William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar provides some insight into the minds of revolutionaries that attempt to help their people, even if they have to commit a crime. Shakespeare attempts to make his play historically accurate, and one of the most important historical details of the setting of the play is the political structure in Rome at the time. Rome’s popular democracy depended on involved citizens coming together to make intelligent decisions that would benefit the entire country. Caesar would have disrupted this democratic balance by accepting the power that was being offered to him, but he never had the chance to do so. Instead, Brutus violated the principle of democracy first; he and a small group of conspirators made an
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Brutus was one of the most respected men in all of Rome. The citizens of Rome appear to idolize him throughout the play, but once the seed of deception was planted in his mind he became flawed. Cassius is the character that begins his downward spiral towards evil. During on of Cassius’s monologues he says, “Well, Brutus, thou art noble. Yet I see / thy honorable mettle may be wrought / from that it is disposed. Therefore it is meet / that noble minds keep ever with their likes, / for who so firm that cannot be seduced?” (1.2). This is the line that reveals that it was always Cassius’s intention to use Brutus as the leader of his revolution, and Brutus’s flaw was his misplaced trust in Cassius. In providing Brutus with a tragic flaw Shakespeare attempts to tear down the image of an idealized man. One literary journalist writes, “The raw power of the multitude is strikingly demonstrated when Brutus and Cassius are ‘rid like madmen through the gates of Rome’” (Spotswood). The quote references the scene where the people of Rome, the original source of all of Brutus’s power and influence, force him to flee the city in which he was once revered. In doing so, Shakespeare belittles the power of the individual man and places power on the collective force of the
Brutus was one of the most respected men in all of Rome. The citizens of Rome appear to idolize him throughout the play, but once the seed of deception was planted in his mind he became flawed. Cassius is the character that begins his downward spiral towards evil. During on of Cassius’s monologues he says, “Well, Brutus, thou art noble. Yet I see / thy honorable mettle may be wrought / from that it is disposed. Therefore it is meet / that noble minds keep ever with their likes, / for who so firm that cannot be seduced?” (1.2). This is the line that reveals that it was always Cassius’s intention to use Brutus as the leader of his revolution, and Brutus’s flaw was his misplaced trust in Cassius. In providing Brutus with a tragic flaw Shakespeare attempts to tear down the image of an idealized man. One literary journalist writes, “The raw power of the multitude is strikingly demonstrated when Brutus and Cassius are ‘rid like madmen through the gates of Rome’” (Spotswood). The quote references the scene where the people of Rome, the original source of all of Brutus’s power and influence, force him to flee the city in which he was once revered. In doing so, Shakespeare belittles the power of the individual man and places power on the collective force of the