Julius Caesar: A Character Analysis of Brutus

William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is mainly based on the assassination of Julius Caesar. The character who was in charge of the assassination was, ironically, Brutus - a servant and close friend to Julius Caesar. But what would drive a person to kill a close friend? After examining Brutus' relationship to Caesar, his involvement in the conspiracy, and his importance to the plot, we can se what was really going on

Brutus has a strong relationship with Caesar but a stronger relationship with Rome and its people. Brutus is very close to Caesar. In many points of the play, Brutus was talking and next to Caesar. Brutus also loves Caesar but fears his power. In the early acts of the play, Brutus says to Cassius, "What means this shouting? I do fear the people do choose Caesar for their king...yet I love him well."(act 1, scene 2, ll.85-89), as he is speaking to Cassius. Brutus loves Caesar, but would not allow him to

"climber-upward...He then unto the ladder turns his back..."(act 2, scene 1, ll.24,26). As the quote says, Brutus would not allow Caesar to rise to power and then turn his back onto the people of Rome. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus talks to Antony

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Again, this shows how Brutus loved Caesar but cared more for the life of Rome and its people. He says to the people that, "If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Cassius is the one who declares this, "Brutus shall lead the way, and we will grace his heels with the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. If he hadn't loved Rome more than Caesar, he would not have joined in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Also, if Brutus was not in the play, the whole end of the play would not ever occur. Brutus joined this mainly because he didn't want Caesar to turn his back on Rome so there would be a reasonable reason for killing Caesar. Again, if Brutus

leads the way, the people will think that the death of Julius Caesar wasn't such a bad thing. Brutus would not

be there to have an army or kill himself, and Cassius will already be beheaded.

Approximate Word count = 818
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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