The Murder Of Cassius And Brutus In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare took place in ancient Rome during the time when Caesar was about to be crowned. Caesar was loved by the crowd, but the crowd could be easily swayed as seen when Pompey was loved, but Caesar killed him because he wanted the power. Although Caesar was loved by many, he was also hated by many. Cassius played a man who despised Caesar so he created a conspiracy to remove him from his place of power. He took key people in society to help him carry out his plan. Brutus was a well respected man in Roman society, so Cassius believed getting him on board would help in the long run if things happened to not end up in their favor. Although Cassius believed he was the leader of the conspiracy he never specifically took action against Caesar, he had others in the conspiracy do the “dirty work” so it could never be traced back to him. Cassius acts as the puppet master behind the killing of Caesar because he can't stand the thought of someone having more power than him.
Immediately when Cassius and Brutus begin to interact, we see Cassius planting ideas in Brutus’ head but doesn't specifically say what he wants Brutus to think. As the scene progresses, Cassius starts to be seen as a manipulator. Cassius starts off saying “I was born as free as Caesar; so were you.”, causing Brutus to think about what separates him and Caesar. Cassius wants Caesar to be shown as weak, so he tells Brutus a story of when Caesar challenged him to a race in the water to “yonder point” (111, Act 1.2). “Caesar cried “Help me, Cassius, Or I sink!”. Cassius then goes into how Caesar is thought of as a God and he is “A wretched creature and must bend his body if Caesar carelessly but nod on him.” but why should Caesar get power if he is in fact the weakest of them