Julius Caesar Essay

Analysis Essay In Act one, Brutus remains very serious. He claims he is at war with himself when Cassius asks him what is wrong, and tells him not to worry. One of Brutus’s fears is that Caesar will become king, which makes Cassius happy to hear. Cassius then tries to persuade him to help remove this possibility, but Brutus refuses. Brutus decides against Cassius’ offer. Brutus seems somewhat strong in his opinion in act one. But he also seems quite vulnerable at the same time. If he gets the right kind of persuasion he will most likely give in. His main concern is for the people of Rome, which Cassius knows very well. The main reason why Brutus does not want to overthrow Julius is because the people of Rome do not want this to happen. In Act two Brutus decides that Caesar must be killed. His reasoning for this is that Caesar is abusing his power and has ascended too quickly. He thinks this because he has received letters from Rome that are against Caesar being crowned king. But what Brutus doesn’t know, is that these letters have been forged. His only care is for Rome to be happy, and he thinks he is helping them out by joining the conspiracy. At 3 in the morning on the ides of March, Brutus invites all of the conspirators to his home to come up with a plan. Brutus loves his wife Portia, but he has been very stressed lately and has had his mind on other things. Brutus is a very vain man, although he does not present himself this way. Cassius compares Brutus’s name to Caesar and tells Brutus he has the best qualities. His meaning now is to fulfill his desire for power, which reveals his flaw. And his motives are not for all the right reasons. Act three: Brutus is a great man, but has been a fool to be so easily persuaded. He has completely destroyed his loyalty to Caesar. When Caesar is at the senate, all of the conspirators suspiciously become very close to him and will not leave his side. Brutus is the last man to stab Caesar. After Caesar has died, Brutus speaks to all of the Roman citizens. He tells them to all cry our “peace, freedom, and liberty!” Antony is very petrified and tells them to kill him also, but they refuse. Brutus then explains to him why they killed him, because he was destroying the republic and he had to be stopped. Antony believes him and then he asks to speak at his funeral. Brutus has been fooled once again; Antony does not agree with them but is doing so to get their acceptance to get a chance to speak against them to the crowd. So, Brutus allows Antony to speak at Caesars funeral, which Brutus was not aware that Antony would turn the crowd against him. In Act four, Brutus is very angry at Cassius because Cassius is accused of accepting bribes. Brutus claims this is one of the reasons why they killed Caesar. Brutus is also angry because he asked Cassius for money to pay his legions of soldiers which is also denied. Towards the end of the argument, Cassius offers Brutus his dagger to kill him. Brutus refuses because he could not do such a thing, and they embrace in being friends again. Brutus finally informs Cassius that Portia has died, but Brutus thinks it was just an impatience of his absence. Honor means everything to Brutus, and he refuses to show weakness to his troops. Brutus decides as he is talking to Messala and Cassius that their enemy is gaining power, and they must move before they get any stronger so they will leave in the morning. As Brutus is reading a book that night, the ghost of Julius Caesar appears. Brutus is informed that he will see him again at Philippi.

In Act five, the death of Brutus and Cassius shows that Caesar is as strong as ever, even in death. At Brutus’ death, he only overcame himself. He was dealing with the inner struggle of supporting Caesar as a friend, or killing him as a dictator. This inner struggle is what causes the civil war between him and Antony, and many other Romans. When Brutus is unable to overcome his internal struggle, Antony states that Brutus is the noblest roman of them all. Brutus was the only one that believed they were killing Caesar for the Roman Republic. Brutus was the only one to remain his dignity and humanity in this play. He stands as a symbol of honor against Cassius who is dishonest and manipulative. Brutus was a very good man and only killed Caesar because he was manipulated into thinking it was the right thing to do. He would’ve been a great man if he didn’t have Cassius to persuade him. But, at least he died a noble man.