Caesar Essay

Usually in an assassination plan, no matter what the setting, there are ironclad facts that have lead the conspirator or conspirators to such an extreme measure. For example, the individual being assassinated may have committed heinous crimes, or may have made bad decisions in a leadership role. No matter the reason, it is often clear to both the perpetrators and the bystanders why such an act had to be done. In the play Julius Caesar, an assassination is carried out leaving everyone, except the conspirators, with the feeling of confusion. Caesar is assassinated on a whim, without any evidence to back up the conspirators’ actions. Whether demonstrated by Flavius and Murellus early in the play, (), or in Brutus’s eulogy, perception, rather than fact led to the murder of Julius Caesar.

As the Roman people rejoice after Caesar returns home victorious over Pompey, there are two men who are not as happy as the rest. Flavius and Murellus, two tribunes loyal to Pompey, are clearly displeased about Caesar’s victory as they scold commoners celebrating throughout the streets. After ordering them to disperse, Flavius and Murellus decide to vandalize statues of Caesar or anything bearing semblance to his name. They believe that after his victory, Caesar’s arrogance, now at an all-time high, must be deflated, “These growing feathers pluck’d from Caesar’s wing, Will make him fly an ordinary pitch, Who else would soar above the view of men, And keep us all in servile fearfulness.”(I,i,71) Although quoted early on in the play, these two characters are convinced of Caesar’s arrogance, long before any evidence has been introduced. Though the first example, this recurring theme of perceived arrogance of Caesar, is evident in many upcoming scenes, such as

This is yet another example of the previously mentioned theme of Caesar’s perceived arrogance, occurring again in Brutus’s eulogy.

Brutus, the ever-honorable man, decides to give the eulogy for the man he has just murdered, Caesar. He chooses this strategy to convince the Roman people that his reasoning for killing Caesar is justified. Brutus begins by reminding them of his honorable character, how he can be trusted and concludes by explaining that he did not kill Caesar out of hatred but instead, out of his love for Rome, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved