“Speak, Strike, and Redress”: The Rise and Fall of Brutus’ Moral Compass
Julius Caesar Act II, Scene I, lines 10-236
In Act III of William Shakespeare’s play ‘Julius Caesar’, Julius Caesar, Emperor of Rome, is murdered. Prefacing this, in Act II, Brutus contemplates the necessity of this end to Caesar’s life and sovereignty. It has been suggested that power or the quest for it causes Caesar’s death, however it is in fact the opposite. Brutus does not seek power, in fact he fears for his friend’s (Caesar’s) integrity in the face of power. The query regarding this issue is one of corruption: did Brutus himself achieve corruption during his quest to end the prospect of a venal reign by Caesar? Power has many prospects — it can lead to an ascendancy …show more content…
Brutus holds deep admiration and love for Caesar. Brutus knows and admits to himself that he has never witnessed Caesar ambitious before: “to speak truth of Caesar, I have not known when his affections swayed more than his reason” (II.i.20). Ironically, Brutus determines to murder Caesar for this very reason. He likens Caesar to that of a serpents egg — “which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous”, and grow into a deceitful and corrupted leader …show more content…
The letter itself asks Brutus to “awake, and see [himself]”, to “speak, strike, and redress”, for Rome is crumbling whilst he sleeps. Brutus interprets this as a cry against Caesar and uses it as fuel for his decision to murder. Although Brutus kills Caesar for the supposed good of the people and for the benefit go Caesar himself, Brutus is not innocent. Although he commits suicide in order to avenge the death he brought upon Caesar, Brutus is not fully honorable. These actions, despite Brutus’ noble reasoning for each, are corrupt. Brutus not only creates an issue in his head that is not there, based on historical occurrences and personal assumptions about power, but he carries out the perverse solution he has been influenced to believe is necessary in confronting the imagined issue. His statements that claim recognition of the corruption of which he is victim and toward which he is headed are brief and quickly abandoned. He recognizes that “since Cassius first did whet [him] against Caesar, [he] ha[s] not slept” (II.i.64), a recognition of unconscious unsettlement, and then immediately exonerates himself with the following: “The genius and the mortal instruments are then in council, and the state of man, like to a little kingdom, suffers then the nature of an insurrection” (II.i.69). Brutus illustrates the trial of his decision to kill
Julius Caesar Act II, Scene I, lines 10-236
In Act III of William Shakespeare’s play ‘Julius Caesar’, Julius Caesar, Emperor of Rome, is murdered. Prefacing this, in Act II, Brutus contemplates the necessity of this end to Caesar’s life and sovereignty. It has been suggested that power or the quest for it causes Caesar’s death, however it is in fact the opposite. Brutus does not seek power, in fact he fears for his friend’s (Caesar’s) integrity in the face of power. The query regarding this issue is one of corruption: did Brutus himself achieve corruption during his quest to end the prospect of a venal reign by Caesar? Power has many prospects — it can lead to an ascendancy …show more content…
Brutus holds deep admiration and love for Caesar. Brutus knows and admits to himself that he has never witnessed Caesar ambitious before: “to speak truth of Caesar, I have not known when his affections swayed more than his reason” (II.i.20). Ironically, Brutus determines to murder Caesar for this very reason. He likens Caesar to that of a serpents egg — “which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous”, and grow into a deceitful and corrupted leader …show more content…
The letter itself asks Brutus to “awake, and see [himself]”, to “speak, strike, and redress”, for Rome is crumbling whilst he sleeps. Brutus interprets this as a cry against Caesar and uses it as fuel for his decision to murder. Although Brutus kills Caesar for the supposed good of the people and for the benefit go Caesar himself, Brutus is not innocent. Although he commits suicide in order to avenge the death he brought upon Caesar, Brutus is not fully honorable. These actions, despite Brutus’ noble reasoning for each, are corrupt. Brutus not only creates an issue in his head that is not there, based on historical occurrences and personal assumptions about power, but he carries out the perverse solution he has been influenced to believe is necessary in confronting the imagined issue. His statements that claim recognition of the corruption of which he is victim and toward which he is headed are brief and quickly abandoned. He recognizes that “since Cassius first did whet [him] against Caesar, [he] ha[s] not slept” (II.i.64), a recognition of unconscious unsettlement, and then immediately exonerates himself with the following: “The genius and the mortal instruments are then in council, and the state of man, like to a little kingdom, suffers then the nature of an insurrection” (II.i.69). Brutus illustrates the trial of his decision to kill