Brutus: The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar

Many people would say that any play written by William Shakespeare is worth reading. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is one of his most famous and well-known plays. It was believed to be written in 1599 and it is based on the events of Rome’s history. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, one of the main characters is Brutus, and he is an interesting character to say the least. Brutus is hypocritical, gullible and makes bad decisions.
Brutus was shown to be hypocritical by stabbing Caesar in the back. He said, “I will myself into the pulpit first” (Shakespeare 44). Brutus explained to the Roman people why him and the conspirators killed Caesar. Brutus’s reason to kill Caesar seemed to be because he was afraid of what he would turn into. Before Caesar was the ruler of Rome, Sulla was. Sulla was a tyrannical man because he killed people for no reason, and this was why Brutus killed Caesar. Having a friend like Brutus would have been horrible. Instead of just openly turning on Caesar, he continued to fight with his fear of Caesar becoming king. “What means this shouting? I do fear the people. Choose Caesar for their king.” (Shakespeare 6)

Brutus showed his gullible side in the play numerous times. Cassius figured out how gullible Brutus was and created the letters for Brutus to read that would convince him that the people of Rome wanted Caesar
dead. Being as gullible as he was, this led Brutus to murder Caesar. In response to his actions, Brutus said, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more (Shakespeare 47).” The sad part was that Brutus was tricked into loving Rome more than his own comrade. Cassius said to Brutus “men at some times are masters of their fates (Shakespeare6)”.
Bad decisions followed Brutus throughout the play.
Brutus told Mark Anthony “Mark Anthony, here, take you Caesar’s body / You shall not in your funeral speech blame us; but speak all good you can devise of Caesar” (Shakespeare 45). Brutus’ decision to let Anthony speak at Caesars funeral was ultimately his worst decision. This one harmful decision led to his downfall and caused Brutus to have to flee for his life. Brutus made this terrible choice because he thought Antony would die without Caesar but the tables turned and Brutus ended up dead. He proved it to us when he said, “for Antony is but a limb of Caesar (Shakespeare
24)”.
Brutus is a very difficult character to understand. His love for Caesar would lead one to believe that he is a loyal person and a good friend, yet his willingness to turn on Caesar creates a more negative image of himself. He was a noble man who, through bad decisions, being gullible and hypocritical, was lead to his own death. Trusting others kept Brutus in a constant battle with his own thoughts until eventually, he is able to die thinking he had been loyal to what he believes in.