William
Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is mainly
based on the
assassination of Julius Caesar. The character who was in
charge of the
assassination was, ironically, Marcus Brutus, a servant
and close friend
to Julius Caesar. But what would cause a person to kill
a close friend?
After examining Brutus' relationship to Caesar, his
involvement in
the conspiracy, and his importance to the plot, the truth
can be revealed.
Marcus Brutus, a servant and close
friend to Caesar, has a strong
relationship with
Caesar but a stronger relationship with Rome and its
people. Brutus is
very close to Caesar. In Roman times, the only way for
someone to get
close to a person of high rank is if he/she is close to
him/her. In many
points of the play, Brutus was talking and next to
Caesar. Brutus
also loves Caesar but fears his power. In the early acts
of the play,
Brutus says to Cassius, "What means this shouting? I do
fear the people
do choose Caesar for their king...yet I love him
well."(act
1, scene 2, ll.85-89), as he is speaking to Cassius. Brutus
loves Caesar, but
would not allow him to "climber-upward...He then unto
the ladder turns
his back..."(act 2, scene 1, ll.24,26). As the quote
says, Brutus
would not allow Caesar to rise to power and then turn his
back onto the
people of Rome. After the assassination of
Julius Caesar,
Brutus talks to
Antony about Caesar's death. "Our hearts you see not;
they are pitiful;
and pity to the general wrong of Rome..."(act 3, scene
1, ll.185-186).
Brutus says that Antony cannot see their(members of the
conspiracy)
hearts, which are full of pity. Again, this shows how Brutus
loved Caesar but
cared for the life of Rome and its people more. This is
the only reason
Brutus would conspire against Caesar. For Brutus says to
himself, "I
know no personal cause to spurn at him...How that might change
his
nature..."(act 2, scene1, ll. 1,13) Caesar's relationship with Brutus
is also strong.
Just allowing Brutus to speak to Caesar shows his
respect for
Brutus. Caesar feels that Brutus is noble to him and does
the right thing
regardless of personal danger. On the Ides of March, as
Caesar was
assassinated, Caesar's last line is: "Et tu, Brute?--Then
fall,
Caesar."(act 3, scene 1, l.85). This shows that Caesar would not
die without
Brutus' stab. Caesar realizes that there must be a noble
reason for this
assassination if Brutus was in it. This again shows how
much Caesar
respects Brutus. Brutus and Caesar both respect each other,
but in different
ways.
Marcus Brutus had a very important role
in the conspiracy against
Caesar. He was
the "back-bone" of the plan. According to Cassius,
Brutus' main
purpose in the conspiracy is for an insurance policy. The
people will
think, since Brutus is noble to Caesar, that there is a good
reason for
Caesar's assassination. Brutus will also be the leader of the
conspiracy for
another "insurance policy" for the assassination. Cassius
is the one who
declares this, "Brutus shall lead the way, and we will
grace his heels
with the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. "(act 3,
scene 1,
ll.135-136). Again, if Brutus leads the way, the people will
think that the
death of Julius Caesar wasn't such a bad thing. Brutus
also declares to
himself that his role in the conspiracy is to save
Rome. He says to the people that, "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."(Act 3,scene 2,ll.21-24).
If Brutus was not in the plot of The
Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the
conspiracy would
probably not have worked. Since Brutus "...loved Rome
more."(Act
3,scene2, ll.23-24), he decided to be a part of the
conspiracy. If he
hadn't loved Rome more than Caesar, he would not have
joined in the
assassination of Julius Caesar. Cassius and the rest of
the conspirators
would probably not have continued on without Brutus
because they
would have no "insurance" afterwards. The people would
think that there
was no reason for Caesar's death and most likely
beheaded all the
conspirators. Also, if Brutus was not in the play, the
whole end of the
play would not ever occur. Brutus would not be there to
have an army or
kill himself, and Cassius will already be beheaded. If
Brutus was not in
the play, the title would have absolutely no meaning.
Marcus Brutus was a good friend to
Julius Caesar, but not good enough.
He had moral
values dealing with Rome and its people. Brutus' values
then made him
join a conspiracy against Caesar put together by Cassius.
Brutus joined
this mainly because he didn't want Caesar to turn his back
on Rome so there
would be a reasonable reason for killing Caesar. If
Brutus wasn't in
the play, there would be no "Tragedy" in The Tragedy of
Julius Caesar.
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