In Act II of Julius Caesar Brutus had an internal conflict where he decided whether or not to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar who is a long time friend of Brutus. I believe that Brutus made the right decision in deciding to kill Caesar because of the points he made in his soliloquy in the opening scene of Act II. Brutus uses ethos, logos,and pathos to justify the killing of Caesar. In the beginning of his soliloquy he decides that killing Caesar is in the best interest of Rome's people; he justifies this conclusion by making a few claims. Brutus believes that if Caesar gets the crown the power will corrupt him and make him a cruel and ruthless dictator and the only way to stop this is to kill him. In his soliloquy he says “I know no cause to spurn at him, but for the general”. This means that although Brutus is dear friends with Caesar he believes it is for the good …show more content…
The reasoning behind Caesar's assassination is to prevent the dangers that Caesar could present in the future. Brutus comes to the conclusion that he must compare Caesar to a serpent's egg, once hatched it becomes dangerous. So Caesar must be killed in the shell before he can become that dangerous serpent. He says this in lines 32 through 34 “and therefore treats him like a serpent's egg which hatched as his kind grew mischievous and killed him in the shell”. I believe Brutus truly justified the killing of Caesar and that it was for the good of Rome. Some people believe that Brutus only rationalized killing Caesar for himself and didn’t justify it. They believe that Caesar never committed any of these acts yet that Brutus was justified to kill Caesar. Brutus said that he never knew Caesar to let the emotions get the better of his reason but shrugs it off by saying every ambitious young man will pretend to have humility to advance themself. That sounds more like a rationalization for himself rather than a
“Brutus did not know if he would go through with the murder” “How was he to kill a man he loved? A man who had loved him like a son and may even be his own true father”. Brutus doesn’t think he will be able to kill a man who he and all of Rome loves. Caesar was more like a god than he was a man. Admittedly, there are some people who believe that Caesar was to powerful and needed to be taken out.
Should Marcus Brutus join the conspiracy against Julius Caesar? In Act II Brutus is battling an internal conflict on whether or not he should save his dear friend or potentially save the Republic from the power abuse they expect from Caesar. Marcus Brutus should join the conspiracy against Julius Caesar. Caesar will be too powerful to be removed from power if they wait to assassinate him once he has been crowned, Brutus wants to follow the path of his ancestors and continue his family’s legacy and impact on Rome, and Brutus chooses the best interest of the people over his own best interest. Julius Caesar will be too powerful to be removed from power if they wait to assassinate him when he has demonstrated any abuse of power, so in order to save the Republic from the potential threat they must kill him now as he is weak and vulnerable.
Killing Caesar is the right way to keep the republic and rid the possibility of a single ruler. Brutus’s ancestors made the Roman Republic and he is very proud of that and feels he should keep what they started. This reasoning coupled with him wanting what is best for Rome makes it only logical that he kill Caesar. He has to kill Caesar because any other way of knocking him out of power will either not work or get him killed. Making it only logically and morally right to kill Caesar.
(II, 10-15) Brutus says the conspiracy is nothing personal towards Caesar. Similarly, Brutus sincerely believes that evil may come rather than the good that may come from Caesar, once he gets full power of Rome. Furthermore, they were both true friends, but Brutus thought the decision of killing Caesar was necessary to free Rome from Caesar's tyranny.
his so called friend brutus worries that caesar might aspire to dictatorship over the roman republic although caesar shows no such inclination since he declined the crown several times. brutus reasons for all these monstrosities are in his soliloquy in act two and he says, "the only way is to kill him" as if there is no alternative. he proceeds to say "i have no personal reason to strike at him - only the best interest of the people". he
As stated in Act 3; Scene 3; Lines 20-28 “What villain touched his body, that did stab, And not for justice? What, shall one of us That struck the foremost man of all this world But for supporting robbers, shall we now Contaminate our fingers with base bribes, And sell the mighty space of our large honors For so much trash as may be graspèd thus? I had rather be a dog and bay the moon Than such a Roman.” At this stage Brutus has a soliloquy which determines whether murdering Caesar will actually be the right decision to make. This is extremely effective because it creates a character vs self moment which allows further consideration and thought which can even lead to foreshadowing of what might happen
Brutus killed Caesar out of honor because he felt it was the best thing to do for the people of Rome. Brutus only wanted what was best for the people of Rome and the people around him. This can be seen in his speech in Act III, Scene ii, lines 18 through 19, “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.” Brutus explains that he killed Caesar not out of hate for him but because he felt it was for the good of Rome. Brutus was also an honorable man and the people around him knew that he was.
However, Brutus continually feels the need to defend his actions and justify his crime. If he is truly confident in his deed, he would not stammer to find justifications. Yet, Brutus may not want power, he may really want justice. In his mind, murdering Caesar, was the only route to go.
In Act 3 Scene 2 Brutus said during his speech, “If that friend then demands to know why Brutus turned against Caesar, this is my answer: Not because I cared for Caesar less, but because I cared for Rome more”. Brutus had courage to kill Caesar, not because he wanted to, but for the good of Rome and its people. During the entirety of the story, Brutus
An honorable, respected official in Rome, Marcus Brutus, effectively claims to tell the people that he loved Caesar, but he loved Rome more and Caesar’s ambition was dangerous, therefore, he was justified in killing Caesar for the good of Rome. Brutus supports this claim asserting that he wants the crowd to know that he was justified in killing Caesar. Brutus uses connotation and logic to appeal to pathos and logos by stating, “Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol.
Near the beginning of act II, Brutus has a soliloquy in which he is trying to decide whether joining the conspiracy is the right thing to do. He discusses reasons for why killing Caesar may be appropriate for the current situation of him being crowned king. Brutus also reveals his thoughts about some of Caesar’s behavior and what could happen (based on human nature) if he is given power. In the end, he decides to join with the conspiracy and kill Caesar.
When Brutus was talking to the conspirators Brutus was going back and forth think if he should help the conspirators kill Julius Caesar. He was going back and forth because he was thinking of the power he could have and could rule Rome. The reason behind Brutus killing Caesar was for the better of Rome. If Brutus would not have killed Caesar, Rome would have turned into a dictatorship, and in turn it would have ruined Rome and all of its people. Brutus did not kill Julius just for the power to rule Rome, he killed Julius to save Rome from Caesar’s dictatorship.
And while Brutus did work in part with other conspirators, which eventually led to him killing Caesar, he did it for a more morally sound reason which was that Caesar was going to cause the downfall of Rome because he was too ambitious, which is ironic because Caesar's death led to a string of unfit leaders, and civil unrest that eventually led to the downfall of the roman empire. Brutus was also focused on preventing corruption. “The name of Cassius honors this corruption,/ And chastisement doth therefore hide his head (IV.iii.15-6)... Remember March, the ides of March remember./ Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake” (IV.iii.18-9).
Joining the Conspiracy A question that has gained much attention and controversy is simply this “Should Brutus have joined the conspiracy to kill Caesar?” Many people argue on whether his reasoning dictated the right to end Caesar’s life, after all they were best friends. Some people say yes, he did justify his reasons for killing Caesar. Still others say no, he just rationalized it for himself to make it seem like it was the best and only option that he had.
When Brutus spoke about his motives to kill Caesar he said, “As he was valiant I / honor him. But, as he was ambitious, I slew him.” (3.2.27-28). Brutus honored Caesar but saw that his ambition has the potential of being very dangerous. He thought that a danger like Caesar could not be left to grow more powerful when there is a solution to the issue now.