Brutus, Villain or Victim “The truth is you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed”-Eminem. William Shakespeare’s play entitled The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar, centers around the protagonist Marcus Brutus. With this in mind, for centuries, whether Brutus is a villain or a victim has been disputed. In the end, Brutus’s best friend Caesar dies, Brutus’s wife Portia dies, and he himself dies. Despite, Brutus murdering his best friend, he’s more of a victim than a villain. . . “Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind”-Theodore Roosevelt. When determining one’s character, words …show more content…
On page 782 Brutus says “For let the gods so speed me, as I love the name of honor more than I fear death”. In short, the quote signifies he believes in honor more than he fears death. Later, Brutus realizes his life is up, as a result he decides to kill himself as a honorable man, thus, proving his conviction to his word. On page 831 Brutus says “ Not that I loved Caesar less , but that I loved Rome more”. Obviously, Brutus’s loyalty belongs to Rome more than the life of his beloved friend. That is to say, murder is justified by nationalism would be outrageous, but, Brutus’s actions weren't filled with the ill will of a villain. In short, Brutus dedication as a Roman is pure, although, his actions are those of a villain his intentions weren't villainous. “The ends justify the means”-Machiavelli. Though, Brutus held good will for his people, people focus on the results rather the means. In the end, Brutus ends up indirectly killing many Romans and causes chaos to a cordial country. Ultimately, Brutus is the main reason for all the chaos. In contrast with my earlier argument, I understand how anyone could perceive Brutus as a villain rather than a victim. On page 828, Brutus says “It shall advantage more than do us wrong”. In Act 3, Brutus trusting Antony, allows him to deliver a speech in the memory of Caesar. Unbeknownst to Brutus, Antony riles the citizens into a
Does his sense of patriotism really justify killing a friend and a major political leader? You may notice that Brutus isn't very sympathetic as he is defending what he did. The dramatic character has a flaw. That flaw maybe one single word, but there can be many parts to that word. For Brutus there are many parts of his flaw that make him the dramatic character.
Brutus’s words emphasize his desperation for help in his death, “thou knowst that we two went to school together; Even for that our love of old, I prithee, Hold thou my sword whilst I run on it” further emphasizes that though they have been long friends who love each other Brutus’s need of not facing bondage leads him to his
Brutus is the tragic hero of the play Julius Caesar. Brutus, just like almost every other person ever born, had flaws about him, but that does not mean that he cannot be the tragic hero of Julius Caesar. Brutus was an honorable man. Brutus was the only conspirator that killed Caesar for the good of Rome. Brutus loved his country more than he loved his closest friend.
Julius Caesar’s desire to become the greatest ruler of Rome causes the Roman people to want him dead- including his best friend. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, a group of men devise a scheme to kill the treacherous leader of their country. Conspirators believe Julius Caesar’s ambition will inevitably lead to the downfall of Rome. Each man with their own specific reason unite as conspirators to get rid of Caesar. Through his role in the conspiracy, Brutus’ actions depict Brutus as honorable and gullible.
The least honorable character of Julius Caesar is Brutus. The main reason Brutus is dishonorable is because he betrayed his friend Caesar. Brutus shouldn’t have made Caesar think they were friends because in the end they weren’t true friends. If Brutus wanted to be seen as an honorable friend he should have sat down and talked to him about what he was doing. Instead of doing this, Brutus killed Caesar and helped the conspirators.
This could be true, but Brutus would fit more into the tragic hero persona. Some of Brutus’s tragic flaws included trusting people too much, not listening to others that have more experience, and thinking about the people more than himself. All of these flaws ultimately led to Brutus becoming a coward and committing suicide. In act 3 scene 1 Brutus kills Caesar because he thinks he is doing it for the good of Rome. In reality, when he killed Caesar he just signed his death note, and he hurt Rome more than helped.
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” This is an accepted saying that almost everyone knows and I’m sure it must have come from the time of Julius Caesar. Brutus was Julius’ best friend, but Brutus ends up killing Julius. Everyone who reads this story has different impressions as to whether they believe Brutus was a patriot or a traitor. I believe that Brutus is a patriot; but, Brutus does show actions that could convey the impression he was a traitor.
In conclusion, Brutus is not a villain. His conscience tells him that what he did was wrong and something had to be done about it, which ends in him killing himself. He shows lots of compassion throughout The Tragedy of Julius Caesar(JC) by William
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).
Some will say yes, and others will say no. Brutus has trusted his instincts and chose to side with the conspiracy. All of his reasons are all valid, for he wants to prevent tyranny. Secondly, he wants to do it with pride and for the civilians of Rome as he places himself lower than the lowest tier class out of respect.
Brutus realized the great harm Caesar could bring to Rome if the was crowned king. Although Brutus was easily persuaded by Cassius to go as far as committing a murder, Brutus did it because he thought that it was the best for Rome. Brutus does what he thinks is the absolute best for Rome which really shows his great honor and
Samantha Durand 27 October 2015 Dunipace 4th Julius Caesar Essay Brutus is the Tragic Hero William Shakespeare wrote “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” to tell the story of the tragedy that happened to him. When Caesar was going to become king, his own friends turned into conspirators against him. Since the conspirators said that Caesar would abuse the power of being king, they decided to murder him for the sake of the Roman people.
Brutus the Tragic Hero: Rough Draft Brutus was faced with many difficulties that lead to him becoming a tragic hero. He was forced to make the decision of killing his best friend ( Julius Caesar ) for the “good of Rome” in his opinion. But Brutus also thought that not killing Caesar would make him king and Julius would gain too much power, causing him to do things for himself and not for his own people. Brutus is face to face with a dilemma which could cause him to loose loyalty towards Caesar or gain honor, helping the people of Rome by killing his friend.
Brutus has negatively affected the outlook of Rome and created more harm than good for the situation. Not only did it harm Rome, but it brought his own demise and hallucinations of Caesar’s ghost. Brutus’s speech to the plebeians after Caesar’s death, about his dilemma and his viewpoint towards Caesar, influenced the viewpoints of the plebeians and causes them to believe he is the best roman until Antony speaks to them. Brutus’s idealism led to his own death later on and brought him more misery than his idealism could
“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. ” - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Oftentimes, people set goals for themselves to accomplish. These goals creates great desire and ambition which fuels all actions.