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." (3.2.19-24) After Brutus killed Caesar, he started to defend his actions. Brutus wanted to be loyal Rome but sees that he should have been loyal to his friend. Part of Brutus' flaw is patriotism, and there is a VERY important question we can ask ourselves.
"What’s so special about caesar?", This quote shows how much Cassius despises Caesar and how he feels he is no better of a man than Brutus or himself. They both had a common goal but were not sure of each other's very different and clashing reasons for attempting to reach the goal ahead. Cassius seemed to have been a puppet master and conductor of the conspiracy twisting things to suit his own preferences, and to rise against a super power in order to achieve his ultimate goal. The differences in motivation between Brutus and Cassius vividly reflect their morals, just as their morals reflect back upon their reasons.
/ Write them together, yours is as fair a name; / Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well; / Weigh them, it is as heavy" (1.2.142-146). Cassius continues in his adulation of his friend, in contrast to the mockery of Caesar. By showing loyalty and feigning agreement with Brutus' love of democratic government, Cassius develops ethos further and re-establishes his role as a dear friend. Though it is implied that Cassius is in the conspiracy because of his disdain for Caesar himself and not for a monarchy in
Marcus Brutus Junior, the protagonist of the play “Julius Caesar”, made one of the toughest decisions in the history of the Roman Empire: To, or not to, assassinate his longtime friend Julius Caesar, who would turn the Roman government into a dictatorship? Perhaps one of the turning points of this inner conflict came when Gaius Cassius Longinus, Brutus’ brother-in-law, gave a fiery speech to encourage Brutus to backstab Caesar. Cassius’ use of the three3 rhetorical strategies - logos, pathos, and ethos - would eventually persuade Brutus to participate in one of the most famous murder conspiracies in history. First, Cassius starts off by calming the fears and doubts in Brutus about his influence in Rome; Brutus’ fears of his lack of self-worthiness were soothed by Cassius using pathos. Notably in the passage, Cassius makes Brutus feel respected even by Caesar, the most influential man in Rome, with the words “Immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus...have wish’d that noble Brutus had his eyes (I, ii, 60)”.
Throughout The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Cassius, one of the conspirators behind Julius Caesar’s death, used charisma to strongly influence those around him to follow his plan. One of these people was Marcus Brutus. Cassius wanted Brutus to follow his plan of murdering Julius Caesar, but since Brutus was one of Julius Caesar’s best friends, it was hard for Brutus to follow alongside Cassius. Surprisingly, Cassius was able to catch Brutus’s attention.
Brutus tries to impress the crowd by saying that Caesar was going to become a dictator. “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (ii. III.L 22-24). Brutus gives this reason to make the people think this murderous act was honorable.
In Brutus’s speech he used ethos and logos to try and control the people of Rome. He was stoic and blinded of what Antony was capable of. He wanted to change their minds about the conspiracy and the murder of Caesar. Brutus says “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men” (III, i, 23-24).
When Brutus was speaking to the people of Rome about how he helped assassinate him, he justified it by saying, “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved / Rome more” (3.2.23-24). Even though Brutus is close to Caesar, he has to think about the city he serves first. Brutus wants to do what is best for Rome so if that means he has to harm a friend, he will do so for the greater good of the city he knows and loves. All it took was the conspirator to talk to Brutus a little bit to make him realize Caesar’s potential danger and say “That at his will he may do danger with” (2.1.18).
But in the end, Brutus felt he had not made an honorable use of Caesar’s death and realized he made a mistake so he took his own life, and unlike Cassius, he died an honorable death for honorable reasons. “This was the noblest Roman of them all./ All the conspirators save only he/ Did that they did in envy of great Caesar./ He only in a general honest thought/ And common good to all, made one of them”
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. Cassius exploits Brutus’s pathos in that he compliments Brutus to inflate his ego, as shown when Cassius says Brutus has “hidden worthiness” (1,2,57) and his worthiness earns him “many of the best respect in Rome” (1,2,59). Cassius utilizes these compliments in order to make Brutus see himself as a chosen one to aid Cassius in removing Caesar from the throne. Moreover, Cassius attempts to sway Brutus through his pathos by capitalizing Brutus’s fear for the future of Rome,
Cassius wants Brutus to believe that their futures need to be changed because Caesar is leading them into tyranny. Cassius then uses flattery to show Brutus that he is equal in power to Caesar. “Brutus and Caesar… Write them together, yours is a fair a name”. Cassius explains this to Brutus that he is just as capable of reaching the height of power Caesar possesses. Following this conversation Cassius develops a plan to further manipulate Brutus.
In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius give speeches about their opinion on the assassination of Caesar. Both Brutus and Cassius feel that their opinions and actions are correct, and believe the other being to be incorrect. They feel what they did was right, and don't feel shame for what they've done. Both of them feel that they're doing what's best for the people Brutus, being the one who planned and took part in Caesar's assassination, cared about Caesar, and respected him, but felt he had to kill him for the good of the people. Cassius felt that Caesar wasn't ambitious or a tyrant, as Brutus believed him to be.
Caesar is brought to the senate where he eventually is stabbed by the conspirators, his friends, his allies, and the people he trusted. The conspirators didn’t think of the reproductions of their actions and they have now started a war. They lose the battle against Mark Antony, some conspirators commit suicide, and some are executed. Shakespeare wanted us to develop sympathy for Julius Caesar through the betrayal of his friends, his overthrow of power, and the ultimate death of his once friends.
Brutus, According to Shakespeare The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a Shakespearean play and representation of the assassination of Caesar, is a well written and developed story in which the build up of the characters is very well done. As a matter of fact, the developing of Brutus, the tragic hero on the play, is one of the most important characters and therefore one of the better explained and exposed. Brutus is a character that is marked with three traits that allow him to be the one responsible for Caesar's assassination. Indeed, Brutus is naive, well-intended and hypocrite, as seen when the conspirators convince him to be part of it, and be one of the most important figures in it.
Brutus is without a doubt the most noble character in this play. Nonetheless, his impeccable sense of morality also blindfolds him to other people’s sordid motives and makes him easy to be manipulated. Indeed, Brutus is easily manipulated by Cassius in Act 1, Scene 2. In hope to convince Brutus to join the conspirators, Cassius says “Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings” (1.2.150-152). As a result, Brutus starts to believes that it is his job to murder Caesar, as he says in Act 2, Scene 1: “It must be by his death: and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general” (2.1.14-16).