Julius Caesar Contrasts Between Brutus and Cassius Essay Example
Julius Caesar is set in 44 BC were Rome was a republic. Roman influence had spread beyond Italy and through the Mediterranean and some of North Africa and also parts of Germany, Belgium and Britain. A senate governed Rome. The main objective of all this meant that not one person was solely in charge and had absolute power and were king like.
Marcus Brutus is the most complex character in this play. Brutus is one of the men who assassinate Caesar in the senate. Brutus is complex, because he does not just kill Caesar for greed, envy or to protect his social position like so many of the other conspirators. This Brutus makes very clear in his speech in act III, scene II (lines 12-76), where he explains his actions as being only for the good of Rome. Unlike the other conspirators, Brutus is in fact a dear friend of Caesar’s but kills his ally not for who he is, but what he could become. It is for this reason that when Brutus commits suicide in Act V, Mark Antony describes his bitter enemy by saying “This was the noblest roman of them all”, (Act V, Scene V, line 68), Mark Antony recognising with these words that Brutus acted from a sense of public duty, not out of cruelty. However, it is hard to ignore the fact that Brutus has one main weakness which is his pride. Furthermore, he has to appear noble to himself and everyone around him.
So one of Brutus’s motives is a sense of ancestral pride. He has to live up to the standard his ancestors had set and cannot belittle them in anyway. This is one of his main weaknesses in this play because his ancestor Brutus overthrew the last king Tarquin in 509 BC and so founded the roman republic.
Cassius is a very devious and sly senator he is one of the original conspirators against Caesar. Like the other conspirators he fears what life under King Caesar’s rule could mean for him and the privileges he has.
The plot of Julius Caesar would be strikingly relevant to the Elizabethan audience due to the recent attempted rebellion of
Marcus Brutus is the most complex character in this play. Brutus is one of the men who assassinate Caesar in the senate. Brutus is complex, because he does not just kill Caesar for greed, envy or to protect his social position like so many of the other conspirators. This Brutus makes very clear in his speech in act III, scene II (lines 12-76), where he explains his actions as being only for the good of Rome. Unlike the other conspirators, Brutus is in fact a dear friend of Caesar’s but kills his ally not for who he is, but what he could become. It is for this reason that when Brutus commits suicide in Act V, Mark Antony describes his bitter enemy by saying “This was the noblest roman of them all”, (Act V, Scene V, line 68), Mark Antony recognising with these words that Brutus acted from a sense of public duty, not out of cruelty. However, it is hard to ignore the fact that Brutus has one main weakness which is his pride. Furthermore, he has to appear noble to himself and everyone around him.
So one of Brutus’s motives is a sense of ancestral pride. He has to live up to the standard his ancestors had set and cannot belittle them in anyway. This is one of his main weaknesses in this play because his ancestor Brutus overthrew the last king Tarquin in 509 BC and so founded the roman republic.
Cassius is a very devious and sly senator he is one of the original conspirators against Caesar. Like the other conspirators he fears what life under King Caesar’s rule could mean for him and the privileges he has.
The plot of Julius Caesar would be strikingly relevant to the Elizabethan audience due to the recent attempted rebellion of