Cassius is a foil to Brutus due to their reasons for killing Caesar. Cassius's reasons goes more towards fear and jealousy, and hs more of a selfish reason to end Caesar's life. While Brutus's motive is, wholeheartedly, for the good of Rome, and his loyalty towards Rome is greater than his of Caesars. An example for Cassius being selfish and fearful is when he sent forged letter to Brutus just to get him to help him kill Caesar. Brutus's every action in this play is for the good of Rome, he was hesitant at first because he did not believe he was a threat to Rome and the citizens until Cassius sent the forged letters. So, they both wanted to kill Caesar but have completely different
Should Brutus join the conspiracy against Caesar? Some may want Brutus to dodge the conspiracy. While others prefer Brutus to join the scheme against Caesar. Brutus has the done the right thing, by choosing to join the conspiracy, and claims he carries reasonable judgements all throughout act I and act II, for joining the conspiracy. Brutus understands that he needs to do this for the people of Rome, he needs to do it to prevent tyranny, and he realizes that evil can come from a good person.
Julius Caesar, a tragic play written by William Shakespeare, centers around the assassination of Caesar with the context of incidents that triggers the murder and the exploration of the aftermath for the conspirators. A succession of ambitious men tries eagerly to acquire the absolute power to rule over the enormous Roman Empire, yet Caesar is the only one who seemingly succeeds. However, his ambition and triumph over Pompey intimidate those who favor democracy and dread Caesar might abuse his power to become a tyrant. As a direct result, those citizens in the name of Roman’s good and justice sake form a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar together. By attempting to persuade more people to participate, the adversaries of Caesar employ animal imagery to reveal Caesar 's ambition and danger.
Was Caesar really a bad man? He had great qualities to be a leader, but the conspirators had a great reason to kill Caesar. He was also was a very bad man. He would kill all people that would disagree with him, was a terrible leader, and weak. He was a terrible leader because he was not going to go to the traditional race at the festival of Lupercal. The only reason he was not going to go is because a soothsayer told him to beware the ides of March, March fifteenth to be specific.
Julius Caesar, leader of Rome, had a overwhelming ego and it is shown many times throughout the play of, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”. One of the times Julius Caesar showed his overwhelming ego was towards the beginning of the play when the soothsayer warns Caesar about the “ides of march”. The second time Julius shows his ego is when he says that he is not afraid of anybody - and people may talk behind his back, but never to his face as they would be too scared. The third time Julius shows his ego when he ignores his wife’s caution and worries about going to the Senate. Julius Caesar overall is seen to be arrogant and he has a very large ego.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the character Cassius wishes to convince Brutus to join him in conspiring against Caesar because he and his co-conspirators believe Caesar is unfit to rule Rome. In this passage, Cassius persuades Brutus through his pathos, ethos, and logos.
Brutus responds saying that it is not true; it's just that he had a lot on his mind lately. Brutus has a soliloquy that addresses his inner conflict over how to deal with Caesar. "The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power, and, to speak truth of Caesar, I have not known when his affections sway'd." Later after Caesar's death, Brutus and Cassius are preparing to assault the armies of Antony and Octavius. Brutus wanted power more than he valued his friendship with Caesar. Cassius refuses to accept Caesar's rising power and deems a belief in fate to be nothing more than a form of passivity or cowardice. He says to Brutus: "Men at sometime were masters of their fates. / The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves, that we are underlings" (I.ii.140-142). Julius has the ability to make things happen by words alone. Early in the play, it is established that Caesar has this type of absolute authority: "When Caesar says 'Do this,' it is performed," says Antony, who attaches a similar weight to Octavius's words toward the end of the play. (I.ii.12) The power of speech plays a very important role in the plot developments of Julius
Fate and free will are the two aspects that seem to rule one’s life. They weave their hands into the choices that are made. The way one acts are based on these two important ideologies. Shakespeare approaches these ideas in a way that creates a dual mindset. In Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare uses his characters to argue that fate and free will are equally important ideologies that need to be prevalent in society.
In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare includes prophets, omens, and natural phenomenon that point to the tragic end of the three main characters: Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius. Writing a play based on such a well known historical event, Shakespeare’s audience would have known the outline of the events before entering the theater. Therefore, the inclusion of the omens would have served as a reminder for his audience. Though the omens suggest a sense of predetermination that would have satisfied the historical outlook of the audience, it is abundantly clear that it is the choices that those characters make that dooms them. Ultimately, Shakespeare suggests that it is the flaws of the main characters that leads
One is familiar with Shakespeare’s tragedies such as “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”, “The Tragedy of Hamlet” and so forth. Shakespeare’s tragedies have been known for centuries as a reflection of the societies in different eras which appealed to many until today. They express the darkness that lies within the human’s soul and mind. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth” are both remarkable works of Shakespeare’s that although they are of different plots, they both share indistinguishable characteristics and themes such as a tragic hero, tragic flaw and hero’s downfall.
The conspirators loved Caesar but they loved Rome more and feared what he would become if given the power. They wanted an emperor not a king, a friend not a tyrant. “Liberty, freedom! Tyranny is dead!” (III, I, 86). This is the conspirators expressing their joy of being free from tyranny, this is how they showed their most important values. “People and senators, be not affrighted. Fly not. Stand still. Ambition 's debt is paid.” (III, I, 90-91). This is Brutus trying to comfort the people and get them to listen to what they had to say about murdering him. The conspirators feared tyranny and they were willing to do anything to be free of it. But, they wouldn’t know how the people would react so they were giving them a reason to a
The play begins with Julius Caesar returning from a victory over Pompey to a cheering crowd of Romans. He is an ambitious leader who wants Rome to prosper and looks out for his countrymen over himself, though he has his own, darker, flaws. This selflessness is explicitly demonstrated by him saying “What touches us shall be last served” (III.I.9) when he is told to deal with a letter because it most directly related to him. His goal is to further Rome and gain the approval of his people, which he does very well. He even goes as far as leaving money is his will to be distributed among each Roman in his death. It ends up being his ambition, and the power and loyalty he has accrued through it, that is interpreted as a push toward tyranny, and leads to his death.
Language, when used to manipulate, can solely cause war. Language can be used to manipulate others for the purpose of political change to the point of war. In Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, the power of language is represented by the use of strong language by characters to persuade others to follow them. War is caused by the manipulation of the senators to kill Caesar and the manipulation of the plebeians to revolt. Cassius in act 1 shows how figurative language can strike emotion in the minds of people. In Act 3 Brutus and Antony reveal how the opinions of the masses can be changed with emotive language. Language used to change the minds of people reveals how man can cause tremendous events through the use of
In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Marc Antony appears to be a strong advocate for Julius Caesar’s triumphs and increasing power. However, like Caesar, Antony is extremely manipulative and powerful. After Caesar’s death, Antony manipulated the conspirators into believing he was on their side before requesting to speak at Caesar’s funeral. While Brutus and the conspirators remained fooled by Antony’s innocence, Antony took the initiative to inform the Roman citizens of the conspirator’s horrendous actions towards their beloved leader, Julius Caesar. Caesar’s funeral was a time of reflection for the citizens of Rome, as Marc Antony caused them to question their allegiance to Brutus. Marc Antony’s power has always been a part of him. However, after Caesar’s death, his power only intensified as his passion for vengeance grew.
“If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it”- Julius Caesar, the man who is known as one of the most fascinating political figures of all time. The one who through his military genius, expanded the Roman Republic to include parts of what are now Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. Although the hero had many followers and admirers, he was ultimately stabbed to death by his own fellow politicians.