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. When Cassius says this, he is using his cunning ways to exhort Brutus to act against Caesar before he subdues them with …show more content…
Cassius prevails, “Hear me, good brother” (Shakespeare IV. 3. 2223). Cassius is expressing the hope with careful word choice appealing to Brutus’ loyalty, that the reader would understand his love for Brutus and manipulation. He desires that the reader experience his feelings. Cassius makes a telling soliloquy early on in the play after feeling as though he has almost convinced Brutus to serve as the head of the plot against Caesar. People often evaluate others based solely on themselves. When Antony visits the conspirators after Caesar's murder, Brutus greets him kindly and with trust because, erroneously, he believes Antony to be an honest and reliable person. On the other side, Cassius evaluates Antony by himself and surmises that he is equally shrewd and treacherous. Cassius tries to have him slain alongside Caesar, but Brutus overrides him with his customary charity and kindness. Brutus says, “By them shall make a fuller number up, Come on refresh'd, new-added, and encouraged;From which advantage shall we cut him off” (Shakespeare IV. 3. 2218-2221). We can see that Brutus is speaking in terms of logos because he is preparing to travel to Philippi. His strategy relies heavily on
In Cassius’s speech to his brother he uses the method Ethos and establishes credibility and appeals to ethics or morals. One of the ways he does this is by saying that “[their] fathers say There was a Brutus once who would have brook’d The eternal devil” (Shakespeare 20-21). This shows that wiser people before them said that Brutus was strong and therefore, lends a hand towards Cassius’s argument that he should take action. Also by stating “I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor Did from the flames of troy upon his shoulder… Did I the tired Caesar” (Shakespeare 20-21).
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.
The reader can perceive that Cassius provides examples that allude to this, in which he mentions that he had to save Caesar when he was drowning, and the time in which he was sick in Spain. He characterizes Caesar as a weak and unfit man for the position as a ruler that holds all the power in Rome. As Act 1 Scene 2 comes to an end, Cassius delivers one of the most significant points in the final part of his speech, as he brings about the notion that Brutus stands for honor and embarking on any action for the good of Rome. Cassius delivers an emotional appeal, of pathos, in tracing back to Brutus’s ancestors that helped establish the structure of the Roman Republic. As he mentions the roots of Rome, he proclaims “Oh, you and I have heard our fathers say.
After Brutus and Cassius hear cheering and shouting Cassius begins to express his concerns to Brutus about his loyalties Despite Brutus' "love" for Caesar, he reaffirms his loyalties to Cassius by "set[ing] honor in one eye and death i[n] th[e] other" and looking on both with "indifferent[ce]" (I. ii. 89-96). Brutus believes that he can maintain his core principles and still come out unharmed, but Cassius knows that is not going to happen. Cassius is aware of the danger and begins to urge Brutus to take action before it's too late. Brutus displays his naivety by believing that he can remain impartial when making a crucial decision. When the conspirators are discussing what to do after the murder of Caesar, Brutus brings up the point, "Let's be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
But let not therefore, my good friends, be grieved Among which number, Cassius, be you one Nor construe any further my neglect Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war, Forgets the shows of love to other men.” (Act I, Scene II, 39-49) From some of the first words from Brutus he describes his internal conflict regarding his love for Caesar and the stability of Rome. He tells Cassius how he believes that Caesar's ambitions may lead to Rome’s demise. “And it is very much lamented, Brutus, that you have no such mirrors as will turn your hidden worthiness into your eye That you might see your shadow.
Cassius also exposes Brutus's honor by hoping he would join into the assassination ploy. These examples show how he put his country before himself. By doing these honorable acts he gained respect from many in the town of Rome. Brutus also exhibits his honor by his rationality. When Brutus is first brought onto the plot to assassinate Caesar he is horrified.
In the play “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” written by Shakespeare, Brutus is portrayed as honorable, this is shown throughout the play with the use of Shakespeare's descriptive language. An example of this is when Shakespeare holds a conversation between his two characters, Cassius and Brutus, he says “I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, As well as I do know your outward favor. (1.2.92-93)” . With the conversion between Brutus and Cassius. Cassius helps to reveal to the audience that Brutus is loyal, as he sees the virtue within Brutus.
With only a few words exchanged between the two, Cassius was able to use Brutus’ devotion towards the people of Rome and turn it into a weapon through the use of flattery. By telling Brutus that he is
He is known for being a highly honorable man, so much so that Cassius persuades Brutus to join the conspirators to bring honor to the cause. He tells about his reasons for killing Caesar at his funeral and says, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” Although the other conspirators had different motives and much more hate towards Caesar, Brutus truly did not have a problem with him. Brutus believed that he would become a tyrant and be corrupted by his power. While Brutus is in his garden, deciding whether or not to join Cassius, he says to himself, “It must be by his death; and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general.
Cassius is good at using things that Brutus would talk about to manipulate him into thinking he is better than Caesar. Over the period of the play, Brutus is manipulated and one of the first things that happened is that Cassius boosted Brutus’s confidence a
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, written in 1599, Brutus joins a conspiracy sparked by Cassius to assassinate Julius Caesar in order to prevent him from becoming a tyrant. Brutus, a good friend of Caesar, had been conflicted by his feelings about his good friend Caesar and his growing power. He wasn’t sure of what was better, to be a good friend, or to be a loyal citizen of Rome. Cassius, a concerned friend of Brutus, noticed that he had not been himself as of late. He uses Brutus’ vulnerability to manipulate him into joining the conspirators and turning his back on Caesar.
Cassius’ techniques for manipulating Brutus include flattery and convincing. Caesar dislikes Cassius, but is friendly to Brutus. Brutus’ first concern is the people of Rome and their safety, and Cassius prompts Brutus that Caesar is too powerful, power leads to corruption, and the Roman people fear his control.
Cassius uses manipulation in order to get Brutus to join the conspiracy and turn him against Caesar. First off, Cassius tells a story about Caesar and how he cried “Help me, Cassius or I sink!” (1.2.118). In this story, Caesar and Cassius challenge each other by trying to swim across rough waters. Cassius tries to convince Brutus that Caesar is not worthy of a crown by telling this story because the story shows how Caesar is weak and undeserving to be the ruler of Rome.
Throughout the passage, Cassius uses all three rhetorical strategies to convince Brutus of his superiority in comparison to Caesar and to ultimately get him to aid in the assassination of Caesar. Logos is the rhetorical method that centers around using not only facts and logic, but also common sense and can be found in many many parts of the passage. Throughout the entire conversation, Cassius tells Brutus that he and Caesar are equals, so there is no reason that he should not be treated as such, as seen in lines 96-98. Cassius says “I was born free as Caesar; so were you.” Equality is a fundamental piece of life and is common sense, therefore the quote falls under logos.
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.