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Faith Sargusingh

Ms. Sauve

ENG2DR

December 6th 2019

A Foolish Figure In ​Julius Caesar

Under immense peer pressure or manipulation, even the noblest of men can have their

views swayed, and close friends can turn into threatening enemies in an instant. In Shakespeare's

Julius Caesar​, Brutus, a close friend of Caesar and a member of the Senate, finds himself torn

between loyalty to his friend and loyalty to Rome, after having his thoughts manipulated by a

jealously filled Cassius. Cassius, another member of the Senate, jealous of Caesar’s possible

reign, tries to turn all Caesar’s friends against him, and even noble Brutus falls into his trap.

Through Brutus’ unwillingness to betray his Caesar before receiving Cassius’ forged letters,

through his will to keep Antony alive, and through his genuine belief that Caesar’s death was for

the better of Rome, Brutus is shown to be a noble man who had simply been misled. Therefore,

through Brutus’ honourable and noble character in ​Julius Caesar​, Shakespeare is able to portray

the overall message that even the noblest of men can become victim to manipulative persuasion

and false information, leading them to act poorly.

Primarily, Brutus is shown to be a noble character through his unwillingness to betray

Caesar. Cassius had to manipulate Brutus into believing the situation involving Caesar’s

potential tyranny was urgent and possibly dangerous, before Brutus joined his side. After

speaking to Brutus to discover his views on Caesar’s potential reign, Cassius plans to forge

letters from the Roman people, urging Brutus to take action against Caesar and change his point
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of view. While planning his manipulation strategy, Cassius remarks, “Well, Brutus, thou art

noble. Yet, I see,/ Thy honourable metal may be wrought/ From that it is disposed”

(1.2.319-321). Cassius recognizes that Brutus is indeed a noble man, so he plans to deceive

Brutus in hopes it will encourage him to switch his views on Caesar’s possible reign. This is

significant because it shows even Cassius, the one who plans to misguide Brutus, knows Brutus

is a noble man. He also knows Brutus will not side with him unless given a logical reasoning and

evidence, as he is noble, hence the forged letters. Therefore, in order to sway Brutus’ point of

view, Cassius knows he must play deceitfully, as Brutus is too noble to do wrong, unless he

believes it is right. In addition, this demonstrates Shakespeare’s overall message that even the

noblest of men can be persuaded to believe in false truths, which may lead them to act poorly.

Here, Brutus, a noble man, is manipulated by Cassius, and this manipulation is what ultimately

causes Brutus to take part in Caesar’s assassination. If it had not been for the forged letters,

Brutus would have never considered to betray Caesar and provide the last final blow that ends

Caesar’s life, as he would not have been misled to believe Caesar’s death was in the best interest

of Rome and its citizens.

An additional demonstration that proves Brutus to be a noble character is shown through

his desire to keep Antony, Caesar’s best friend, alive. While the other conspirators suggest they

should plan to murder Antony as well, in order to assure their safety, Brutus has another opinion

in mind. Brutus says to the other conspirators that if they kill Antony, “[their] course will seem

too bloody” (2.1.169). Unlike the other conspirators, Brutus does not want to kill Antony. Brutus

even goes on to say, “Antony is but a limb of Caesar” and powerless without him, meaning since

Antony is only a limb of Caesar, not the entire body, he cannot move nor function without the

rest of the body, or in this case, Caesar (2.1.172). Brutus uses this metaphor to influence the
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other conspirators to believe Antony is useless without Caesar and hence they should not bother

killing him also. Brutus wants to avoid all unnecessary harm as his goal is not to do evil but do

what he believes is right and only that. This is due to his geunine belief that Caesar’s

assassination was for the better of Rome. He does not see the honourable and noble part in

killing Antony as well, therefore he refuses to do so. This is significant due to the fact that

through not wanting to cause further harm than needed, Brutus shows himself to be honourable,

and simply misled to believe false information. The false information he receives leads him to

believe those false opinions which ultimately leads him to make the morally wrong decision to

take part in his friend’s assassination. This course of action shows Shakespeare’s message that

even the noblest of men can be swayed to believe false truths, which may lead them to make

poor decisions, as noble Brutus was led to believe Caesar could become a tyrant through false

news, which led him to act poorly, and betray his friend.

The final way that Brutus shows himself to be a noble character is through his internal

views that killing Caesar is for the better of Rome. Promptly proceeding the discussion of

whether or not Antony should also be killed, Brutus speaks of the role the conspirators are to

play, and reminds them their goal is not to be looked upon as criminals. He uses the metaphor,

“Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers”, to demonstrate how he believes the assassination of

Caesar is indeed a noble act and an act of sacrifice, opposite to the filthy and bloody work of a

butcher (2.1.173). This metaphor explains that Brutus believes that their plan to kill Caesar is an

honourable act that will benefit Rome and that they are sacrificing their safety to do this good

deed. He does not believe killing Caesar is a morally wrong decision nor a violent act, hence

why he says they are not butchers, as butchers tend to be aggressive and violent when handling

their target. This is significant as it shows Brutus believed it was for the better of Rome that
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Caesar died, and that he did not kill Caesar for his own personal gain. Furthermore, more

evidence which reveals Brutus’ true beliefs are demonstrated when he mentions he sees Caesar

“as a serpent's egg/ Which, hatch'd” would cause Caesar to “grow mischievous” and therefore it

is necessary to “kill him in the shell” (2.1.32-34). This simile, comparing Caesar to a serpent’s

egg, shows Brutus truly believes Caesar could turn evil once he is given power, which could lead

him to be a tyrannous ruler. This also shows Brutus’ true reasoning behind killing Caesar is to

protect Rome. In addition, these rhetorical devices show Brutus is a noble man, and was simply

misguided and misled to believe Caesar was a potential tyrant and had to be stopped. Through

Brutus’s character and nobility it demonstrates even the noblest of men can be swayed to believe

false truths, which may lead them to make poor decisions. Brutus, a noble man, was persuaded to

believe false information through deceitful actions made by Cassius, which eventually led him to

believe his friend, Caesar, was a threat to Rome and its citizens. This belief was then what

caused him to take part in the assassination of his friend, as Brutus wanted to protect Rome from

any possible danger, even if it meant killing Caesar. Therefore, Brutus is noble, but was simply

misguided that killing Caesar was for the common good of Rome, and this false information led

him to make the morally wrong decision to kill Caesar.

Therefore, the use of Brutus’ noble character in ​Julius Caesar,​ demonstrates that even the

noblest men can be swayed to believe false truths, which may then lead them to act poorly.

Through Brutus’ unwillingness to betray Caesar before receiving Cassius’ forged letters, his

desire to keep Antony alive, and his genuine belief that Caesar’s death was for the better of

Rome, Brutus’ true character is revealed in the play, as well as Shakespeare’s hidden message

that even noble men can be falsely misled, leading them to bad decisions. Therefore, as even
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noble men can be persuaded to stray from their true beliefs and point of views, everyone should

be wary of those they call friends and those they call enemies.
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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. ​The Tragedy of Julius Caesar with Related Readings​. ITP
International Thomson Pub., 1997.