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Examples Of Dishonesty In Julius Caesar

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Today, many politicians all over the world display dishonesty, manipulation and a general disregard for morality. In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, there are few men who do not possess these traits. However, in the eyes of Shakespeare, this is not always a good thing. It has been shown repeatedly that if one is fully honest and trusting, like Brutus for example, that person will not be the victor. This makes it clear to see that the most valued trait in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is being charismatic and manipulative, and this is demonstrated through the actions and dialogues of Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony.
From the beginning of the play, one of the things the reader can almost instantly pick up on is how Brutus is meant …show more content…

From the very first time he meets the members of the Conspiracy, Brutus dislikes the idea of meeting in the middle of the night, saying, “O Conspiracy/Sham’st thou to show thy dang’rous brow by night/When evils are most free,” (2.1.78-80). Brutus wants to believe that what he and the others are doing is the just and honorable thing. In fact, he is so desperate to believe that fact that he will condemn the conspiracy for meeting in the middle of the night, citing that only dishonorable and evil-doers meet in the middle of the night. This is rather ironic as the whole idea of the conspiracy is to literally kill a man, a man who put trust into Brutus. It seems like backstabbing Caesar would be seen as dishonorable in the eyes of Brutus; however, through manipulation, Cassius was able to convince Brutus to join. But, Cassius was still unable to convince Brutus to make the group take an oath, as he says, “No, not an oath,” …show more content…

This is all because for once, Cassius gave up his cunning nature and listed to Brutus about dealing with Antony. “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius/To cut the head off then hack the limbs/Like wrath in death and envy afterwards/For Antony is but a limb of Caesar,” (2.1.164-167). Spoken by Brutus who feels as if killing Antony along with Caesar will be seen as barbaric. He feels as if Antony is merely some unintelligent lucky to Caesar, and immediately deems him unimportant and insignificant. However, not killing Antony will eventually be a mistake with serious consequences, as Antony is charismatic to convince the Roman people that Brutus and Cassius are traitors. “Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay/Let not a traitor live!” (3.2.196-197). Mere minutes before the Roman people were praising Cassius and Brutus for taking down the tyrant, yet that was all wiped away with a few praising words from Antony. When he asks to speak at the pulpit, Brutus allows is, only because of honor and that he views Antony as a lesser man. Cassius has his doubts, but he trusts Brutus on the matter. The events of the speech and after it are all because Cassius lost his manipulative nature because of Brutus. Also, while Antony and Cassius are very similar in that both are manipulative and cunning, Antony is the only true victor solely because he does not have anybody trying to

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