40 Of late with passions of some difference,
41 Conceptions only proper to myself.’
And in line 79-80,
79 ‘…I do fear the people
80 Choose Caesar for their king.’
In these two statements he is saying that he is scared that if Caesar becomes king he will rule like a tyrant and take over control of Rome from the senate.
We also see how patriotic he is when in line 86-87 he says,
- ‘Set honour in one eye and death in the other,
- And I will look on both indifferently.’
What he is saying here is that he would give his life to preserve the honour of Rome.
In line 172-173 Brutus also says,
- ‘Brutus had rather be a villager
- Than repute himself a son of Rome’
By this he means that he would rather not be a citizen of Rome than stand by and watch Caesar become a tyrant.
The next time we meet Brutus is in act 2 scene 1.
In part 1 of act 2 scene 1 Brutus is seen talking to himself. During this part of the scene he is trying to decide weather or not to kill Caesar. This is proven in the opening line of his soliloquy, in line 10,
10 ‘It must be by his death. And for my part
11 I know no personal cause to spurn at him’
By this he means the only way to stop Caesar becoming king is by killing him, but he has not any personal reason to kill him other than he may become a tyrant.
Brutus shows how perceptive he is when thinks that giving Caesar the crown will change him for the worse. This is proven when he says in line 15,
- ‘…Crown him that,
- And I grant we put a sting in him.’
He also thinks that Caesar should be killed,
34 ‘…in the shell.’
He thinks Caesar should be killed before he is crowned (in the egg) rather than after (hatched out of the egg) because then his murder wouldn’t be looked upon as a crime so much as liberation from Caesar’s rule.
In part 2 of act 2 scene 1 Brutus is talking with the conspirators. They want to murder Mark Antony, because they deem him dangerous to themselves after Caesars death. They think he will try to wreak revenge on them.
However Brutus disagrees and shows understanding of the citizens of Rome when he says,
- ‘Our course will seem too bloody…’
As he fears that in the eyes of the citizens they may seem to be more like murderers, than saviours of Rome. This is shown in line166.
- “Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers…”
When talking to the conspirators he shows that he is a poor judge of character when he decides not to murder Mark Antony, because he does not consider him a threat. This shown in lines 165 to 183,
165 “For Antony is but a limb of Caesar.”
…
181 “And for Mark Antony, think not of him,
182 For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm
183 When Caesar’s head is off.”
In part 3 of act 2 scene1 Brutus is talking to his wife, Portia, who suspects something strange is going on but doesn’t know what it is. Brutus tries unsuccessfully to put her fears at rest in line 257 with,
-
‘I am not well in health, and that is all.’
This shows that he is a caring husband because he doesn’t want
wife to get involved the murder of Caesar.