Cassius says at the start of this conversation, “Will you go see the order of the course”. This seems as an amiable, genuine, open query. In addition, it shows that he is concerned about his friends well being. Initially he may seem to the audience as a friendly senator, however as the scene will develop that is used as a false facade to manipulate Brutus. Also, when Cassius says, “Brutus, I do observe you now of late”, not many people will disagree with the fact that Cassius is inflating Brutuss` ego. However, the audience will think he’s been biding his time to manipulate like a predator and its prey. Moreover, he is adopting a weaker position to attempt to manoeuvre Brutus, and to inflate his ego to to encourage him into conversation and bolster his pride. Cassius is moving Brutus into position. Brutus’s response is with a self satisfied tone; Brutus is adopting a position of superiority which is exactly what Cassius wants Brutus to do because this is one of his techniques he is using to manipulate Brutus.
In contrast with this, when Cassius says, “Then Brutus, I have much mistook your passions”, again the tone Cassius has replied with is in a very servile and apologetic. Cassius is adopting a weaker position. This is a very good pertinent example of Cassius manipulative technique he has seen his initial gambit and now he is driving Brutus into conversation by being very submissive and is making Brutus reveal disquieting thoughts and this is his first stage of manipulation complete.
However his manipulation is not complete, he is now going to adopt his second stage of his techniques to manipulate Brutus.
“Tell me good Brutus, can you see your face,”
This would seem as a non sequiter and a sudden and surprising logic of argument. It doesn’t follow, but this is Cassius`s clever manipulative technique; he has got Brutus into conversation and will want him to reveal that he wants to assassinate Caesar. He is keeping him unbalanced to manipulate him. Brutus’s` response is merely that of he cannot see his face and Cassius pounces on this opportunity, “Tis just”, Cassius is now deliberately inflating Brutus pride and now he is luring him in and he is pumping up his pride deliberately to burst him. Cassius continues and is being very sycophantic towards Brutus by saying he is very noble but hen suddenly
“Except immortal Caesar”
This would have destroyed Brutus’s sense of pride and would have enraged Brutus; he has relatively degraded him and belittled him in front of Caesar and is now weighing him down. He is doing this to serve his own ends so now Brutus who is enraged can reveal what he exactly feels. On the other hand Brutuss` response is that which catches Cassius off hand, “into what dangers would you lead me Cassius”, this would suggest that Brutus knows Cassius is manipulating him. However, as he is playing with Brutus`s hamartia of pride, he cannot resist. The audience will begin to learn that there is tension beneath the surface between these two senators. Furthermore, Cassius has gone a bit too far and goes back to what he was doing before and he readopts the servile procedure he was displaying. what's more, he is trying to appease Brutus by claiming how wonderful he is to give him complete inferiority to make Brutus feel pre-eminent. As the scene develops Brutus admits that he fears that the people will choose Caesar as their king. Cassius pounces on this and is going to use this as an advantage to manipulate Brutus. In contrst with this,
“Like a colossus we petty men, walk under his huge legs, and peep about”
There is now a sense of anger they are infuriated allowed themselves to be belittled and debased in front of Caesar. When Cassius say “Caesar is like a colossus”, he is suggesting that Caesar is like a god in front of them, so he is higher than them and they are like petty children in front of Caesar. Additionally, Caesar is degrading them. Now Cassius is deliberately trying to pull Brutus’s strings in saying Caesar is better than him. Now Cassius has finished his second stage of his manipulation. Now he will begin his third stage of manipulation. At this point Caesar returns. This could be a deliberate piece of stage craft to show how Brutus was being manipulated by Cassius or it was deliberately on Cassius`s part having a crowd celebrating Caesar to manipulate Brutus’s pride further. Now the third stage of manipulation begins. “Men at some times are masters of their fates”, Cassius is suggesting to it’s their duty to be honourable and to act to do something about it, they have individual free will and they can’t let Caesar rise above them. Moreover, when Cassius says:
“Brutus and Caesar. What should be in that Caesar”?
Cassius is now becoming rhetorical and his false façade is removed. He is trying to bring the manipulation to an end he is trying to unman Brutus and inflate his ego so, that will make him act against Caesar. Also Cassius is very clever as he needs Brutus to join the conspiracy and act against Caesar and to further inflate his ego,” There was a Brutus once”, Cassius is now talking about Brutus’s ancestral pride he is saying he has to act now and do something about it or he is letting his ancestors down even though he has the power to do something about it. This now is Cassius`s final attempt to manipulate Brutus, and to an extent he has succeed and manipulated Brutus. This would suggest that Cassius is very devious and sly but at the same time very clever to manipulate Brutus to a certain extent to make him admit that he does fear Caesar to be king and he has thought about this issue before. It is hard to ignore the fact, that Cassius wants Caesar killed only for the reason of his privileges being limited, and is afraid what life under Caesar would be like.
Marcus Brutus is a very proud and noble man as we find out in this scene. We also learn that he has many weaknesses which Cassius has exploited. Furthermore, Brutus’s main weakness in this play is undoubtedly to appear noble to himself and everyone around him. Also, another one of his main weaknesses is his ancestral pride. Cassius has exploited into this weakness, and is telling Brutus that he cannot degrade his ancestors in anyway and must act and do what’s good for Rome. The audience cannot begin to vilify Brutus in any way as what he is doing is for the good of Rome, and is doing the honourable thing, “The name of honour more than I fear death”, and he is saying he has turned his attention to this to regain a sense of pride & power and to reinstate a sense of his honour.
In this scene when Brutus is being manipulated by Cassius Brutus knows that Cassius is trying to manipulate him into joining their conspiracy to assassinate Caesar, However the audience by now will begin to understand that Brutus is a very proud man. As well as this, the audience will also be aware of the fact that Cassius has successfully exploited Brutus’s harmatia, although, Brutus knows he is being manipulated, “into which dangers do you lead me Cassius?” Furthermore, as the scene develops Brutus tells Cassius to stop manipulating him.
“For this present, I would not, so with love I might entreat you, be any further moved”
Cassius`s attempts to influence Brutus have succeeded but Brutus was aware of the fact that he was being manipulated by Cassius. At the end of the scene both men would be equal in power, and not one of these two men having more power. In contrast with this, even when Cassius was manipulating Brutus and making him feel superior to him, however, that now has changed and both men would be of equal power. This is due to the fact when Brutus visits Cassius later on in the scene, “I will come here to you”, this suggests that they are equal and their relation has changed and there is far more equality and respect. Furthermore Cassius has triumphed over Brutus as he congratulates himself in his soliloquy over triumphing over Brutus. What's more, Cassius`s actions to a renaissance would have seemed strongly Machiavellian.
Brutus has changed in Act II i a great deal in his soliloquy he has the realisation of Caesars death, “It must be by his death”, he also says he has no personal animosity towards Caesar and seeks to promise this is not a personal vendetta and is partially in the interest for the general good of Rome, reluctant to the fact that Caesar is a good friend and ally, Brutus cannot let this interfere with his personal feeling for the good of Rome and must assassinate him. Besides this, if they give Caesar complete power it will poison him. Also, Brutus has to appear honourable to himself and everyone around him. He is diluding himself; He is not a villan and is assassinating Caesar for the good of Rome. In contrast with this, if they give Caesar all power he might start to abuse his power and begin to become corruptive. The audience must begin to understand that Brutus does not want to become king he just doesn’t want anyone ruling over him.
As the scene develops the conspirators enter into Brutuss` home. As they all enter Brutus launches an attack on all of them, “Sham`st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night”, here Brutus is suggesting to them that they are ashamed to show themselves even at night when evil acts are performed. Consequently Brutus is adopting a superior role in the conspiracy, so, Cassius is response is merely that of, “I think we are too bold upon your rest”, suggesting to the audience that Cassius is carrying on his manipulation in the previous scene. There is a false facade he is adopting, and using the same techniques as in the previous scene, and is trying to be submissive towards Brutus but what Cassius doesn’t know is that Brutus is very confident and not imbalanced, as he was in the previous scene. The audience will sense that he is in a position of power when he welcomes the conspirators to his home and He appears in command and control as he welcomes them all except Cassius. “He is welcome hither”, the audience will begin to sense there is tension under the surface between them.
In this scene this is the first vague indication that Brutus is in control due to the fact he is welcoming everyone to his home. In addition, when Brutus has welcomed everyone Cassius takes Brutus to one side and they start to discuss things this would suggest to the audience that at the start they are both equal and superior to the other conspirators. Still, at the start of the scene Cassius would have been confident from the previous scene after manipulating Brutus successfully but he needs Brutus to be involved in the conspiracy because of the fact that Brutus morally validates what they are doing. As a result, Brutus says, “Give me your hands all over, one by one”. Here Brutus takes them by hand and accepts all of them and is actually in order of command and authority. But Cassius is anxious to take control and appear authorritive. He cannot let Brutus to overthrow him so Cassius immediately interrupts Brutus to make a suggestion of his own, to give an impression that they are dually leaders of the conspiracy, and not one of them has more power than the other.
“And let us swear our resolutions”, in a similar way Cassius is saying to all the conspirators that they should all swear they are going to carry this out, this seems as a sensible suggestion and is a pragmatic suggestion but Brutus violently exclaims,
“If not the face of men., the suffereance of our souls, the times abuse- if these be motives weak, break off bedtimes, and very man hence to his idle bed;”
Brutus is now deliberately debasing Cassius, he is actively denigrating him and his opinions are not influenced by any of the conspirators. In a similar way, Brutus violently puts Cassius back in place not allowing him to carry on his previous manipulation. Brutus is now involved in the conspiracy and now he will violently take control of the conspiracy. Brutus does not take commands from any one. The audience will begin to sense there is a power struggle between these two men, also, the audience can tell that Brutus is an individual with a specific plot.
Brutus is now going to disable Cassius and does this to deliberately undermine Cassius pride by vilifying Cassius` suggestion. He automatically gainsays all of Cassius`s suggestions: “Not an oath”. Brutus is very dismissive and exclaims this in a contemptuous tone. The short monosyllabic curt sentence immediately affects Cassius` authority. Brutus has a passion of out powering him and he is disparaging Cassius. Also, there is a great deal of enjambment of sentences and a sense of speed and passion. Brutus is deliberately belittling him in front of the conspirators. Initially Cassius was the leader when at the start of the scene he lead the conspirators into Brutus`s home but there has been a violent rebellion by Brutus and a violent verbal assault thus, him being the sole leader, “To kindle cowards, and to steal with valour”, Here Brutus is saying the only person who needs an oath would be a coward despite this Brutus is being very abusive towards Cassius`s pragmatic suggestion, he is jumping at every opportunity to demean Cassius and seeking to suggest to all the other conspirators that Cassius is weak and unworthy to be leader. Furthermore, when Brutus violently exclaims:
“Did need an oath when every drop of blood that every Roman bears”, Brutus here again is saying that they don’t need an oath and their blood was bastardly not true Romans, he is setting a composition between both of them. By contrast, “But what of Cicero? Shall we sound him?” again this is a perfectly good suggestion and there is nothing wrong with it but again Brutus has to appear in control and not let Cassius reclaim a sense of balance and control in the conspiracy. The only reason Brutus disagreed with the statement was because Cassius mentioned it and Brutus seeks to undermine Cassius and take away every last inch of power and honor he has left in the conspiracy. Now Cassius has been forced to accept a submissive position he has been forced on the back foot by Brutus and Brutus is violently taking control away from him, hence, this sudden attack which has caught Cassius off guard so he can’t fight back. Also, the other conspirators have to obey Brutus and are starting to agree with what he says. As a result of this what ever Cassius suggests Brutus just slaps it down Cassius is getting weaker and weaker and has to go along with some of Brutus’s suggestions to regain some of his pride & honor. Nevertheless Cassius makes another good suggestion, “let Antony and Caesar fall together”, but again Brutus just slaps this down because Cassius has said it although Brutus was wrong to this and let Mark Antony get away with it because it would soon lead to the conspirators downfall. Again Brutus is adopting a position of superior power and superior moral position to degrade Cassius.
“Let us be sacrificers but not butchers”
To the audience this would suggest that Brutus is not a villain he is projecting a self image of an honourable man. To do what is good for Rome, and not to kill anyone other than Caesar. By the end of this scene Brutus has completely destroyed Cassius`s authority and is now the leader of the conspiracy as at the end he dismisses the conspirators which would suggest that he is in power and is pre-eminent. Also gestures in Macbeth as the storm symbolises prefigures suggest the violent change in society and symbolises prefigures of the fall of Caesar.
Cassius speaks less in this scene because Brutus has simply destroyed all of Cassius authority in the conspiracy. What ever Cassius suggested Brutus just slapped it down
And degraded and debased Cassius. Cassius at the start of the scene would have been confident to just come and inflate Brutus’s ego further but Brutus was ready for Cassius and not imbalanced and wouldn’t let Cassius inflate his ego further. Also, Brutus violently Disabuses Cassius forcing him onto the back foot and having to appear weaker in front of the pre- eminent Brutus. Also he would have to agree with everything Brutus said to regain a sense of pride and honour.
