However, one might argue that that foretelling Caesar to be a tyrant is deeply flawed and wrong. How can Brutus be so sure that Caesar will become a tyrant? There is no way that Brutus can be one hundred percent sure. One would say Brutus’ argument is very weak and there was insufficient evidence pointing to any form of tyrannical behaviour from Caesar thus the killing of Caesar completely unjustified.
Brutus is a considerate and honourable man because of his patriotism towards Rome and their people. Throughout the whole play, his intentions are for the goodness of Rome - ‘…if then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer – not that I loved Caesar less but that I loved Rome more.’ He killed Caesar because of his concerns for Rome, and everything that he did was for the benefit of someone else.
Even Marc Antony still recognised Brutus as ‘the noblest Roman of them all.’ After his death he says ‘This was the noblest Roman of them all;
all the conspirators save only he did that they did in envy of great Caesar;
he, only, in a general honest thought and common good to all...’ Anthony is basically saying that everyone in the conspiracy except Brutus killed Caesar out of jealousy. But Brutus killed Caesar because of his worry for the welfare of Rome.
It an be argued that Brutus cared for others more than he cared for himself. An example of this is when Brutus decides not to tell Portia his plans for the murder of Caesar. He feels she already has enough stress in her life and does not need to worry or deal with his plans.
Another example of his endearment for others is when he at first refuses to kill Caesar because he is afraid of betraying him. Brutus always thought of others before himself but there some costly defects in his personality that you could argue cost him his life.
The major flaw in Brutus’ character is that he is naïve and prone to fallibility. Brutus believed all that people told him and felt no one would lie or deceive him. Just because he did not betray anyone, he believed the world would return this act. This characteristic led him to his death. He is too trustful and does not realise what people are capable of doing to him after befriending them. Due to this tragic flaw, the downfall of this character occurred soon after.
His first mistake was in Act 2, Scene 1. This was when the fake letters are sent to him from the conspirators. Brutus believes these letters are from the people of Rome and agrees to the death of Caesar. This shows Brutus’ gullibility and willingness to believe anything.
Another example of this naivety is in Act 3, Scene 2. Brutus decides to allow Antony to speak at the funeral because it would show honour to Caesar. In the end, this decision ruins him because Antony riles the crowd into believing that the conspirators are all evil and that they must take vengeance immediately. As a consequence, civil war is unleashed with the majority of people wanting to kill Brutus.
Brutus proves that all men are fallible when he made the most important decision of his life - and it was the wrong one. Brutus realises on the battlefield that it is the time to strike and knows that he must start the battle but there is no time to tell Cassius. This choice, in the end, was the main reason for his suicide because he knew once Cassius and Cato were defeated; he would be captured and killed. He commits suicide because he realises it is nobler than to be captured and dragged through Rome.
We can sympathise with Brutus here as he is committing suicide as there is nothing left for him to warrant living on - his wife, Portia, has been killed, he was losing the battle against Antony and if he did live, he would be captured and killed anyway, so we can sympathise with Brutus because he has to kill himself.
Anthony’s speech at Caesar’s funeral proved critical as it turned the crowd from loving Brutus to hating him completely – all in the space of five minutes!
After Brutus’ speech people could not stop praising his integrity and patriotism. They shouted passionately things like - ‘Give him a statue with his ancestors!’ ‘Let him be Caesar!’ and ‘Caesar’s better parts shall be crowned in Brutus!’
Then after Anthony’s excellent mix of rhetoric, passion and irony in his speech, the crowd suddenly transformed from loving Brutus to hating him!
They started to shout things such as – ‘We’ll burn the house of Brutus!’ ‘Most noble Caesar, we’ll revenge his death’ and ‘[Of the conspirators] they were villains, murderers’.
Shakespeare portrays ordinary people as extremely fickle. It is sometimes comical reading about how these people can just change their minds so suddenly, it also gives the impression that they are not very intelligent.
The crowd’s change of attitude was unfortunate for Brutus, now he is seen as a traitorous murderer by the public who endeavour to kill him. So we can sympathise with him a little here.
I think we can sympathise with Brutus in many ways to a certain extent but what it all boils down to is whether the killing of Caesar was justified or not, and I am not convinced at all. I think there is absolutely no way Brutus could have been sure that Caesar would become a tyrant and there is not enough evidence that is in favour of it either. Brutus says he is afraid of his ambition, but is ambition always bad? Maybe Caesar was like Brutus - a lover of Rome. Maybe he was not, we do not know. There are too many questions that need to be answered and I am extremely sceptical that Brutus could have known for sure that Caesar would have gone on to become a ruthless dictator that all the conspirators thought he would do. This is why I have no sympathy for Brutus when he commits suicide near the end of the play. Like the sayings - ‘What goes around comes around’ and ‘What you give is what you get’ - Brutus killed Caesar, and you could argue that Caesar metaphorically killed Brutus. You could argue this by saying Caesar haunts Brutus’ conscience in the form of a ghost and tells him that he will see him at Philippi, which is where the final battle takes place.
Also Marc Antony is representing Caesar in a way because he his avenging his friend’s death, so when Anthony’s army defeat Brutus’, you could say it was Caesar. And the final piece of evidence that indicates Brutus has been haunted and figuratively killed by Julius Caesar is when he confirms it himself by saying ‘Caesar, now be still, I killed not thee with half a good will’ which basically means ‘okay Caesar rest now, but I was more reluctant to kill you.’
