“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” In the five centuries since Marc Anthony used these words in William Shakespeare’s production, “Julius Caesar,” audiences alike have continued reading and rereading it. In the play’s eternal lines to time, readers learn a factual history lesson with the added bonus of Shakespeare’s gripping drama. Plot-wise, “Julius Caesar”’ tells the tale of the assassination of Julius Caesar, perpetrated by his deepest trusted friend Brutus, and the devastating consequences that Brutus and Rome face afterwards. Consequently, Brutus is usually affixed with the title of tragic hero. However, out of all the conspirators, Shakespeare’s characterization of Brutus is the most ironic, counterintuitive, and undeserving
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Now in this point, Myron discreetly raises another good one. Whether Brutus realizes it or not, if a tyrant is despised for oppressing the will of the people, Brutus has become one himself by denying the people their wishes for a king.
Overall, the single sided thinking that Brutus has put into his actions, actions that enormously impacted the Roman political system and each Roman citizen, undoubtedly exemplifies how drastically he has harmed his nation.
Essentially, the most climatic contrast between Brutus’s wretched actions and his righteous reputation comes during the battle of Philippi. In act 5 of “Julius Caesar, Brutus behaves unlike a tragic hero and more like a brute. In the first place, when Brutus reminds Cassius that they slew Caesar with honorable intentions, he then describes how taking bribes afterwards would be like “selling the mighty space of [their] large honours,” (Shakespeare).
By the time that Brutus realizes that he is in over his head, any traces of nobility that he might have instantly dwindled when he tells Cassius, “I did send to you for certain sums of gold, … For I can raise no money by vile means” …show more content…
In the very beginning, the snapshot of his mind reveals that he has begun privately plotting Caesar’s removal by whatever means necessary. On the day of Caesar’s murder, Brutus began working quickly to smear Caesar’s name and to justify the plot as well as his role in it, in order to preserve his own will for the Roman republic in spite of the people’s wishes. In the time after Caesar’s death, Brutus became the very thing he openly despised: a leader of war who acted against the will of the people, who also accepted dirty money. Only in his final moments did Brutus feel any kind of remorse, but only as a secondary emotion to his primary feeling of defeat. In the end, people are not born heroes or villains; they’re created by the people around
Now in this point, Myron discreetly raises another good one. Whether Brutus realizes it or not, if a tyrant is despised for oppressing the will of the people, Brutus has become one himself by denying the people their wishes for a king.
Overall, the single sided thinking that Brutus has put into his actions, actions that enormously impacted the Roman political system and each Roman citizen, undoubtedly exemplifies how drastically he has harmed his nation.
Essentially, the most climatic contrast between Brutus’s wretched actions and his righteous reputation comes during the battle of Philippi. In act 5 of “Julius Caesar, Brutus behaves unlike a tragic hero and more like a brute. In the first place, when Brutus reminds Cassius that they slew Caesar with honorable intentions, he then describes how taking bribes afterwards would be like “selling the mighty space of [their] large honours,” (Shakespeare).
By the time that Brutus realizes that he is in over his head, any traces of nobility that he might have instantly dwindled when he tells Cassius, “I did send to you for certain sums of gold, … For I can raise no money by vile means” …show more content…
In the very beginning, the snapshot of his mind reveals that he has begun privately plotting Caesar’s removal by whatever means necessary. On the day of Caesar’s murder, Brutus began working quickly to smear Caesar’s name and to justify the plot as well as his role in it, in order to preserve his own will for the Roman republic in spite of the people’s wishes. In the time after Caesar’s death, Brutus became the very thing he openly despised: a leader of war who acted against the will of the people, who also accepted dirty money. Only in his final moments did Brutus feel any kind of remorse, but only as a secondary emotion to his primary feeling of defeat. In the end, people are not born heroes or villains; they’re created by the people around