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The Symbolism Of Marcus Brutus In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

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Recommended: Criticism to the brutus idealism

Marcus Brutus’s fatal flaw in Julius Caesar shows in his naïve idealism. It clearly shows that Brutus thinks too highly of his fellow man, believing them more good at heart than what they are proven to actually be. Firstly, he believes that, as long as they keep the number of deaths to a minimum, everyone will go along with their assassination of Caesar. He is so convicted of this that he declares after denying the suggestion to kill Mark Antony as well as Caesar: “We shall be called purgers, not murderers. / And for Mark Antony, think not of him; / For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm / When Caesar’s head is off” (II.i.193-196). This evidently proves not the case, when Mark Antony leads a mutiny against the conspiracy directly after Caesar’s death. …show more content…

Brutus only wants to employ moral means to fuel his cause, but in reality they really need the support. In arguing with Cassius over something they definitely require, Brutus also risks his friendship with Cassius, an ally he truly needs. The final instance of Brutus’s flawed idealism occurs when he lets Mark Antony speak at Julius Caesar’s funeral. By doing so, Brutus allows Antony the chance to rile up the plebeians to revolt against the conspirators, a chance he successfully takes. Because of his commitment to his ideas on honorable death, Brutus allows the mob to drive the entire conspiracy out of Rome. Although his naïve idealism serves as his fatal flaw, it also represents Brutus’s greatest strength as a tragic

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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.

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Brutus also contains several other characteristics of a tragic hero. For example, Brutus possesses a hamartia. “Th’ abuse of greatness is when it disjoins/ Remorse from power; and, to speak truth of Caesar” (Shakespeare II.1.18-19). In this quote from the story, Brutus is saying that he believes Caesar would abuse the power of being crowned king.

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Does his sense of patriotism really justify killing a friend and a major political leader? You may notice that Brutus isn't very sympathetic as he is defending what he did.     The dramatic character has a flaw. That flaw maybe one single word, but there can be many parts to that word. For Brutus there are many parts of his flaw that make him the dramatic character.

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At this point in the play, Brutus was making all of the decisions for the conspirators. He would not listen to Cassius when he should have. For example, if they would have killed Antony he would not have had to flee Rome, another thing he should have listened to is that Brutus should not have let Antony make a speech in act 3 scene 2 lines 73-105. Antony was able to use pathos during his speech to turn the people against the conspirators, while Brutus tried using logos. If Brutus would have used a different approach he would not have had the people turn against

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Brutus believes that Caesar will do more harm than good to the people, and reap benefits for himself. Brutus has already said this, but had said it in his own words, (II, i, 12-14). He has no clue if Caesar will use his power for the good and betterment for the people, or use it for his own needs and other

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Brutus has negatively affected the outlook of Rome and created more harm than good for the situation. Not only did it harm Rome, but it brought his own demise and hallucinations of Caesar’s ghost. Brutus’s speech to the plebeians after Caesar’s death, about his dilemma and his viewpoint towards Caesar, influenced the viewpoints of the plebeians and causes them to believe he is the best roman until Antony speaks to them. Brutus’s idealism led to his own death later on and brought him more misery than his idealism could

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(II, i, 53-55) which allows to say that he wants Rome to be just and do whatever it takes to maintain it away from any threat. Indeed, Brutus states this very clearly when he says, “If it’s for the good of all Romans, I’d do it even if it meant my death. Let the gods give me good luck only as long as I love honor more than I fear death.” (I, ii, 86-88), he explicitly says that the good of the majority is over any feeling or personal benefit which in this case is the love of Caesar for him and viceversa, and the throne. To conclude, Brutus is a complex character that is characterized by three recurrent traits: his well-intention, his hypocrisy, and his naivet.

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Brutus is without a doubt the most noble character in this play. Nonetheless, his impeccable sense of morality also blindfolds him to other people’s sordid motives and makes him easy to be manipulated. Indeed, Brutus is easily manipulated by Cassius in Act 1, Scene 2. In hope to convince Brutus to join the conspirators, Cassius says “Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings” (1.2.150-152). As a result, Brutus starts to believes that it is his job to murder Caesar, as he says in Act 2, Scene 1: “It must be by his death: and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general” (2.1.14-16).

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