Cassius and Brutus

Analytical Essay # 46850

English > Analysis
Shakespeare > Julius Caesar

Cassius and Brutus

An analysis of the characters Cassius and Brutus in William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar".

1,844 words () | 0 sources | 2004 United Kingdom

Paper Summary:

This paper examines William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" and in particular looks at how the characters of Cassius and Brutus change from Act one Scene two and Act two Scene one. It discusses how throughout the whole play there are lots of power struggles and betrayal and how the characters of both Cassius and Brutus both develop greatly. It show how the relationship between them changes in many ways and how Brutus always seems to like to be in control of whatever is going on.

From the Paper:

"Cassius is being so obsequious and sycophantic here that he almost seems insincere. This is suggesting that the plebeians of Rome would rather have Brutus as a dictator than Caesar. An actor would emphasize the stinging "except immortal Caesar". Brutus gets very agitated by this as he feels if anyone is above him then he is denigrated and base. Brutus does not want to be inferior to Caesar in any way. It goes against all of Brutus's personality traits to take the submissive role to anyone or to let anyone seem above him. The way Cassius says "immortal Caesar" presents him in almost a god like position. This is again reiterating the point that Caesar is above Brutus. This represents the manipulative and duplicitous side of Cassius' character."