His reasoning for killing Caesar was the fact that Caesar was too ambitious. Although this was a good reason it was all an assumption and he gave no evidence on how Caesar was ambitious. Although Brutus did hypothetical situations to the countrymen to convince them further that Caesar could of became a tyrant. For the love of Rome is why Brutus murdered Caesar and that convinced the people that there was no man nobler than Brutus. He had won them over until Antony began his speech.
Brutus evoked a feeling of patriotism in the crowd, which may have been more effective if he had spoken second. Antony’s rhetorical question educated the crowd of the nonexistent ambitions Brutus has made to excuse the murder. The rhetorical strategy of parallel structure was used well by Brutus. Antony told the crowd that he is not here to challenge Brutus, when in fact he is, and asserts, “I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know.” (Julius Caesar Act III. sc ii.
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.
Brutus assumes that they would be slaves if Caesar became king and he logically explains what went through his head. He says that he had to make the logically decision of killing Caesar and becoming free men, or staying quiet and die as slaves. The crowd praised Brutus because he wanted better for the people of Rome not for his selfish needs. After he expresses pathos by trying to get the pity of the crowd. He wanted to let the crowd know that he loved Caesar, but he simply loved Rome much more, “Just as I killed my best friend for the good of Rome, so will I kill myself when my country requires my death.” (3,2 pg.129).
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.
He says that he wants them to know the facts; "Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may the better judge." Sharing information with the people tempts them and it almost guarantees him their acceptance. He tricked them by saying that he loved Caesar. He wanted to see if he could find anybody that loved Caesar more than him. Brutus declares that he never upset Caesar, and he cried for Caesar, was happy for his greatness, and that he honored him, but he had to kill him because of his ambition.
This also reveals another side of Brutus. By the use of the word ‘must’ it shows that Cassius has influenced Brutus into thinking in a vile manner. His is no more portrayed as the peaceful and honourable man that only thinks of the people. Brutus wants the killing of Caesar to look like he is going to kill Caesar for the public. This is shown by the use of the words “I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the General.” Brutus says that he is joining the conspiracy only for the people when in fact; Brutus is using this as an excuse to kill Caesar.
But Caesar really loved Rome that anything happened in Rome good or bad affected him. Like Antony said “When the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. In other words Antony is just saying that Caesar really loved and cared about Rome no matter what. Lastly in Act 3 Scene 2 Mark Antony has now seen the assassination of his dear beloved Caesar and he wants to say a speech at his funeral. But in order to do this he must get in the good graces of the conspirators; therefore Rome can know what happen to their beloved Caesar.
He also lets everyone know that Caesar was “ambitious” and he had to “slew” him because of it. He says this because he thought everyone in town thought Caesar was an honorable man. When Anthony came up, he knew that he had to work harder to gain the crowd’s attention, so he begins with saying, “I come to bury Caesar, not praise him.” (Act 3 Scene 2; 72) He says this because he knows people don’t want to hear a speech about how “amazing” Caesar was, so he says he’s not there to praise him. In saying this, he gets people’s attention. Both start off with trying to get their credibility first, Antony wins in doing a better job because he worked harder in trying to get it.
Cassius and the other members knew best to accept Brutus’ decision because they did not want him to leave. Even though Brutus did not state why he did not want Cicero to join, it appeared that he felt as if having an older and more experienced person in the group would be a threat to his power. Had Brutus accepted Cicero, his influence made a huge difference. Although the decision to kill Caesar was already made, Brutus still had the final opportunity to change his mind, but he chose not to do so. “Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his.