Brutus’s patriotism and desire to conserve the Roman republic played the main role in building him into a patriot and making him choose to kill his closest friend for the good of the general. When Cassius, the mastermind of the conspiracy recognizes that they need Brutus on their side in order for the assassination to be successful and brings up the idea to him. However, Brutus is strongly against the idea of killing his close friend. Desperate, Cassius decides to send Brutus fake letters from the people of Rome asking him to take action against Caesar. Only then Brutus is convinced that the assassination of the soon to be dictator is critical for the sake of Rome: “ ‘O Rome, I make thee a promise, If the redress will follow, thou receivest Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus’ ” (II.i.56-57). Now that Brutus has seen the letters sent from the public, he knows in his heart that he must sacrificing Caesar for the republic. Later on after Brutus, Cassius, and the conspirators assassinate Caesar, they confess and explain what they have done to the public. Brutus, once again, rationalizes his intentions to be patriotic. “ ‘If then that friend Demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III.ii.19-21). This segment of the speech that Brutus made at Caesar’s funeral clearly shows that he was indeed a great patriot.
Although Brutus’s patriotism was the key factor that drove him to the assassination of his beloved friend, it could have turned into an extremely brutal and immoral bloodshed if it wasn’t for Brutus’s honorable character. In Act II Scene I of ‘Julius Caesar’, the conspirators arrange a meeting with Brutus to plan how Caesar’s assassination will take place. Then Cassius, the mastermind of the plot, suggests swearing an oath of loyalty to each other. However Brutus stops this, and claims that an oath is not necessary at all: “‘If not the face of men, The sufferance of souls, the time’s abuse If these be motives weak, then break off betimes And every man hence to his idle bed’ ” (II.i.114-117). Brutus tells them that the conspirators, having pledged their words as Romans, do not need any incentive, other than their cause. This quote clearly shows that as a noble Roman, honor is the most important thing to Brutus who cares about Rome more than the life of his best friend. As the meeting of the conspirators continues, Brutus is fully convinced that Caesar has to be removed from his power, but is unable to think of a way to do so except for assassinating him. However, he had some ideas on how to proceed with the assassination that suggest his honorable motivations. Brutus mentions that the conspirators must be “sacrificers” and not butchers and shows his disappointment that they are unable to seize Caesar’s spirit without killing him because Brutus respected and valued Caesar as a friend: “‘O, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit And not dismember Caesar! But, alas, Caesar must bleed for it.’” (II.i.169-171).
When it comes to making a moral choice regarding a person’s life, seeking for enough information and evidence is extremely critical along with the repeated revisions of the idea. In the famous tragedy ‘Julius Caesar’, Brutus’s patriotism and honor had driven him to assassinate his good friend Caesar, but he had only achieved his goal partially because he was only able to save Rome from dictatorship but instead, created a massive conflict and havoc within Rome, causing its people to suffer. Thus, Brutus was indeed a tragic hero who valued and loved Rome much more than one man’s ambition. And therefore, I believe that Brutus’s goal was nobler than it was worthy.
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