Marcus Brutus was a supposed good friend of Caesar. He was an idealistic man who was
motived more by honor and nobility than his own personal relationships. His inflexible honor
made it easy for the conspirators in the play to take advantage of him. He was a gullible, naive
man, who let the wrong people persuade him that the only way to preserve the republic, which he
strongly supported, was to eliminate Caesar.
Cassius, and the other conspirators, convince Brutus that Caesar is a tyrant and is planning
to take over everything. Brutus is forced to choose between his loyalty to his best friend, Caesar,
or to his country, Rome.
Brutus makes a lot of wrong decisions and is easily lured into the conspiracy to
assassinate his close friend. Brutus says of his decision,
"Not that I lov'd Caesar less, but that I lov'd Rome more."
(3.2.22)
Out of all the conspirators, Brutus is the only man who sincerely believes that he has
killed his best friend, Caesar, for the good of Rome; while the other conspirators just don't want
Caesar to become more powerful than themselves.
Cassius convinces Brutus that he is just as good as Caesar by saying to him,
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
(1.2.139)
Brutus believes that Caesar will become ruler of Rome and forget about them, perhaps even make
them his slaves. Brutus sits and thinks to himself,
"...Whereto the climber upward turns his face;
but when he once attains the upmost round,
he then unto the ladder turns his back,
looks in the clouds,
scorning the base degrees by which he did ascend..."
(3.1.24)
After Brutus and the conspirators kill Caesar, Brutus stands in front of the Capitol and
tries to explain to the people what he believed; that Caesar was a tyrant and that he was going to
make them all his slaves, Rome was better off wit...