Brutus was highly regarded and loved by the people of Rome. However, Julius Caesar was also a beloved man of Rome during this time. Brutus had his reasons for killing Caesar, but were they just reasons? Some may feel that Brutus from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a dishonorable man; Brutus's honorable character is displayed through the citizens' love for him, his desire to better Rome, and his logical reasoning for taking Caesar's life.
When Antony spoke at Caesar’s funeral Brutus trusted him not to blame the conspirators for Julius Caesar’s death. Antony in fact said the conspirators were behind Julius’s death. Another example of Brutus being too trusting is when Brutus trusted Cassius about killing Julius to save Rome from tyranny. "Not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more"(Julius Caesar-Brutus). Afterwards Brutus did feel terrible about killing his beloved friend as if anyone would.
This is Brutus’ philosophy when he convinces theconspirators not to kill Antony. “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, to cut the headoff and then hack the limbs, like wrath in death and envy afterwards; for Antony is but a limb of Caesar” (II, i, 175-179) Since all the conspirators wanted Brutus’ help they follow what Brutussays and does. Brutus does not wish to spill more blood than has already been spilt. He is defending that which will be left of the remnants of Caesar after they kill him. This is honorable in a abnormal way; Brutus is possibly trying to make up for what he plans to do.
Later on, while in battle, Brutus kills himself. He saw the ghost of Caesar many times and now tells the ghost to be still, because Brutus did not have a will as strong as Caesar. Brutus tells Strato that he is a man of good respect and wants him to kill Brutus so he can die an honorable death. “I prithee, Strato, stay them by the Lord. / Thou art a fellow of good respect; / Thy life hath had some smatch of honor in it.
Leonardo Sanchez English 2 HP Ms. Gassaway December 2013 Biggest Backstabber Ever or Roman Hero? “Honor can be a man’s best present to a friend for honor is not what we find in most friends.” (Anonymous) The decision to stab a friend isn’t easy, like Brutus, in the play, he had to decide whether he was loyal to the Roman Republic or loyal to his friend, Julius Caesar. In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a conspirator, Brutus, is supposed to be Caesar’s friend but Brutus ends up stabbing his friend literally and figuratively, but Brutus says things throughout the play that shows he is honorable, loyal, and a stoic person. He says, "I love the name of honor more than I fear death" (I, ii, 88-89) to Cassius, which shows he is honorable. If Brutus wasn’t honorable, he wouldn’t have fallen into Cassius hands and join his side.
He is convinced by letters written by Cinna that the civilians of Rome request him to prevent Caesar from gaining power. He then agrees to join the group who wishes to kill Caesar. He has a distinct perspective that majority of the conspirators hold and that is that Caesar has gained too much power, he shows this through extreme exaggeration (hyperbole) in the event of Caesar’s funeral, “had you rather Caesar alive and die as slaves, or Caesar dead and live as free men?” It evokes or suggests conflicting perspectives which urge the audience to determine whether Brutus is truly a noble Roman or a coward
Morality in Julius Caesar Morality in Julius Caesar The removal of Caesar from office by assassination in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar attempts to justify an unethical act by focusing on the motivation behind the actor instead of the righteousness of the act itself. Throughout this play, the empirical immorality of murder is ignored. A man’s ethics are surely corrupt when the taking of another’s life for the sake of politics is merited. Therefore, Shakespeare ought not have erroneously depicted the slaying of Caesar as a satisfactory method of seizing control of ancient Rome. Brutus compares Caesar, whom was soon to be crowned, to "a serpent’s egg which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous" who must be killed while still in its shell.
When the soliloquy of Cassius in Act 1 Sc. 2 begins it is evident of Cassius’ Epicurean view and his evil desires and intention to use Brutus to murder Caesar, ‘Caesar doth bear me hard, but he loves Brutus…’ the contrast apparent in Cassius’ statement exemplifies that he uses this knowledge to his advantage to coordinate who he would influence to plot against Caesar. The use of rhetorical devices in Brutus’ soliloquy ‘Shall Rome stand under one man’s awe?’ targets Brutus’ fear of Caesar’s misuse of power and dictatorship further supplementing our understanding of the influence that Cassius had implanted onto Brutus, successfully being able to justify and solidify Brutus’ will to kill Caesar. Cassius twists Brutus’ patriotism towards Rome to motivate Brutus into thinking that Caesar’s intentions for the Roman Public would be used in ways that would lead to the fall of Rome. ‘Let’s kill him boldly, but not wrathfully…carve him as a dish fit for the gods’ the use of a metaphor reveals that his intentions are not to kill Caesar out of spite but instead with regret and considers Caesar as a person of a respectful status.
In addition to pathos he says “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”, this an example of pathos because he shows love to Caesar and Rome. This part is effective because he makes tells the citizens that he did it for Rome and makes them feel that he loved them. He also says that if he had offended anyone that they should use the knife they used to kill Caesar and go with him, this is pathos because it creates fear of Brutus among the people. This is effective because he makes the citizens fear that if they disagree they should die too. Furthermore he says “who here is so rude that will not be a
Julius Caesar dismissed the multiple warnings to beware the Ides of March. Consequently, a group of conspirators sent daggers through the body of the ancient Roman leader. All these conspirators conspired and executed their plan due to selfish and jealous motives, excluding the play’s tragic hero. In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus fulfills the role of the tragic hero because he possesses qualities of a good person, and he has a sense of commitment. Through words and actions William Shakespeare paints the picture that Brutus is a virtuous individual who believes in and stands by certain moral traits.