The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is written by William Shakespeare. This play is about a true historical event with minor tweaks here and there. Shakespeare makes Marcus Brutus the tragic hero in this play. He is faced with the decision to kill his best friend or to let him possibly become a dictator. Brutus being the tragic hero had to have some tragic flaws. Brutus was manipulated through Cassius’ clever planning, bad judgment calls, and his nobility. Throughout the play Brutus’ apprehension of killing Caesar is very much apparent. But it all started with Cassius planting a little doubt in his head. Cassius is a wise guy and knew just what to say to get Brutus talking. Once he got the little piece of information he need he started to make his move on Brutus. “... See brutus at his house. Three parts of him is ours already, and the man entire…”(I. iii. 54-55). He sent Brutus fake letters from the people of Rome begging Brutus to help …show more content…
Cassius being with him trying to keep him on the course makes more of the better decisions. He tries to get Brutus to go his way but Brutus is somewhat stubborn. After the conspirators killed Caesar, Antony makes a request to speak at Caesar’s funeral. While Brutus is more than happy to oblige Cassius is apprehensive about his motive. Brutus agrees to allow Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral but some rules were set into place. Cassius was right about what Antony had in mind so he and Brutus had to flee Rome. They eventually had a battle with Antony and Octavius while Cassius wanted to wait in Sardis Brutus decided to surprise them at Philippi. “Aye, at Philippi… I will see thee at Philippi then”(IV. iii. 287-288). The night before they were supposed to leave for Philippi Brutus has a conversation with Caesar’s ghost. The ghost tells Brutus that he will meet him at Philippi and Brutus readily agrees. He went against better judgment and decided to go to Philippi that same
Although Brutus loved the friendship he and Caesar had, he did not want him to become so powerful the he would become a dictator of the people of Rome. Eventually Brutus decided that he would join Cassius as a conspirator against Caesar. Brutus decision was not an easy decision to make but, he felt that even though his relationship with Caesar is strong, his relationship to the people of Roman Empire was Stronger. Brutus wanted to be so noble, but at the same time he is also hypocritical. He was having trouble arriving at a decision whether to participate in the assassination, he expressed contradictory attitudes towards the conspiracy, he attempted to "purify" the murder through ritual, and he condemns Cassius' money-raising practices while asking for a share
As soon as Brutus finished his speech he left the city, for good reason because Antony started a riot, which killed a innocent man, to kill the conspirators for what they
Brutus blindly believes Antony’s loyalty towards Rome and the conspirators, which gives Antony the chance to foil their plans. After Caesar’s death, Antony immediately sends his servant to deliver a message to Brutus saying, “If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony / May safely come to him” and give the reason why “Caesar hath deserved to lie in death” (Shakespeare III.i.145-147), then Antony “will follow / the fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus” (III.i.149-150). Knowing that Brutus is the least likely person to kill him out of the conspirators, as he is an honorable person, Antony takes advantage of Brutus’ overly trusting nature. In his message to Brutus, Antony acts sincere by pledging his loyalty to him in order to save himself and to be in an advantaged
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).
After Cassius presents the idea of murdering Caesar to Brutus, he begins to take his manipulation a step further by sending Brutus forged letters from other senators. The letters leave Brutus to believe other senators
As his army and Cassius march to Philippi, they end up getting defeated. Cassius loses to Antony and he kills himself with the same dagger he used on Caesar. Brutus kills himself shortly after because he is defeated and is going to be taken in as a prisoner. Another consequence is Brutus letting Mark Antony speak at Caesar’s funeral. Since Brutus makes his own decisions, and won’t listen to what other people have to say.
When Cassius wanted Antony and Caesar to fall together Brutus disagreed and said, “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius / To cut the head off and then hack the limbs”(2.1.175-176). Brutus knows that Caesar must be taken care or in order to protect Rome but doesn’t find it necessary to kill Antony, a close
These two quotes also portray his change of thought between acts 1 and 5. In the start Brutus refuses to fall for Cassius ' persuasion; he claims he loves Caesar and would not turn against him. He would, however, listen to Cassius ' reasoning. Soon he made up his mind ' Caesar must be killed. After a short time, Antony convinced the plebeians Caesar was a good man who must be avenged and Brutus was named a murderer.
Throughout The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Cassius, one of the conspirators behind Julius Caesar’s death, used charisma to strongly influence those around him to follow his plan. One of these people was Marcus Brutus. Cassius wanted Brutus to follow his plan of murdering Julius Caesar, but since Brutus was one of Julius Caesar’s best friends, it was hard for Brutus to follow alongside Cassius. Surprisingly, Cassius was able to catch Brutus’s attention.
This had almost no effect on Brutus. He strongly believed in everything he had decided. What he didn’t know was that this was one of the worst ways he could’ve handled how Portia thought about the situation. “Portia is dead. She was worried about my absence, and about
At first Cassius did convince brutus to kill, but Brutus had free will so he shouldn 't have chosen a path that he did not favor in the first place. Brutus will argue that what he did was out of the good of Rome because Caesar was a tyrant. Yet, if we look at Caesar 's character in the play, he was not a tyrant at all. He was hard-headed at times and stern, but overall he cared for the people in Rome. As Antony said, Caesar denied the crown to rule three times and cared for his people because he offered them land in his will.
Brutus and Cassius are two prominent conspirators in the play Julius Caesar; one of these two fits Aristotle's depiction of a tragic hero. The difference between a normal hero and a tragic hero is that the latter will have a tragic flaw that keeps them from succeeding. These characters are often sympathetic and will cleave to the reader's pity. Firstly, we shall discuss Cassius. He was a man of questionable character.
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.
These decisions include Brutus ignoring Cassius’s suggestion to kill Antony, along with Caesar because Antony is a close friend of Caesar. Caesar trusts Antony very much and it is a good suggestion to kill Antony along with Caesar. Cassius also told Brutus that Antony should not speak at Caesar’s funeral, but Brutus did not listen and allowed Antony to speak at the funeral. Because Antony was allowed to speak at the funeral, he was able to persuade the citizens and have them turn against Brutus and the conspirators. Brutus also made the decision to go Phillipi and fight Octavius and Antony, however, Cassius warns Brutus making that decision would be bad and they should let Octavius and Antony come to them.
Cassius indirectly states that the reason for him wanting to kill Caesar is so that he can gain power. Brutus on the other hand wants to kill Caesar because he fears that Caesar will be corrupted by the newly founded power and abuse it. Brutus’ goal is to make Rome better for the people. This act by Brutus can be seen throughout the story at several different occasions. Through these interactions between Brutus and Cassius it shows just how noble, respected, kind hearted and unselfish Brutus was.