The Human Condition Of Betrayal In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Marcus Brutus was a reputable man to the people of Rome and to his friend Caesar. Brutus had good intentions for Rome’s people, which is why he did not think Caesar would be a good leader. Although Caesar was in shock to see Brutus included in the men that stabbed him, Brutus only did it for the good of the people. Brutus reveals his nobility to his people when he says in Act 3, scene 2, “…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”(126). Brutus’s statement explains that he had all the respect for Caesar as anyone else, but the love for his people and home was much more prized. He killed Caesar out of fear of what may happen to the beloved people of Rome. This proves that Brutus’s intentions were just as honorable as the man he was. In addition to both characters being honorable, their actions got the best of them and may have changed them for the worst.

Brutus’s motivations behind the death of Caesar is clearly evident in his speech after the assassination. Throughout his speech, Brutus relies on reason and logical rationale and syllogisms to explain the reasons behind the assassination “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. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free man? /as he was ambitious, I slew him”. These strong and emotive words demonstrate Brutus strong love for Rome. Thus it can be said that, although Shakespeare presents various perceptions towards Julius Caesar, the composer’s bias is not negated.

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.

When people have a lost of trust in each other they can lose their humanity and become savage. The sources that will be used are Lord of the Flies by William Golding and play call Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Golding wrote Lord of the flies in the 1960’s in the cold war years. Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar in 1599 only 3 years after his only son dead at the age of 11 years old. Both works are made in a time when the authors are sad or scary. In the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and the book Lord of the Flies by Golding show betrayal. This show the loss of humanity and trust in each other and other people.

In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, one must read the text closely to track the shifting motivations and loyalties of each character as the play progresses. An important factor that must be kept in mind while reading is the degree of loyalty, in other words, the degree to which characters act out of a motivation to help others. Throughout the play, each character's current degree of loyalty to others is clearly exhibited by words or behavior – this holds true for the characters of Brutus, Cassius, Antony, Portia, and Calpurnia. The focus on loyalty is critical because before the play ends an even-handed justice is meted out to a number of people who fail to live up to an expected standard of

As you read Julius Caesar you get to know the characters better and better. Like you start to understand that Cassius is way wrong with the whole plan to kill Caesar, and that Brutus should not have listened to him, but that we are talking about Brutus let me just say some things about him. Brutus was a fellow friend of Caesar but the problem was is that he started to listen to Cassius a fellow traitor of Caesar but used to be his friend a long time ago, in the story when Cassius and Brutus met on the day when Caesar has come from his conquest from Pompay Cassius told Brutus stories of how Caesar was a little girl and that he got cold for just falling in to the river and how he cried for help and Cassius helped him but he was a shamed of having such a little girl of a leader. To say the truth Brutus was not that bad of a person, he was a very good friend with Caesar, I bet he would have helped Caesar with anything, but the things changed and Cassius persuaded Brutus that Caesar was a

From good character development, to a strong plot, it is a good story from start to finish. What is up for speculation; however, is whether or not Brutus was acting out of his own free will or if he was manipulated by Cassius when he killed Caesar. While the majority of people will try and say that it was in fact manipulation by Cassius, which caused Brutus to choose to murder his best friend, it was not this way. Brutus was far too intelligent to allow himself to be manipulated. Also, he constantly clashed with Cassius. Furthermore, Shakespeare’s play was based off of real life events and real life people, Brutus was no exception. In real life, Brutus killed Caesar of his own free will, and Shakespeare followed suit by having his version of Brutus also kill Caesar of his own free will. There is no question about it, Brutus chose to kill Caesar of his own accords, not because Cassius manipulated him into doing

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.

Both Cassius and Brutus play major roles in the play Julius Caesar. Cassius and Brutus both plan Caesar’s death. Although they are working towards a common goal, Cassius and Brutus have very different motivations for doing this. On the one hand, Cassius sees it as a way to gain more power for himself while destroying the king and all his power. On the other hand, Brutus believes that in killing Caesar he is preserving peace for the Romans’ future years. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses different techniques to create biased characterizations of the two men so that readers and viewers develop identical attitudes towards each of them. In Julius Caesar, Cassius is portrayed as a greedy villain while Brutus is depicted as an

Brutus made one wrong decision that caused everyone to kill themselves. Brutus decided to kill Caesar solely based off of something a small group of people said, he let people that he doesn’t know as well as his best friend, Caesar, convince him to murder Caesar. If Brutus hadn’t agreed with the conspirators, and had he warned Caesar, it’s fair to assume that almost all of the

There are many different themes for the play Julius Caesar, but the most pronounced theme would be betrayal. Betrayal is going behind someone’s back and turning on them, or in this play even killing someone who you once looked up to. The conspirators claimed they had many reasons to kill Caesar, but that does not change how they once felt about him. Betrayal is a dark and horrible thing that people do to those whom they “loved.”

In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, an honorable man, Brutus, is planning to overthrow the soon to be king, Julius Caesar. Brutus is persuaded by Cassius that Caesar is a liar, too ambitious, weak, and not fit to be Rome’s king. Brutus soon believed Cassius, and they and the conspirators made a plan to kill Caesar. After Caesar’s death, Brutus planned to justify his actions of killing Caesar at his funeral in his speech to the people. After Brutus’s speech, the citizens of Rome were all in agreement that Brutus did the right thing for Rome. Brutus then decides to allow Caesar’s best friend, Antony, to speak in honor of Caesar. Antony speaks, and he convinces the citizens that Brutus’s actions were unjust and turned the people against Brutus.

In act 2, scene 1, Brutus is finally introduced to the group of conspirators; in this act we notice the first mistake Brutus makes. "Alas good Cassius do not think of him. If he loves Caesar, all that he can is to himself, take thought, and die for Caesar. And that were much he should, for he is given to sports, to wilderness, and much company." Brutus believes he has only to explain his reasons for killing Caesar and everyone will accept them.

Fisher, Jerilyn, and Ellen S. Silber. "Reading Between the Lines: Connecting with Gertrude and Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet." Women in Literature: Reading through the Lens of

In the beginning of the play, we meet Brutus, a highly respected, much loved, senator of Rome. He loved Rome as a republic and he has a good life until he is led astray by Cassius. When he becomes embroiled in the assassination of Caesar, he is very reluctant to do so. In the way he acted, you could tell he has sleepless nights over what he should do. He decided to kill Caesar for