Essay On Brutus And Cassius In Julius Cesar

Marcus Brutus and Caius Cassius are two very important characters of William Shakespeare’s tragedy play Julius Cesar. Both of them were similar in some ways but at the same time, they were also very different. This paper intends to present a comparative analysis of Brutus and Cassius that is based on their personality, behavior, decisions, acts, similarities and differences.
Both Brutus and Cassius did not want to see Cesar as king of Rome. However different factors motivated their choices. Brutus used to believe in a republic where senate, and not the king, takes important decisions. Brutus used to love Cesar as his friend, but he did not want him as a king because he was against the idea of surmounting of one man. Brutus suspected that Cesar wants to become a dictator. Apart from the reservations that Brutus had for Cesar, he was a loyal, kindhearted and honest man. Brutus was a man of principles however the character of Cassius appears completely different (Shakespeare).
Cassius, on the other hand, used to envy Cesar and hated the king because of his popularity among romans. Cassius used to conspire against Cesar and he manipulated various things in order to convince Brutus in his conspiracy against Cesar. Cassius forged various letters and used the same to hatch conspiracies against Cesar. Cassius was an opportunist and was guided by his interests and not by principles. Cassius wanted to kill Cesar merely for his own growing aspirations. Cassius was an astute pretender who was different person for different people (Shakespeare).
There are various similarities in personality of Brutus and Cassius. Brutus and Cassius were distinguished warriors and mature leaders. Both Brutus and Cassius stabbed Cesar for different reasons and both of them turned out to be murderers. Both of them were frightened after the death of Cesar and both of them died in similar ways. Julius Cesar was somewhat aware of the dubious character of Cassius but he could not believe that his friend Brutus also can stab him.
Cesar also viewed Brutus and Cassius with different perspectives. He considers Cassius as deceitful and does not believe him completely while he has high regard for Brutus. Like Cesar, senators also viewed both of these characters with different perspectives. These characters are very significant for their roles played by them in the Shakespeare’s play. There is a clear differentiation between their personalities. It can be concluded that both of them were similar as well as different in many ways. Brutus was a bit naïve while Cassius was a shrewd man who manipulated Brutus for his own conspiracy.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. London: Courier Corporation, 1991. Print.