Marcus Brutus’ Manipulation Manipulation:to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, this quote is entirely true. We are also introduced into the idea of manipulation very early in the play, which impacts the plot. The play is about Marcus Brutus, the tragic hero, being manipulated into being in a conspiracy to assassinate Gaius Julius Caesar, a politician for Rome. He ends up joining them for honor for Rome, not jealousy of Caesar’s power, and it ends up very badly for him. As you can see, manipulation is a major theme in this play and becomes very clear because of the way Cassius, Antony, and Decius manipulate the people of Rome. The way Cassius manipulates is very smart, and this is because of his interactions with Brutus. The fact that Brutus wanted to honor Rome so much that he is able to get manipulated by him makes Brutus ignorant and Cassius’ way of manipulating people to do what he wants is very clever and sly. This makes the reader or watcher of the play dislike Cassius’ actions and therefore dislike Cassius as a character, which is what Shakespeare wanted. This fact is clear when Cassius says: “I will this night/In several hands, in at his windows throw/As if they came from several citizens/Writings all tending to the great opinion” (I.ii.12). By Cassius wanting to throw forged letters at Brutus’ windows proves that he will do anything