrayed as the ideal leader of the play, he actually has too arrogant of a character to be so. Therefore, Shakespeare places honor in Brutus and allows Brutus to have the role of the idealistic leader of the story. Although Shakespeare writes this play in a controversial time period during England’s political turmoil, he allows the audience to be able to choose the true ruler of loyalty to the crown or the honor of a noble man through the understanding of the two contrasting character
Shakespeare uses the idea of hubris, or tragic flaw, as the defining feature of his major characters in the play “Julius Ceasar.” The Greek word hubris refers to impertinent pride as a sense of security. Because of pride and arrogance, the character who personifies hubris always has a tragic downfall. William Shakespeare expertly portrays the tragic downfall in a character by thoroughly exposing their tragic fall. In “Julius Caesar,” both Caesar and Brutus suffer from hubris – both of them are filled with a sense of overconfidence and arrogance that leads to their tragic downfall.
In Julius Caesar, Act 2 Scene 1 Line 84, Brutus says "O, conspiracy, / Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, / When evils are most free?" Brutus reflects on the conspiracy and the darkness it brings. He questions the morality of his actions and shows that the secrecy behind the conspiracy shows the guilt and shame associated with them. Brutus starts to question what he did which later shows how this affects him mentally. Later on in the play, Act 3 Scene 2 Line 29, Brutus addresses the crowd at Caesar’s funeral of how he is ashamed of his actions and tries to justify them too.
One of the first times Julius Caesar is seen being arrogant is
Thus, Evan’s findings support the notion that Caesar’s death and downfall was caused by his honor, symbolizing the theme that honor can be a negative, dangerous trait. The next literary technique plot adds to this finding of honor. Major plot points in the play also elaborate on the negatives of honor. In Act III, Scene 1, Brutus tells Rome “people, and senators, be not affrighted”. Fly not; stand still; ambition’s debt is paid” and Cassius then tells Brutus “Go to the pulpit, Brutus” (Shakespeare, Act III Scene 1).
It is evident through Cassius’s disgruntled tone when speaking about Caesar, as well as his ulterior motives regarding Brutus, that jealousy is the true leading cause in spreading a negative perception of Caesar: “Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet I see/ Thy honorable mettle may be wrought/ From that it is dispos’d; therefore it is meet. ”(1.2.303-305). Even Cassius himself, the lead figure criticizing Caesar, forming this “negative perception,” recognizes that his cause is not fully justifiable, and his actions are going against an honorable moral compass. Through this, Shakespeare is in fact sympathizing with Caesar, as he demonstrates that while in the public eye, Caesar is constantly facing scrutiny from those jealous of his accomplishments and military prowess.
Like when you take pride in something you are really going to care about it and do what is right. Say you have a business, you are going to do what is best for your business. That is the same thing as Brutus in his monologue saying he did it for Rome. He took great pride in Rome and the people, so he did what had to be done in his eyes. That is how pride today is used and in Julius Caesar.
Have you ever had your best friend stab you in the back? Well, Julius Caesar had 13 friends stab him and ended up dying with 23 stab wounds. The story “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare tells the story of a so-called “honorable hero” named Julius Caesar who makes several critical errors in judgment by misinterpreting people and events, leading to his death and a bloody civil war that engulfs his nation. In the play “Julius Caesar”, people faced the consequences of excessive pride. Three examples of consequences of his excessive pride are when Caesar ignored the Ides of March, Caesar ignored Calpurnia's dream, and finally, when Caesar was murdered by the conspirators.
Honor links into a possible theme for Julius Caesar because Cassius and Brutus display honor or dishonor in the play. A character’s reputation or honor forms the actions that a character does to affect the outcome of a possible situation. What a character thinks is right is not always right in the eyes of another character. The first example for Cassius is when Julius Caesar is talking to Marc Antony about why Cassius is dishonorable. Marc Antony disagrees with Caesar saying that Cassius is a good Roman with a very good disposition.
Journal 5.1 I think other than loyalty and betrayal in Julius Caesar you can also see examples of power, a hunger for it. You can see themes of gender because back then it definitely was more so about men, they had more freedoms and rights where women had many, many restrictions. I think manipulation could be an important theme because it ties into betrayal in that others can manipulate you into doing the opposite of what you wish to do. Power is portrayed in this because Julius was going to have much power. The whole play is at least one character fighting for power in different ways.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the theme is power. In the play, Caesar is seen after defeating Pompey in a battle. While everyone cheers him on, Cassius is trying to manipulate Brutus into his plan of attacking Caesar. Regardless of his friendship and loyalty to Caesar, Brutus decides to be a part of the conspirators. While Cassius is driven by power, Brutus is more concerned for the liberty of Rome.
