Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Brutus, an Honorable Man



Final Assessment Julius Caesar Essay

“As I love the name of honor more than I fear death”(1-2-89). Brutus is emphasized as a very honorable man in the play “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare. Honor is what Brutus loves the most and this becomes his fatal flaw. In the play, Brutus is the main character and turns out to be the tragic hero. This quote explains how Brutus will die for honor. Brutus’s main goal in anything is to do it with honor. He is also very patriotic in what he does doing anything for the good of Rome. As the tragic hero of this play Brutus has many motivations into doing what ever he does. Honor and patriotism, both are driving factors of Brutus that caused him to kill Caesar as he believed that it would lead to a better Rome free from tyranny.

As Brutus’s main trait, honor has a big impact in every action he makes. The most honorable act in this play according to him is when they killed Caesar. Brutus and many other conspirators had believed Caesar was a very ambitious man and must be brought down. Before actually killing Caesar, Brutus being the honorable man he is still wanted to honor Caesar even when he was dead. When Brutus was planning the assassination with the other conspirators he ordered them to “kill him boldly, but not wrathfully; let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods”(2-1-172). This shows how much he respects anyone. Even the corpse of the person he has just killed. He will honor anything or anyone if it is his doing. Although Brutus’s high state of honor may be looked upon as a great trait it was also his fatal flaw. After the death of Caesar, one of Caesar’s closest friends, Mark Anthony, started a war against the Conspirators. When Brutus knew that he had lost he commanded is few living soldiers to kill him. Brutus said, “It is more worthy to leap in ourselves that tarry till they push.” (5-5-24) This shows how Brutus will rather commit suicide than be killed because it is more honorable. This goes back to when Brutus explains how he loves honor more than he fears death. So to him his death must be honorable. Through the play Brutus speaks about honor in every speech and soliloquy. To him honor is the closest thing to his heart and he will kill and even sacrifice himself just to keep honor close to his heart.

Apart from honor Brutus is also motivated to do anything for the welfare of the state of Rome. Every decision he makes involves him doing anything patriotic. It is always for the benefit of the people of Rome. His prime example of this was when he killed Caesar. Brutus was convinced by Cassius to see that Caesar might actually become a tyrant and rules the Roman Empire not as a Consul but as a King. Therefore, Brutus and the other conspirators kill Caesar to save Rome from tyranny. After the assassination Brutus explains to the other conspirators on how to go about the streets. “Lets all cry, ‘peace freedom and liberty!” Brutus becomes very patriotic. This shows how Brutus will do anything for the welfare of the people. He expresses this by killing Caesar and going out to the forum in his blood screaming “peace freedom and liberty” to show how much he loves Rome and wants them to be free from tyranny. Later on in that act Brutus speaks to all the commoners about what he has done. In his speech he addresses how “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” This shows he will sacrifice a good friend just for the freedom of the people. In conclusion, Brutus is a great patriot to the State of Rome that he would do anything just so it can be free and peaceful.

Through all of this, Brutus was expressed a man of great honor and a patriot. Through all of this he completed every action he toke with honor and in these actions there was always a hint that it was done for the people of Rome. Through this Brutus killed a dear friend and sacrificed his own life so it could achieve these traits to the very max. Therefore Caesar has made him the main character due to the fact that Brutus hardly had any bad traits and did not die for them but instead died from his greatest traits. Which made him the tragic hero. Although Brutus’s goal was to kill Caesar I don’t believe he achieved it fully because the due to the fact that Caesar spirit still was in Anthony and his men, which caused a war. I do believe Brutus’s intentions were noble and worthy but he got a bit carried away and started to create a few bad outcomes like the war, which Brutus never planned on happening.

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