Manipulation Of Brutus In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

In Act I, Scene 2, the purpose of Cassis’ speech is to persuade Brutus to distrust Caesar, and to join him in a conspiracy against Caesar. In his speech to Brutus, Cassius uses a variety of persuasive and rhetorical devices to persuade Brutus to join his cause against Caesar. Cassius is desperate to have Brutus on his side because of his close relation to Caesar and great respect and trust from the people of Rome. The tone of Cassius’ speech to Brutus is introduced with Cassius appealing to Brutus’ sense of responsibility towards Rome. Cassius tells Brutus that he has, “Heard where many of the best respect in Rome, except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus and groaning underneath this age’s yoke, have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes” (I.ii.64-68). Cassius tells Brutus that he is admired by Rome, appealing to Brutus’ value of putting Rome ahead of himself. Cassius uses knowledge of this value to his advantage in his speech, insisting that killing Caesar will be for the good of Rome. Cassius also introduces his speech by persuading Brutus that he is honorable and can be trusted. Cassius tells Brutus that, “Honor is the subject of my story”(I.ii.99). This appeals to the speaker Cassius’ credibility and has an ethical appeal on Brutus, or ethos. This appeal is effective because it connects with something that Brutus values, honor. In Cassius’ speech to Brutus, he uses a comparison comparing Caesar to a Colossus saying, “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonorable graves”(I.ii.142-144). Cassius is using an analogy comparing Caesar to Colossus, which was a large statue. Cassius again uses Brutus’ value of honor to persuade when he tells Brutus that if Caesar is in power, he and Brutus will die dishonorable deaths. During the time period, an honorable death was very important to noble Romans, especially Brutus. When Cassius is comparing the two names Brutus and Caesar, he uses the strategy of asking rhetorical questions. “Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that ‘Caesar?’ Why should that name be sounded more than yours?(I.ii.149-151).” Cassius also asks, “Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he

The audience also sees him as a manipulative friend who really only has his own interests in mind. When it looks like he is trying to help Brutus out earlier in the play by finding him some confidence, Cassius is really only setting him up for failure. He goes to great lengths to get Brutus to do what he wants. Cassius formulates a plan to throw letters into Brutus's window in different handwriting to convince Brutus that other people want him to be ruler too. This is very manipulative of him because he is tricking Brutus by disguising his handwriting.

As noble and great as Brutus might be, all tragic heroes have some tragic flaws and make some errors of judgment, which leads them to their downfall. In this case Brutus's great flaw is that he is too honorable, and he's too naïve when he is dealing with people. An example of an error of judgment is when Brutus underestimates Antony, and thinks him incapable of being dangerous after Caesar's death, "For Antony is but a limb of Caesar...he can do no more than Caesar's arm When Caesar's head is off."  This turns out not to be the case. One example of Brutus's excessive honor being damaging to him, is when he decides that only Caesar should die and no one else even if they seem to threaten his cause, as Cassius warns repeatedly that Antony does.

Brutus was very naive and got influenced by Cassius very easily. Cassius was very smart and manipulated Brutus to make him agree with him. Cassius said, “If I were Brutus now, and he were Cassius, He should not humour me.” (Shakespeare, p.13). Brutus believed that his friend, Caesar had a negative impact on Rome decided to join the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. Even though Caesar was his friend, Brutus always showed loyalty towards Rome. Brutus' tragic flaw is that he is not good at figuring out other’s intentions, and trusted Cassius. If Brutus never listened to Cassius in the first place, he would not have joined the conspiracy, and might not have had a tragic end.

Brutus and his actions are well known across every culture. Brutus, a Roman Senator, killed his best friend, Julius Caesar, in order to defend the people. These actions were dramatized by a renowned playwright, William Shakespeare, in his famous play, Julius Caesar. To craft his play, Shakespeare studied the real life events which occurred, and from them he created a masterful work of art which is now famous across the globe. Shakespeare took references from multiple sources, the largest of which was Roman author and philosopher, Plutarch. From Plutarch, Shakespeare got his influence for the main characters; Julius Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Antony, and many of the conspirators. Both in the play and in real life, Brutus kills

Brutus was a wise and intelligent Roman citizen, who claimed that he was Caesar’s friend. Yet, he was quickly swayed to the conspirators side by some anonymous letters and a bit of flattering.

Brutus is shown as being easily manipulated in the play. This trait is shown a few times in the play. At the beginning, Brutus is tricked by Cassius into believing that killing Julius Caesar would be for the better of Rome (1, 2, ll. 32-321). Cassius is able to deviously influence Brutus into thinking that Caesar is no different from Brutus. He says, “Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that Caesar?/ Why should that name be

He states that Brutus is just as noble and worthy as Caesar. (Act 1, scene ii). He says that Brutus cannot see what everyone else does and recognize his worthiness. Cassius and the other senators do not want Caesar to be king because they would lose all their power. Cassius is slowly luring Brutus in to do his dirty work. He builds Brutus’s confidence up to make him thing that killing Caesar is the right thing to do. Cassius is basically playing with Brutus’s head because he knows Brutus will listen. So, Brutus joins the conspirators in killing Caesar. Cassius tells Brutus that it is for the good of Rome, and that he is saving them from a dictatorship. Cassius is going for Brutus’s weakest point, his care and concern for Rome. He knows that if Brutus believes the people distrust Caesar, then he will be convinced that Caesar must be thwarted. Brutus knew that if Caesar was crowned, he would never have a chance, and he was power hungry. This is what ultimately leads to the tragedy of Julius Caesar. After Brutus kills Caesar off, he starts to feel guilty for killing his friend, thus creating an internal conflict. Brutus was so confident that the plan would go exactly as planned that he fell apart when they encountered problems. If Brutus and the other conspirators had taken more time to think things through, they probably would have been more prepared for the situation that was handed to them.

Tricking him into doing “what's good for the people” . The next way they try to manipulate Brutus is by flattering him. In the play Brutus is a very self conscious character. He might be the same as Caesar but he doesn't see this. “I have heard Where many of the best respect in Rome, Except Immortal Caesar speaking of Brutus and groaning underneath his age’s yoke Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes” (I.ii.60). Cassius is convincing Brutus into believing he really is a brave and noble man. By doing this Brutus will be more offended by Caesar's remarks and want to join the conspiracy. To wrap up, Brutus is in fact manipulated into killing Caesar.

In this world, few skills carry with them greater power than the skill of speaking to a crowd. A good speech can shatter the dreams or raise the hopes of millions. It can raise civilizations, or it can destroy them. The right speech can change the world. And the legendary writer William Shakespeare knew this well, as we see in one of his most popular plays; Julius Caesar. In the play, this power speech has is seen most heavily in the life of Brutus, who was not only manipulated by the words of others time after time, but tried to sway others with his own words, with some success even, but was often ruined by the even stronger rhetoric of others or perhaps by other events later on.

as a way of justifying his actions. Cassius Is attempting to justify his dislike for Caesar using propaganda techniques. Meanwhile, Brutus is trying to justify his actions in act 3, Brutus says,

Brutus is a very well respected person who was driven down the wrong path. Cassius who is a manipulative, power hungry person guided Brutus down that path. Cassius manipulates Brutus into believing that his closest friend Caesar, a prideful person, was going to destroy his home, Rome, and made him believe they had to be the ones to stop him from “destroying Rome.”

A highly respected man, and admired by others that may of disliked him before it was Brutus’ end. “His life was gentle, and the elements/ So mixed in him that Nature might stand up/ And say to all the world, ‘This was a man!’” (5.5.73-75). Brutus is one with great leadership, and a loyal friend of Julius Caesar. He was easily convinced by Cassius and the conspirators that Julius Caesar was not fit for king of Rome. Before, Brutus was there and supported Caesar. Now, Cassius had talked to Brutus, and he changed his mind and thought it was best for Rome that Caesar was killed before he was crowned. Brutus then took control of the conspirators and became leader. Brutus made all the decisions with Cassius, then turned into Brutus making all the decisions by himself, regarding Cassius. Brutus’ decisions were not the best and that led him into his own death, when he ran himself into a sword. In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by, William Shakespeare, Brutus is a man that contains great leadership skills, and does what is right; but farther in, his decisions lead to a downfall of taking Cassius out of his place when he was a good leader already, and as well as killing himself.

To begin with, Brutus is too trusting of those around him. Brutus’s friend Cassius recognizes that Brutus is driven by what is best for Rome. Because of this Cassius devises a plan to plant a fake petition from the people of Rome stating that Caesar needs to be executed. Brutus never even questions that the petition is real. After reading the petition Brutus’ response is:

Brutus is a logical, rational and well-reasoned thinker which contributed to him as a leader. Consequently, Brutus is often caught with internal struggles that he has to face, but his actions always try to benefit Rome and its citizens over his own.