Act I, Scene ii, lines 88-89
Brutus thinks he is telling the truth- but is he? Would a truly
honorable man need to call attention to his honor?
One point is indisputable: Brutus believes in his principles, and
his principles do, to some extent, control his behavior. He stands
apart from all the other characters in the way he is influenced by
ideas, rather than by feelings or the wish for personal gain.
Cassius assassinates Caesar because he is jealous of him; Brutus
acts only for what he considers the best interests of the state.
Antony is a man of action who pauses only to consider the best way
of getting from A to B; Brutus is a man of ideas who weighs his
behavior in terms of Right and Wrong. Antony believes that brute
strength and passion rule the world, and manipulates people
accordingly; Brutus believes that reason rules the world, and that
people can be swayed by the power of truth and logic. Cassius and
Antony see life as a game or competition in which reewards go to the
strongest or swiftest; Brutus sees life as a confrontation of ideas in
which rewards go to the just. He is such a private and
self-contained man that he won’t even share the news of his wife’s
death with his good friend Cassius.
Brutus is high-minded, but his principles do not seem to prepare him
very well for dealing with a corrupt world. He cannot recognize
motives that are less noble than his own, and is therefore preyed upon
by unscrupulous politicians. As Cassius himself says behind Brutus’
back:
Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet I see
Thy honorable mettle may be wrought
From that it is disposed; therefore it is meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes;
For who so from that cannot be seduced?
Act I, Scene ii, lines 308-312
Brutus’ principles force him to spare Antony’s life and to let
Antony speak at Caesar’s funeral. His own speech lacks power (compared
to Antony’s) because he assumes that people can be led by reason. An
honorable man, he uses language to communicate the truth rather than
to stir up the emotions of the people; he doesn’t understand that
people want to be led- if not by Caesar, then by someone else.
Some readers see Brutus as a bookish man who can function only in
a world of ideas. True, he is not much of a politician; but is it fair
to describe him as a man whose head is in the clouds? Cassius, after
all, is constantly asking and taking his advice. It is Brutus who
calls for action and who takes the offensive at Philippi; and it is
Brutus, not Antony, who wins the battle. Brutus does make some
unwise decisions, but does that mean he is incapable of functioning in
the world?
Almost all the characters in Julius Caesar struggle to be better
than they are, and Brutus is no exception. He, too, falls short of his
ideals. Although he insists on living by the loftiest principles,
Cassius gets him to join the conspiracy by flattering him and
appealing to his sense of family pride.
Brutus tries to live by reason alone, yet he cannot sleep at
night, and is so plagued by a guilty conscience that Caesar’s ghost
appears to him in a dream. In his argument with Cassius, Brutus is
reduced to a squabbling child- perhaps because he is mad with grief
(though he tries not to show it) over the death of his wife. In the
end Brutus takes his own life, in violation of his Stoic philosophy,
which demands that he accept whatever fate holds in store for him.
Is Brutus a hero, then- or is he a villain? Let’s look at him in
both lights.
-
1. Brutus is a man who cares more about principles than people-
who uses principles to justify the murder of a friend. He is so
blinded by ideals that he cannot see into his own heart, or
recognize the needs of the world. He is a moral snob who dislikes
debate or compromise and always insists on getting his own way.
This Brutus knows exactly what Cassius is up to, but lets himself be
led in order to keep his own hands clean. He is a hypocrite who
hides behind lofty principles and pretty phrases. Despite his
reputation for honor, he is easily flattered and concerned about his
reputation. His pride causes him to dismiss Cicero- a potential rival-
even though Cicero is the greatest orator of the times.
In his refusal to accept his human limitations, Brutus is as vain
and dangerous as Caesar.
2. Brutus is simply too noble for the world he lives in. He
sacrifices his friend Caesar to do what is best for his country. He
remains faithful to his principles to the end. Everyone, even
Caesar, admires him and seeks his friendship. He is a tragic figure
only because he tries to be better than he can, and falls.
Hero or villain- could Brutus possibly be both? Does the world
need more men of principle, or less? Shakespeare forces us to ask
these questions, but lets us find answers for ourselves.
CASSIUS
There are many sides to Cassius. This makes him difficult to pin
down or sum up in a phrase- but it also makes him true to life.
Here are two opinions of Cassius. From Caesar:
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.
Act I, Scene ii, lines 194-195
From Brutus:
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!
It is impossible that ever Rome
Should breed thy fellow [equal].
Act V, Scene iii, lines 99-101
Both judgments are true- and false, for Cassius is different men
to different people. Depending on how a person treats him, he can be
loving or ruthless, gentle or hard, passionate or aloof. One moment he
is deceiving his dear friend Brutus; the next, he is craving affection
from him.
When we first meet Cassius, he is busy lying, flattering, forging
letters, subverting the principles of his good friend Brutus. Caesar’s
opinion of him seems right on target. He’s not motivated by the best
interests of Rome, but by the desire for revenge on a man who
doesn’t like him, Jealousy moves him- jealousy of the fame and power
of a man he considers no more worthy than himself.
Caesar calls Cassius a “lean and hungry” man, and you may want to
take this as the final word on Cassius and interpret all his actions
in this light. But Caesar’s verdict is not the only one. Cassius’ love
for Brutus, for instance, seems quite genuine- particularly after
the assassination. Cassius has many admirers and friends who are
willing to fight and die for him. After the argument with Brutus,
Cassius shows good-natured tolerance for the Poet. As death
approaches, Cassius realizes that he is not the measure of all things,
and that there are forces at work in the universe beyond his
understanding and control. He takes his life, not because he has
lost the battle, but because he believes (mistakenly) that he has
caused the death of a friend.
Almost everything Cassius says and does, both before and after the
assassination, can be interpreted as a direct, emotional reaction to
people. He responds to people as Brutus responds to ideas. Whether
he is conspiring to kill Caesar or asking for Brutus’ love, Cassius is
motivated by a boyish need for affection, and by a boyish hatred of
those who refuse it. His reasons for killing Caesar seem to be
strictly personal. Caesar, his close boyhood friend, has rejected him.
“Caesar doth bear me hard,” he says- Caesar bears a grudge against
me and therefore must be destroyed.
When Cassius meets Brutus, he is disturbed by the absence of “that
gentleness / And show of love as I was wont [accustomed] to have” (Act
I, Scene ii, lines 33-34). In the quarrel scene, Cassius tells Brutus,
like a pouting child, “You love me not” (Act IV, Scene iii, line
88). What upsets Cassius most are not Brutus’ accusations but the fact
that Brutus does not have “love enough” to bear with him.
Cassius’ spitefulness and his craving for affection are childlike.
He seems genuinely perplexed that Caesar, a man no stronger than
himself, could become so powerful. He behaves like a boy who discovers
that his idol has clay feet, and destroys it rather than live with its
imperfections. “Such men as he be never at heart’s ease” (Act I, Scene
ii, line 208), says Caesar.
If you reread Cassius’ speech against Caesar (Act I, Scene ii, lines
90-161), you’ll see how Cassius equates worthiness with such
traditionally masculine traits as physical strength and endurance.
Perhaps because he has so little sense of himself, and of his own
worth, he suffers from a sensitive ego, and measures himself not
against some abstract standards of right and wrong (as Brutus does),
but against others.
Cassius blames himself for giving Caesar so much power:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Act I, Scene ii, lines 140-141
These are the words of a spiritual outcast, who sees himself alone
in the universe. Only as death nears does Cassius recognize himself as
part of a divine plan, and achieve some measure of peace.
Cassius, we learn from Caesar, “hears no music.” Here’s what Lorenzo
in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice says about his type:
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not mov’d with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted
Act V, Scene i, lines 83-88
To Shakespeare, an inability to hear music was, quite literally,
an inability to hear the harmonies of the universe. The fact that
Cassius hears no music does not in itself make him evil, but it does
reveal a lack of inner harmony, and a restlessness that can never be
satisfied.
Cassius and Caesar are enemies in life, but the two are almost
indistinguishable at the moment of death. Both let their masks slip,
and reveal the gentleness that lies beneath. At this moment of
truth, there is no masculine talk of revenge- no war cries or
curses- but a simple lament for the betrayal of friends.
ANTONY
There are many “Antonys.” One of them is passionate and impulsive;
the other is in complete control of his emotions. One can cry over the
death of his dear friend Caesar; the other condemns his associates
to death without batting an eyelash. One makes a powerful political
speech with perfect understanding of human nature; the other can be so
mistaken about human nature that he calls Cassius “not dangerous.”
Can such opposites exist within the same man? It’s possible that
Shakespeare couldn’t make up his mind about Antony, and painted an
unfinished portrait of him. It’s also possible that Shakespeare was
trying to portray the many sides of an opportunist. An opportunist
is a person who adjusts his values to suit his purposes; who uses
people and events to get what he wants, regardless of principles or
consequences. If Antony is such a man, it is understandable that, like
a chameleon, he would change colors from one moment to the next.
How different Antony is from Brutus! Brutus stands behind his
principles, refusing to be swayed by circumstance; Antony never lets
principles stand in the way of success. Brutus’ conscience keeps him
up at night; tactics, manoeuvres, schemes- these are what concern
Antony.
A modern man, Antony takes the world as he finds it and uses
whatever means are necessary to get what he wants. Life for him is a
game- serious, but a game nonetheless- and he is a skillful player who
knows how to win.
Antony is an opportunist, yes, but is he evil? Look closely at his
words and actions, and you can find evidence to support that point
of view. In his famous funeral oration, for instance, nothing could be
more offensive than the way he fires up the masses by appealing to
their basest emotions. And nothing could be more irresponsible than
the way he unleases the “dogs of war”- bringing death and
destruction to innocent and guilty alike.
Antony is cynical, callous and unprincipled, yet he is motivated not
by personal ambition but by the desire to revenge the death of a
friend. His almost dog-like devotion to Caesar reveals a deep capacity
for loyalty and affection. He is cunning, but, unlike Brutus,
completely honest with himself. He may manipulate people, but he
speaks with conviction, and what he says is deeply felt. His funeral
oration is more effective than Brutus’ because he speaks from the
heart.
In the end, Antony (with Octavius’ help), triumphs. Is Shakespeare
suggesting that realists like Antony are the hope of the future?
Perhaps Shakespeare is merely pointing out that Antony and his kind
are more likely to succeed in a world as imperfect as the one we
live in.
OCTAVIUS
Octavius- Caesar’s adopted son- is more important a character than
his appearances (only four) and his lines (only 30) would indicate,
since the fate of Rome rests in his hands after the death of the
conspirators. From such limited information, we have to decide whether
Rome has been left in good hands.
What we should be able to agree on is this: Octavius is a capable
soldier who accomplishes the work at hand by whatever means are needed to achieve it. Honorable men like Brutus can be dangerous; perhaps Rome needs pragmatists like Octavius to reestablish order.
The first time Octavius appears (Act IV, Scene i, line 2) he is busy
checking off names of people who must die- including the brother of
his friend Lepidus. Is he a cold-blooded murderer, then? Perhaps.
But he is also a hardened soldier, who knows that it is sometimes
necessary to sacrifice individuals for the sake of victory. Like
Brutus, he kills for what he considers the greater good; but, unlike
Brutus, he has no qualms about it.
Moments later (Act IV, Scene i, lines 27-28), Octavius tries to save
Lepidus’ life. Since he showed no mercy to Lepidus’ brother, we can
assume he is not just being a good guy, but that he recognizes the
practical value of having a “tried and valiant soldier” in his ranks.
Yet Octavius lets Antony decide Lepidus’ fate. Is this a sign of
weakness? Or is it the wise decision of a practical man, who knows the
issue isn’t worth fighting over?
The second time Octavius appears (Act V, Scene i, lines 1-20), he
ignores Antony’s wishes and insists on keeping his forces to the right
side of the battlefield. “I do not cross you,” he tells Antony, “but I
will do so.” Octavius seems to be behaving like a willful young
Caesar, insisting on his natural right to rule. Whether his tone is
spiteful, or firm but polite, you’ll have to decide for yourself.
Only moments later (line 24), Octavius asks Antony if they should
attack, and this time he gives in to Antony’s wishes. Once again
you’ll have to decide: is Octavius incapable of important decisions-
or is he simply smart enough to listen to someone with more
experience?
The four generals now confront each other before the battle (lines
27-66)- Octavius and Antony on one side, Brutus and Cassius on the
other. Antony, Brutus and Cassius squabble like children- only
Octavius keeps his perspective. “Come, come, the cause,” he says-
let’s keep our sights on what’s important and get to the matter at
hand.
The third time we see Octavius (Act V, scene v, line 60), he
offers to take all of Brutus’ men into his service. This may be an act
of charity, but from what we know of Octavius, he is probably
motivated by the practical need to end the war and bring both sides
together under his single rule. His intentions may not matter so
much as the fact that he is trying to end the bloodshed and
reestablish order.
As the successor to Caesar, Octavius is given the final words of the
play. It is as a soldier, not as a noble man, that Octavius praises
Brutus, for nobility is a quality Octavius seems indifferent to. His
tribute to Brutus may not be genuine- he is probably only doing what
is expected of him- but whatever his motives, he seems to have no
interest in revenge. His desire to reunite the country bodes well
for the future of Rome.
(The historic Octavius did restore order. He also restored the
Republic- but more in name than in fact. The Senate retained its forms
and privileges, but the power resided in Octavius, who controlled