The Mistakes of an Honorable Man.
Honor is the driving force behind the life of every great, good, or decent man. But does this pertain to a man with pure intentions and dishonorable acts? In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus’ honor has been greatly debated for his notorious acts of killing Roman politician, Julius Caesar. Brutus is an honorable man who was influenced by those who had selfish intentions to perform this heinous act. Throughout the play, Brutus conveys many actions that point to the notion of him being an honorable man, such as being very resistant to the advances of conspirators from the start. This is evident when Cassius, a Roman senator, attempts to manipulate Brutus into thinking …show more content…
To accomplish his goal of removing Caesar from power, Cassius resorts to using his keen insight into human nature to deceive Brutus by means of a long and passionate argument along where he appeals to Brutus' sense of honor, nobility, and pride. Additionally, to secure the doubts, Cassius also wrote a handful of notes that allegedly came from the citizens stating that they hold an utmost respect for him but detest Caesar. This causes Brutus to further his internal debate and cause him to come to the conclusion that these notes are an obvious indication that Cassius’ claims are right and he needs to do what’s best from Rome; committing a selfless act that will ironically create great consequences on what he most valued. One can see that this interior debate has kept Brutus distressed. Brutus states, ‘Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, I have not slept.” (A2 S1 64-65) Brutus says that he hasn’t slept ever since Cassius turned him against Caesar. He feels torn between his loyalty to Rome and his friendship to Caesar. As a matter of fact, if he would have stopped and compared the theoretical concepts Cassius provided as opposed to what he already knew he wouldn’t be able to justify the …show more content…
Brutus makes moral decisions slowly, and he is continuously at war with himself even after he has decided on a course of action. This also points to Brutus’ sense of personal responsibility. He never felt right about his decision to kill Caesar after the fact. One can see this when he realized that he had acted inappropriately to the situation and he finds a solution to his guilt. Brutus asks Voluminous to kill him but he refuses to but Brutus can’t deal with the guilt. Brutus states, “Hold thou my sword hilts, whilst I run on it.” (A5 S5 32). The guilt eats away at Brutus and this is the only way to end all of his problems. He used the knife that he plunged into Caesar to take his own life, out of a sense of obligation. He did what others were unwilling to do. He took responsibility. When he realized that he could do better than the predecessor and that he was actually harming his countrymen through his rule he removed himself from the
Honor is the driving force behind the life of every great, good, or decent man. But does this pertain to a man with pure intentions and dishonorable acts? In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus’ honor has been greatly debated for his notorious acts of killing Roman politician, Julius Caesar. Brutus is an honorable man who was influenced by those who had selfish intentions to perform this heinous act. Throughout the play, Brutus conveys many actions that point to the notion of him being an honorable man, such as being very resistant to the advances of conspirators from the start. This is evident when Cassius, a Roman senator, attempts to manipulate Brutus into thinking …show more content…
To accomplish his goal of removing Caesar from power, Cassius resorts to using his keen insight into human nature to deceive Brutus by means of a long and passionate argument along where he appeals to Brutus' sense of honor, nobility, and pride. Additionally, to secure the doubts, Cassius also wrote a handful of notes that allegedly came from the citizens stating that they hold an utmost respect for him but detest Caesar. This causes Brutus to further his internal debate and cause him to come to the conclusion that these notes are an obvious indication that Cassius’ claims are right and he needs to do what’s best from Rome; committing a selfless act that will ironically create great consequences on what he most valued. One can see that this interior debate has kept Brutus distressed. Brutus states, ‘Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, I have not slept.” (A2 S1 64-65) Brutus says that he hasn’t slept ever since Cassius turned him against Caesar. He feels torn between his loyalty to Rome and his friendship to Caesar. As a matter of fact, if he would have stopped and compared the theoretical concepts Cassius provided as opposed to what he already knew he wouldn’t be able to justify the …show more content…
Brutus makes moral decisions slowly, and he is continuously at war with himself even after he has decided on a course of action. This also points to Brutus’ sense of personal responsibility. He never felt right about his decision to kill Caesar after the fact. One can see this when he realized that he had acted inappropriately to the situation and he finds a solution to his guilt. Brutus asks Voluminous to kill him but he refuses to but Brutus can’t deal with the guilt. Brutus states, “Hold thou my sword hilts, whilst I run on it.” (A5 S5 32). The guilt eats away at Brutus and this is the only way to end all of his problems. He used the knife that he plunged into Caesar to take his own life, out of a sense of obligation. He did what others were unwilling to do. He took responsibility. When he realized that he could do better than the predecessor and that he was actually harming his countrymen through his rule he removed himself from the