Is Brutus Caesar Justified
Brutus convinces himself that Caesar needs to be killed, by justifying that once Caesar becomes King, the power will manifest his true selfish nature and he will ruin Rome. Brutus has no personal grudge against Caesar. But if it is for the greater good of the people, for Rome, he will kill Caesar. In Brutus’s personal experience Caesar has never shown fault. Thus, he goes through a process of logic in the unknown to convince himself that Caesar should die. In his justification, Brutus considers that just as poisonous snakes come into the sunny day, Caesar could be evil and giving him the crown would grant him the ability to damage Rome. Yet he has personally “not known when [Caesar’s] affections swayed more than his reason” (Brutus 2.1.20-21).
Brutus then brings in the argument to think of Caesar “as a serpent’s egg”, he considers the unknown in which, when King, Caesar could possibly show his ugly colors as an evil ruler (Brutus 2.1.32). They must kill him in his shell before he is crowned and before he ruins Rome. Brutus in his inner conflict persuades himself with what ‘might happen’ rather than what he knows of Caesar from his experience. We can also see Shakespeare exploring this idea of inner conflicts people have of the known and the unknown, when Caesar decides whether to stay at home or to head to the senate. Caesar at first is steadfast to head to the senate, when he prides that danger and him are “two lions littered in one day, And I the elder and more terrible” (Caesar 2.2. 46-47). However his wife’s fears and the priest omens eventually convince him in staying... Until when Decius discards his wife’s bad dreams as misinterpreted and attacks his pride in saying that if Caesar hides, word will spread that “Caesar is afraid” (Decius 2.2.101). Caesar convinced by this, decides to go to the senate after being reasoned with what he is familiar with - his pride, rather than trusting the bad omens his wife had. We see that Caesar decides to go with what he ‘knows’ and is familiar with, while Brutus goes with the ‘unknown’. Shakespeare is intrigued by and explores the thought processes of inner conflicts people have between the ‘known’ and the ‘unknown’.
Brutus then brings in the argument to think of Caesar “as a serpent’s egg”, he considers the unknown in which, when King, Caesar could possibly show his ugly colors as an evil ruler (Brutus 2.1.32). They must kill him in his shell before he is crowned and before he ruins Rome. Brutus in his inner conflict persuades himself with what ‘might happen’ rather than what he knows of Caesar from his experience. We can also see Shakespeare exploring this idea of inner conflicts people have of the known and the unknown, when Caesar decides whether to stay at home or to head to the senate. Caesar at first is steadfast to head to the senate, when he prides that danger and him are “two lions littered in one day, And I the elder and more terrible” (Caesar 2.2. 46-47). However his wife’s fears and the priest omens eventually convince him in staying... Until when Decius discards his wife’s bad dreams as misinterpreted and attacks his pride in saying that if Caesar hides, word will spread that “Caesar is afraid” (Decius 2.2.101). Caesar convinced by this, decides to go to the senate after being reasoned with what he is familiar with - his pride, rather than trusting the bad omens his wife had. We see that Caesar decides to go with what he ‘knows’ and is familiar with, while Brutus goes with the ‘unknown’. Shakespeare is intrigued by and explores the thought processes of inner conflicts people have between the ‘known’ and the ‘unknown’.