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.
Act 1.ii Antony can poison Caesar’s mind by speaking ill of Cassius, but he does not do it. Instead he pacifies him telling him that he is a noble Roman not up to any evil intentions. This demonstrates that Antony is not in the habit of telling tales about people in their absence. After the assassination of Caesar, Antony uses his presence of mind and flees from the scene. He feels that, he being Caesar’s best friend, the conspirators will not hesitate to get rid of him too on the ground that he is a potential threat to them.
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.
Believing that he is just as deserving as Caesar, Cassius purports that there should be a return to a different attitude toward life: one that is more noble, self-determined, and unrelenting. In Act 1, Scene ii, Cassius refuses to accept Caesar as the ruler of Rome. According to Cassius, Caesar’s rising power cannot be attributed to luck, fate, or destiny. To Cassius, the senators and men in power are allowing this to happen: Men at sometime are masters of their fates The fault dear Brutus in not in our stars But in ourselves, that we are underlings… Those who have power can no longer be passive or cowardly. They must assert themselves.
The Three Mistakes of Brutus In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus makes three important mistakes that lead to his ultimate demise. Brutus makes the mistakes of letting Marc Antony give a funeral oration over the body of Julius Caesar, refusing to kill Marc Antony, and joining the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar. Brutus allowing Marc Antony to give his funeral oration to the citizens of Rome is a grave mistake with many severe consequences. When Antony hears about the assassination of Caesar, he sends word to Brutus and the conspirators that he loved Caesar but will now vow to serve Brutus if Brutus promises not to punish him for being once loyal to Caesar. This fools Brutus into thinking he can trust Antony, so he allows him to give a funeral speech over the body of Caesar to a large crowd of Roman citizens.
Julius Caesar: Brutus' Moral Ambiguity Shakepeare's intruiging play Julius Caesar tells a tale of a honorable man who puts his personal interests aside and pulls off a devastating move in order to protect Rome. When Caesar returns to Rome after killing General Pompey, he is given a hero's welcome but his crowning as king becomes a major conflict all throughtout the city and strikes fear in the hearts of many people. Marcus Brutus, a dear friend of Caesar is revealed as a morally ambiguous protagonist of the play as he is pressured into defending his highest values and becomes involved in plotting the assasination. Although Brutus' actions may seem questionable and ultimately lead to Caesar's death, his decision is made with good intentions that can be seen through his patriotism for Rome, idealistic views of the world, and moral obligations. Marcus Brutus was in fact one of the conspirators that murdered Caesar.
Brutus was a betrayer. They might think that Brutus was a patriot because he was made to believe that he was the one to save his country and was the noblest of all men. But he betrays his friend Cassius because he believes he is better than everyone else because a few people think that he should be king and not Caesar. Brutas acts like Caesar’s friend and then kills him because Brutas felt that he would be more fit as a ruler. So in the end he follows through with his plan and betrays and kills Caesar.
Ambition is used with an extremely negative connotation in Shakespeare's writing, but today, ambition is seen as a good trait for a hardworking person. Everyone carries their own ambitious desires, whether they are good or bad. After Caesar's death, Antony uses Caesar's compassion as an example to “prove” that Caesar wasn't ambitious, saying, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; / Ambition should be made of sterner stuff” (JC 3.2.91-2). Antony argues that because of Caesar's compassion, he could not have been an ambitious ruler. He turns compassion into a foil for ambition, therefore making the reader go back to the question of, “What does ambition really mean?” It appears that the real question involves the meaning of ambition in Shakespeare's time.
Brutus never gives in to ideas others force upon him. When Cassius tries to persuade Brutus to kill Caesar he says, “what you have said I will consider… Brutus had rather be a villager than to repute himself a son of Rome” (I.ii.23). This shows that Brutus cannot be persuaded; he will consider the point, but in the end he will do what he thinks is right. Brutus cares about the people; whatever he does is for Rome. Brutus states that his role in Caesar's murder was to help Rome and not for himself, he proves this when he states “if then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III.ii.117) Even his enemy Mark Antony says "this was the
Furthermore, the traditional image of Brutus as a cruel traitor to his close friend has also been reworked in Shakespeare's play. Although Brutus takes part in the conspiracy to murder Caesar despite his close ties to him, Brutus's actions are based on genuinely noble reasons. Brutus is the true hero of the play because, unlike the other conspirators, his motivation is based on keeping the Roman republic from coming under the rule of an emperor; furthermore, while Caesar and Antony both have virtuous qualities, their flaws are much less forgivable than that of Brutus's. Brutus’s motivation for killing Caesar is more noble than that of the other conspirators, who were driven by envy. In the beginning of the play, as Caesar rakes in adoration from the common people, Cassius reveals his jealousy over Caesar’s popularity and power: “it doth