Character Study of Brutus From the play “Julius Caesar”.

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By Thomas Hackford, 4K

Character Study of Brutus

From the play “Julius Caesar”.

        In Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” the character Brutus plays a central role. He is motivated to do his best for Rome.

        First, I will list some of the positive things about Brutus. It is clear that he is hugely popular. Casca proves this by saying, “Brutus sits high in all people’s hearts.” He also has a great honour, which is extremely important to him. This is made clear when he says, “I love/ the name of honour more than I fear death”. This could either mean that he means it, or he is trying to prove himself. He had great respect for himself, which is made clear, when he says, “have respect to/ mine honour”. However, other people honour him too. Mark Antony, despite his grief over his best friend’s death, he still calls him “wise and honourable”. However, he must keep the conspirators on his right side until he is safe. He is of course, in a very dangerous position. Even just before he is going to die, he is still honourable: “I shall have glory by this losing day”. Before he commits suicide, he writes himself a noble death: “for Brutus’s tongue/ hath almost ended his life’s story”.

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        He is also loved by Caesar. This is made clear in his last words: “Et tu Brute?”. This means “Even you Brutus”. He can’t believe that his best friend was one of the conspirators. Mark Antony reiterates this by describing Brutus as “well beloved” in front of the crowd. He also declares that Brutus is “Caesar’s angel”. Here, again, he might be saying this just to keep the crowd calm, and keep himself out of the danger of being assassinated himself.

        The people also respect him. When he enters the pulpit, the people say “The noble Brutus is ...

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