Thompson

Silas Thompson

Ms. Sharp

Pre-AP English

30 February 2019

Brutus

“And therefore think him as a serpents’ egg… kill him in the shell,” said Brutus, a

respected, honest man from Rome (Shakespeare II.i). In the play Julius Caesar by William

Shakespeare, Cassius, Brutus’s friend, believes Caesar is weak and unqualified to be the ruler

over Rome and he thinks he is going to abuse his power. He decides to create a group of

conspirators to assassinate Caesar. He attempts to convince Brutus to join by flattering him with

compliments, because he knows he is a respected man by many. Brutus joined out of love for his

country and didn’t have hatred or malice towards a certain person. Brutus was married to Portia,

a strong willed woman. Brutus was a noble Roman because he was faithful to his country, who

joined the conspirators and plotted to kill Caesar with the noble motives of saving his country,

and he also faced internal and external struggles along the way.

Brutus was a noble and highly respected man, even by his enemies. Mark Antony,

Caesar’s servant, said, “This was the noblest Roman of them all: All the conspirators, save only

he… His life was gentle, and the elements So mix’d in him that Nature might stand up And say

to all the world “This was a man!” (Shakespeare V.v) Mark Antony was a rival of the

conspirators and an enemy of Brutus, yet he still respected him and his character. He was
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respected because he didn’t have hatred toward Caesar unlike the other conspirators, just loyalty

to his country.

Brutus was influenced and persuaded by Cassius to join the conspirators and he plotted to

kill Caesar with the motives of saving his country from Caesar’s misusing his power. Cassius

tried to flatter Brutus when he said, “Your hidden worthiness into your eye, That you might see

your shadow. I have heard Where many of the best respect in Rome, Except immortal Caesar,

speaking of Brutus, And groaning underneath this age’s yoke, Have wish’d that noble Brutus had

his eyes.” Cassius said these things with the intention of persuading Brutus to join the

conspirators. Brutus plotted to kill Caesar when he said, “And therefore think him as a serpent’s

egg Which hatch’d would as his kind grow mischievous, And kill him in the shell.” (Shakespeare

II.i) He says how they need to kill Caesar before he gets too powerful and damages Rome.

Brutus had a few internal and external struggles throughout the play. First, he had an

internal struggle on whether or not to tell his wife, Portia, that he joined the conspirators. She

stabs herself in the thigh to prove her loyalty so that he might tell the secret. He never tells her,

but she eventually found out. Another struggle he had is when he mourned the death of his wife,

when she kills herself by swallowing hot coals. Another struggle he has is not agreeing with

Cassius about strategies in the war which begins the downfall of the conspirators.

Brutus was a respected man who plotted to assassinate Caesar to save his country of

Caesar’s misuse of power. He was successful in his mission of assassinating but he and the rest

of the conspirators died, and they ended up leaving the country in the hands of Caesars servants

that will rule Rome the same as Caesar did.

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Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Dover, 1991.