In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, death is presented as a conductor of fate and Roman glory. People of the Caesarean Era, especially those in high positions, prioritized honorable deaths in order to embellish and augment their legacies, so they will be viewed like a god by future generations. Cassius and Brutus attempted to create their own legacies by ignoring omens given by the gods and killing Caesar, but evidently ended up expediting their suicides that were considered unfavorable to the Roman populace. In Julius Caesar, the death of the deified dictator catalyzes the ironic demise of the conspirators, which makes their suicide a "’happy’" (5.5.87) event for the Empire and conveys the power death has on honor and glory in Roman society. The …show more content…
In the beginning, Brutus is considered a stoic person who did not want to betray Caesar, whereas at the end of the play, Brutus is an emotional mess who begins to speak in verse, a characteristic common to byronics in Shakespearean plays. The reversal of his character appears to happen when he kills Caesar, implying the Emperor’s death either changed his fate and his identity or that he just lost his ability to control his emotions and this is what led to a spiral of downward events. As a result of his reversal, Brutus begins to gain Cassius-Esk traits. Brutus begins to ignore signs from the supernatural similarly to how Cassius did with the faults in Rome dream, as he agrees to go where “‘the weakness” of “his eyes’” warns him he will die(4.3.319), displaying his ambition but yet also his stubbornness to take a Ghost of Caesar and his destiny seriously which shows ignorance and rashness; all contrary qualities from Brutus in the beginning of the play. This is “a disaster for his cause”(306), as the events that happen at Philippi bring forth his ironic downfall and the catastrophic ending for the Republic. Similar to Cassius, Brutus’s final words praise Caesar and ask for his forgiveness, and mentions the supernatural element to Caesar’s death, telling Caesar “‘now be still’” because his death has been avenged and since his ghost can now rest easy after regaining honor by killing the conspirators and showing Caesar’s importance(5.5.56). By saying he killed the dictator “‘with half so good a will’” (5.5.57), he is regretting his decision to attempt the regicide and claiming is was impulsive and not well thought out, an uncharacteristic trait for a supposed stoic. Although Augustus believes Brutus’s suicide was heroic, it was completely unnecessary if only Brutus listened to the ghost. He was warned that they “‘shall meet at Philippi’”(4.3.327) , but Brutus
The Selfishness and jealousy of Brutus and Cassius identified as the reasoning behind the killing of Caesar. Prior to the killing Brutus notably honors Caesar in a special way. He comes to realization that the ghost of Caesar payed him a visit as a sign and it did not take long for Brutus to understand the message given to him. Brutus determines that the way to prove how much regret he carried towards his actions, he would need to plunge into his sword and end his life. Before Brutus does so, he shows his sorrow for Caesar by saying, “Caesar, you can rest now.
Julius Caesar: Analysis of Tone in Funeral Speeches MLK, Jr. once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” (Goodreads). In the play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, actions and words are used and spoken against a friend and a rival contributing to the assassination of their fellow friend Caesar. Two people that were very close to Caesar speak out against each other during their funeral speeches. Brutus, who is a “friend” and also a conspirator against Caesar, and Antony who is a very loyal friend to Caesar, use several rhetorical and literary devices as they create tone of proud assertive and defiant manipulation to get the Roman citizens on their side.
In Act 3 Scene 2 Brutus said during his speech, “If that friend then demands to know why Brutus turned against Caesar, this is my answer: Not because I cared for Caesar less, but because I cared for Rome more”. Brutus had courage to kill Caesar, not because he wanted to, but for the good of Rome and its people. During the entirety of the story, Brutus
In conclusion, Brutus is not a villain. His conscience tells him that what he did was wrong and something had to be done about it, which ends in him killing himself. He shows lots of compassion throughout The Tragedy of Julius Caesar(JC) by William
But in the end, Brutus felt he had not made an honorable use of Caesar’s death and realized he made a mistake so he took his own life, and unlike Cassius, he died an honorable death for honorable reasons. “This was the noblest Roman of them all./ All the conspirators save only he/ Did that they did in envy of great Caesar./ He only in a general honest thought/ And common good to all, made one of them”
When Brutus spoke about his motives to kill Caesar he said, “As he was valiant I / honor him. But, as he was ambitious, I slew him.” (3.2.27-28). Brutus honored Caesar but saw that his ambition has the potential of being very dangerous. He thought that a danger like Caesar could not be left to grow more powerful when there is a solution to the issue now.
Brutus tries to impress the crowd by saying that Caesar was going to become a dictator. “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (ii. III.L 22-24). Brutus gives this reason to make the people think this murderous act was honorable.
"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" Act II, Scene II of Romeo and Juliet. For centuries William Shakespeare has been influencing society. We perform his plays, quote his writings, analyze his sonnets.
In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the person most responsible for the death of Julius Caesar is Cassius, he started the conspiracy and developed the plan of how to manipulate and convince Brutus to kill Caesar and lead Rome. While it may look like Brutus was the one responsible for his death, it was Cassius who made him think that he needed to that by slipping fake letters into his room. Cassius began the rebellion against Caesar, and then developed a plan to make Brutus think he need to kill Caesar and become the leader, and finally as well as the other conspirators, Cassius contributed to stabbing Caesar. TS 1: in the beginning of the story we are introduced to the conspirators, who are lead by Cassius and we discover that they are determined to destroy Caesar. In the beginning of the play Cassius is trying to convince Brutus that there is nothing special about Caesar, he is “Like a Colossus, and [they] petty men Walk under his huge legs”(I, II, 137).
This quote by Cassius distinctively shows the different reactions between Brutus and himself. Cassius quickly kills himself to escape pain. On the other hand, Brutus is mentally stronger and lasts longer as he waits for the gods to decide his fate. In the end, he took Caesar 's ghost as a sign
Brutus, According to Shakespeare The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a Shakespearean play and representation of the assassination of Caesar, is a well written and developed story in which the build up of the characters is very well done. As a matter of fact, the developing of Brutus, the tragic hero on the play, is one of the most important characters and therefore one of the better explained and exposed. Brutus is a character that is marked with three traits that allow him to be the one responsible for Caesar's assassination. Indeed, Brutus is naive, well-intended and hypocrite, as seen when the conspirators convince him to be part of it, and be one of the most important figures in it.
In the Story of the great Julius Caesar by Shakespeare there are two philosophies which include Stoicism and Epicureanism. Two characters that clearly stand by their beliefs are Brutus and Cassius. However before being explained, what is Stoicism and Epicureanism anyways? First off, what is Stoicism? Stoicism is a school that was founded in medieval times, it is a way of life for Brutus.
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
Cassius influenced Brutus to conspire against Caesar by stating, Caesar “is now become a god… and his name has been sounded more than [Brutus’s]” (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 118-145-6). Cassius’s arguments convinced Brutus in proving Caesar's murder would be just, but Caesar’s death is unjust because he is being murdered out of Brutus and Cassius’s jealousy. Both of the individuals are envious of the power that Caesar is being given by the people of Rome and want to end his life before they will lose their own power in the senate after Caesar becomes king. Brutus’ naive mind was easily convinced by Cassius that Caesar was not the best choice to assume the Roman throne because he would not listen to their political thoughts.
There are a lot of different themes that could be used to describe the play of Julius Caesar. Power is a big part of the play and is probably the best theme of it. Throughout the play, power has a big impact on the story line and the way the story goes. It is evident to the conspirators that Julius Caesar is headed for absolute power; he becomes a threat to the ideals and values of the Roman Republic. They assassinate Caesar before he can be crowned king.