It is likely that without the presence of Caius Cassius, Brutus never would have even considered murdering Caesar, a man among his most beloved friends. Cassius was one who appeared to make it his own personal duty to plant the seed of deceit within Brutus against Julius Caesar. From only the second scene of the play, Cassius is already speaking ill of Caesar to Brutus. He tells Brutus that he will his be “glass,” or mirror, to reflect to him what Brutus himself cannot see. The following dialogue seems to be set up in a way to manipulate Brutus so that he may join Cassius in his plot against Caesar.
Reading first, Brutus enlightened the crowd of Rome’s oppressed fate under Caesar’s reign, and questioned, “…Who here is so vile that will not love his country?” (Julius Caesar Act III. sc iii. lines 23-24). Antony’s rhetorical question was better because he logically disproved Caesar’s kingly ambitions by stating a specific instance. Brutus evoked a feeling of patriotism in the crowd, which may have been more effective if he had spoken second.
This essay will examine these questions and illustrate the justification of Marcus Brutus betraying and killing Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus is sometimes considered to be a “tragic hero” because of the role he played in the assassination of Caesar, the tragedy of his father’s death and the outcome of his choices in life. Looking into the underlying flaws within the tragic hero reviles a trustworthy nature which inhibits his ability to judge the character of others. Plutarch described Brutus as a marvelous lowly and gentle person, noble minded, and would never be in any rage, nor carried away with pleasure and covetousness; but had an upright mind and would never yield to any wrong or injustice. Brutus' tragic flaw is that he is nationalistic, very gullible, and is too honest.
Caesar was so ambitious that it wasn’t good for high power. Brutus said, “If then that a friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is the answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more… as Caesar loved me, I weep for him” (3.2.21-26). This shows that Brutus did it for the people and not for himself. Brutus was saddened to see his friend fall dead, but there was no other choice; Caesar was the ambitious person. He would only try to win the crowd and use them for his own good.
Thesis statement- Brutus is the protagonist in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. He is the protagonist because Brutus is noble, gullible, and moral. Brutus is a noble person throughout the course of the story. He was trying to hide his true emotion, thus being noble and stoic. Even throughout the plot of killing Caesar he tries to be noble about what he does.
This makes the audience connect with Caesar. It makes things personal when he reads that Caesar decided to give everything he had, after he died. What was his strongest argument? His strongest argument would be that Caesar was a good man. He says that the reasons Caesar was killed were wrong.
The audience is initially memorized by the Brutus they love, and are grateful for the ‘honorable acts’ he committed. This element of coercion helps him achieve his intentions of blindsiding the people to all aspects of the truth. But no worries, Brutus’ kind friend Antony will be sure uncover all and nothing but the truth for the commoners to second guesses Brutus’ words. 2nd Textual Quotation: “If, then, that friend demands to know why I rose up against Caesar, this is my answer: it’s not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?...Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman?
He is already a man distrusted by the conspirators for his friendship with Caesar. Brutus lets him speak at Caesar's funeral, but only after Brutus, a great orator in his own right, has spoken first to "show the reason of our Caesar's death." Brutus makes it clear that Antony may speak whatever good he wishes of Caesar so long as he speaks no ill of the conspirators. But Antony has two advantages over Brutus: his subterfuge and his chance to have the last word. It's safe to say that Antony makes the most of his opportunity.
Brutus doesn’t want the Romans to be slaves under Caesar’s leadership. The citizens cheer for Brutus and his apparent kindness saying that he should be the new Caesar. They believe Brutus’s words and that Caesar was a tyrant who needed to be assassinated. However, the citizens’ fickle attitude shows when Antony gives his funeral speech. Antony tears down Brutus’s defenses saying that Caesar wasn’t ambitious because he thrice refused the crown.
Who handled the appeal to reason better? Explain your answer. Brutus uses the appeal to reason when he says that if Caesar was still alive they all would be and die as slaves if he wasn’t dead. Antony uses appeal to reason by asking the crowd how they could have loved Caesar so much, so why not mourn for him. Antony used the appeal to reason better because what he said made a lot of sense.