The Underlying Motives of Brutus Understanding the human psyche is no easy feat. Often times, people do not even fully understand their own motives. This seems to be the case for Brutus in Shakespeare’s Tragedy, Julius Caesar. Brutus does truly believe that his actions are what is right for Rome; he truly thinks he has pure intentions. However, there are times when Brutus disregards what is noble in pursuit of his own glory. Brutus does not realize his noble motives are corrupted by selfish wants, but his actions show that he is often thinking of his reputation over the good of Rome. Early on in the play, Cassius rants to Brutus about how the name “Caesar “should not be “sounded more than” their own names (I.2.136-162). Cassius tries hard to convince Brutus that he is of the same level of Caesar, and, therefore, is just as deserving of the crown. To these remarks, Brutus immediately replies that he is not jealous of Caesar (I.2.163, 173-6). Here, Brutus seems genuine that he is not in search of glory and that he has no issues with Caesar. This example backs the claim that Brutus does have noble intentions. Apparently, however, Cassius’ words were able to affect Brutus more than he knew, as soon after he was turning on Caesar. Furthermore, when the other conspirators are deliberating whether or not to also kill Mark Antony, Brutus convinces the group not to kill anyone other than Caesar. In hindsight, this was a disastrous decision that contributed to Brutus’ later downfall.
What— did one of us strike down the most powerful man in the world in order to support robbers? Should we now dirty our fingers with lowly bribes and sell the mighty offices that we hold for whatever gold we can get our hands on? I'd rather be a dog and howl at the moon that be that kind of Roman.” (Shakespeare 169) Brutus is painfully obvious (at least he is from Cassius’ point of view) when he confides to Cassius that he believes that Cassius wasnt as honest about what his intent and motives for killing Caesar were.
Was Brutus Noble? In Shakespeare 's’ The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar, one of the main characters, Marcus Brutus, is found dead by the noble Mark Antony, and is called “The Noblest Roman Of Them All” (Julius Caesar Act 5, scene 5, 68–72). Antony 's’ statement is a true one for many reasons. The first reason would be that Brutus was a man who valued his friendships over all else.
The Consequences of Honor Being an honorable person requires one to follow a code of ethics for the greater good, even at the cost of his own life. If one breaks his code of ethics, he believes that living with the shame of breaking it for the rest of his life would be a “fate worse than death”. These selfless individuals care more about the needs of others than their own personal desires. However, there are people who take advantage of one’s honorable nature and use it for their own gain. This concern of acting honorably is shown in Brutus, the main character in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Brutus has a vision, and he intends it to work out in every way he plans. In a sense he achieves what he wants, and killing Caesar may have been crucial to his short-lived success.
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 their introductory scene a discussion is taking place about Caesar's claim to the throne. Through this discussion the audience learns a lot about Cassius and Brutus’s values . It is revealed that Brutus is an honorable man who believes in the general good of mankind. He states, (1.2 84-89)“ What is it that you would impart to me?/ If it be aught toward the general good, / Set honour in one eye and death
In William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, Cassius is a foil to Marcus Brutus, for Brutus is consistently described as honorable and kind, contrasting the always clever and self-centered, Cassius. Cassius acts as a character who goes against the virtues and weaknesses of the main character. Brutus announces, “Why man, he doth bestride the narrow World like a Colossus, and we pretty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves” (Shakespeare I. 2. 142-145). By appealing to Brutus' feeling of honor and loyalty to Rome, Cassius hopes to persuade him to join the conspiracy against Caesar.
While Brutus spoke well, but had no real factual standpoint, Antony gave many examples of Caesar’s achievements. In his speech he uses Pathos, Logos, Ethos, and Situational Irony to sway his audience. He uses Brutus’ and Cassius’ precious honor and Caesar’s achievements against them, saying, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept./ Ambition should be made of sterner stuff./ Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,/ And Brutus is an honorable man” (3.2.90-93). In this statement and many other statements following the same pattern Antony degrades the honor and the arguments of Caesar’s ambition that were made by Brutus and the other conspirators.
When Brutus was talking to the conspirators Brutus was going back and forth think if he should help the conspirators kill Julius Caesar. He was going back and forth because he was thinking of the power he could have and could rule Rome. The reason behind Brutus killing Caesar was for the better of Rome. If Brutus would not have killed Caesar, Rome would have turned into a dictatorship, and in turn it would have ruined Rome and all of its people. Brutus did not kill Julius just for the power to rule Rome, he killed Julius to save Rome from Caesar’s dictatorship.
And while Brutus did work in part with other conspirators, which eventually led to him killing Caesar, he did it for a more morally sound reason which was that Caesar was going to cause the downfall of Rome because he was too ambitious, which is ironic because Caesar's death led to a string of unfit leaders, and civil unrest that eventually led to the downfall of the roman empire. Brutus was also focused on preventing corruption. “The name of Cassius honors this corruption,/ And chastisement doth therefore hide his head (IV.iii.15-6)... Remember March, the ides of March remember./ Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake” (IV.iii.18-9).
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
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.
Is a good deed still a good deed when looked at from an ice cold eye? Was it ever really a good deed at all? It’s all about perspective. In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, ethos, pathos, and logos is used to show both sides of a deed that was good in one eye and cold in the other. He uses ethos to show the credibility of the speeches, logos to show facts given, and pathos to show the emotion shown throughout the eulogies.
Cassius manipulates Brutus to the point of making him feel as if there are several people wanting Brutus to do something about Caesar. Cassius also wants to convince Brutus that “Caesar’s ambition shall be glanced at” so they can eliminate his power for fear that “worse days [may] endure”. Cassius is not the only senator wanting to eliminate Caesar’s growing
Early in the play, Cassius states that Brutus does not seem to see him as a