Brutus's Pride As Well As His Flaw

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Brutus’s Pride As Well As His Flaw

“For Brutus is an honourable man, so they all, all honourable men.” (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 80-81) The following quotation was when the conflict between Antony, Caesar’s loyal supporter and Brutus, the conspirator’s leader began. Antony sarcastically described and explained Brutus as a honourable man, and that he was a true patriot. Brutus’s patriotism and honour were the two factors that made the readers have a positive bias towards him in the beginning of the play, and also the factors that led him to his death in the end.

Brutus was a character that deserved sympathy. The motivator that made the first stepping-stone to his death was non other than his strong and loyal patriotism. According to Mark Antony, he was the only conspirator that had truly loved Rome, and did not assassinate Caesar because of jealousy of his success. Brutus and Caesar were friends. However, Brutus’s ancestors were the ones that had driven away the corrupted kings of Rome and had made Rome a republic, and Brutus wanted to keep it as it is, for it was a memento of his ancestors. He knew was well aware that Caesar could become ambitious and lead Rome to another depraved kingdom. Additionally, persuaded by Cassius, one of the conspirators, Brutus has decided to join the conspiracy for Rome’s sake, and not his own. “It must be by his death, and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general. He would be crown’d.” (Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 10-13) The preceding quotation was when Brutus had an inner conflict of whether choosing his friend’s life or Rome. In the end, he came up with the conclusion that only killing Caesar shall save Rome from tyranny, and had joined the conspirators. Brutus believed strongly that killing Caesar would be ‘justice’ for Rome, for humans become arrogant when they had reached the top, and tend to ignore the ladder that had helped him to reach there. Brutus feared that Caesar might make his supporters and the other citizens of Rome as his slave and become a tyrant. Brutus didn’t join the conspiracy only because he was afraid of tyranny. He had another reason, his love towards Rome, which was a peaceful republic. “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 20-21) This quotation was part of Brutus’s speech to justify his and the conspirator’s assassination of Caesar. He mentioned that he had loved Caesar, but his love towards Rome was more powerful. This shows that Brutus truly loves Rome and is a loyal patriot to his country for he even killed his friend for what he thinks will be beneficial for his country. The fact that Brutus even killed his friend for his country shows how much Brutus loved Rome, and how powerful and stiff was his patriotism.

By showing his patriotism and being born into a noble family, Brutus’s theme or title was ‘honourable,’ and Brutus himself, also had great pride in his title. However, this ‘honour’ was also his greatest flaw that led him to his death. “Believe me more mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you many believe. Censure me in your wisdom, and wake your senses, that you may the better judge.” (Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 14-17) This quotation was presented in the play when Brutus talked to the crowd about the conspirator’s deeds and to manipulate them to think that the conspiracy was justice. Brutus emphasizes his honour in his speech making the viewers and the crowed to feel like as if his honour is a great deed and should believe what Brutus says for he mentions his honour in it. The quotation also shows shows that once more, Brutus thinks of his honour as everything and believes that his honour shall succeed in manipulating the crowd. However, his honour was not only his pride, but also his biggest flaw. “And for Mark Antony, think not of him; for he can do no more than Caesar’s arm when Caesar’s head if off.” (Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 181-183) This quotation was part of Brutus’s speech to persuade the conspirators to not kill Antony for their behaviours may look to bloody and violent, and ‘violent’ doesn’t suit an honourable and noble figure like Brutus. Although Cassius presented the idea of killing Antony, Brutus considered Antony to be only a limb of Caesar, and made the conclusion that he will be no threat as long as Caesar was gone. This quote shows that Brutus knows how to respect his enemy’s supporters and is aware of when a cause might seem to bloody. This quote might make the readers think that Brutus is really worth respecting and is a generous figure. However, his honour of respecting Antony was the greatest mistake he could make in his life, for Antony completely flips the crowd’s faith towards Brutus by talking to them as if he was an equal and turns around the crowd’s bias of the assassination of Caesar.

The conflict between Antony and Brutus’s bias of Caesar’s assassination switched Brutus’s dignity into his flaw. His patriotism was the origin of him joining the conspiracy and his honour was the main cause of him making the biggest mistake of his life, to let Antony live. If Brutus had agreed with Cassius to kill Antony, his goal would have been achieved wholly. However, because he ignored Cassius’s advice because of his honour he accomplished his goal partially, for Antony and Octavius (Caesar’s son) declared war against the conspirators, making Rome a bloody battlefield, and crucially, Octavius has became the king, following Caesar’s dream. Even though Brutus achieved his goal partially, I would say that his goal was noble. Brutus’s primary goal was to save Rome from tyranny and to maintain his ancestor’s achievements. He has killed his friend and until the end, believed that he did what was right for his country and died a honourable death.