The Assassination Of Brutus In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

The play, Julius Caesar, was written by William Shakespeare as a form of enjoyment and an educational literary work, but its uses have since gone far beyond this. Many aspects of the characters, such as their actions and motives, have been used to spark debates and defined sides of arguments since its creation of the play itself. No character has been disputed more, of course, than the infamous Brutus, whose actions led to the assassination of both Caesar and himself. One major conflict, in regards to Brutus, is whether his actions made him a patriot or a traitor. Although Brutus seemed to have a shadow of guilt casted upon himself as he committed the deeds told to him by Cassius, Brutus had the antics of a betrayer, due to the fact that he …show more content…
He states to some of his conspirers, “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death and envy afterwards; For Antony is but a limb of Caesar: Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius” (Act II, i, Lines 169 – 173).” Despite this, Brutus ends up killing Caesar with no actual reason to do so, and goes to war with Marc Antony later after Caesar’s assassination. Another point in the play that provides support of the ethical stability of Brutus was when he woke the others to make it seem like Caesar’s ghost was an external force, even though he knew that the ghost of Caesar was just a visual representation of his own guilt towards assassinating Caesar. This behavior is shown in the following quote by Brutus: “Now I have taken heart thou vanishest. Ill spirit, I would hold more talk with thee. —Boy, Lucius!—Varrus!—Claudio!—Sirs, awake! —Claudio!” (Act IV, iii, Lines 293 – 295). Regardless of the fact that he was fearful of his future, to the point of having strange dreams about the man he assassinated, he still believed that what he did and will do will only benefit the future of the Roman Empire. With all …show more content…
Then fall, Caesar” (Act III, i, Line 84), Brutus has no compassion for him whatsoever. He continues to believe that what he is done will do nothing but good for the future of the Roman Empire. Not only this, but he also attempts to use deception in order to trick both himself and his enemies into thinking that nothing is wrong after the assassination of Caesar by the conspirers. In a conversation to himself, he assures that whenever approached about any situation from that point on, he would greet it with a deceptive smile and willingness to converse. He shows these qualities with the following quote in the play: “They are the faction. O conspiracy, Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night When evils are most free? O, then by day Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough To mask the monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy. Hide it in smiles and affability” (Act II, i, Lines 79 -85). These basic instincts by Brutus showcase just how blasphemous he really was towards his fellow