Julius Caesar Essay Essay, Research Paper

From reading the play, Julius Caesar , by William Shakespeare, I can affirm that Marcus Brutus made several errors of judgement, all in different situations, which ultimately lead to his death. I can also state that Brutus, whom Mark Antony described as the noblest Roman of them all , failed to carry out his promise (which was essentially freedom) to Rome. Brutus errors of judgement played a large part in the failure of the conspirators, and his own death. Many times his ego and his self-image stood in the way of his reasoning, which became clouded. And there were several occasions were he used his own logic rather than listen to Cassius, his friend and a very perspicacious individual, who knew all the tricks of the trade and made many right decisions. Cassius and the conspirators easily duped Brutus. When Cassius is trying to acquire Brutus as part of the conspiracy against Caesar, he does not present an argument against the tyranny that could follow if Caesar was made a dictator, he instead tells a couple of stories, one in which he saved Caesar s life. Therefore Brutus mind was moulded against Caesar, and his judgement somehow thrown out by a couple of stories. The conspirators needed Brutus, and he was used by them to achieve their ends, because Brutus was a noble figure, therefore he would have the support of a lot of the commoners. Another judgemental error Brutus made was when he underestimated Mark Antony and what he could do. When Decius states shall no man else be touch d but only Caesar? (Act 2, Scene 1, Line 154) Cassius suggests Mark Antony should be killed, as they might find him to be a shrewd contriver .But Brutus then goes on to explain that Antony is only the limbs of Caesar after the head has been cut off, even though Cassius makes several points about Antony being a tougher challenge than Brutus expects. Brutus misjudged Antony s ability to sway the people in his favour, and did not recognise that Antony was a great public speaker. One of Brutus greatest errors was a military error. When Cassius and Brutus had fled Rome and their armies were preparing to do battle with the armies of Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus near Philippi, in Greece, Brutus insisted that the armies of the conspirators come down from the hills and battle on the plains, instead of holding their position and waiting for the enemies to come to them.Cassius, an experienced campaigner advised Brutus against this, but Brutus wrongly took faith in himself and went against his friend s advice, and in the end lost the battle, which cost him his life. A large judgement error that Brutus made was one that he could not possibly notice, as it was his judgement of himself. His self image is one of a great noble, who is supported, loved and adored by the general public. He became so egoistical that he thought everyone supported him strongly, and would continue to support him no matter what happened.He did not realise that the people he thought loved him could be swayed by someone else (Antony in this case) to turn against him. After he had given his speech to the people following Caesar s death (Act 3, scene 2, Lines 2 64), he believed that he had the total endorsement of the crowd, and did not think twice about not letting Mark Antony speak, as he was so happy with himself for what he had done and for his own brilliant speech.

The final main error that Brutus makes is his loss of reasoning.He thinks of himself as the liberator of the Roman people, their freedom fighter, and their saviour from tyranny and oppression. Getting caught up in this vision of himself, he believes that nothing can stop him achieving his self-righteous goals.It is Brutus major flaw of not being able to see through this reasoning of himself that ultimately helped lead to his demise. Brutus had made a promise to Rome. This included freedom and liberty to the general public, enfranchisement (the right to vote), the deliverance from tyranny, dictatorship and oppression, and more rights for all people.Brutus eventually failed to carry out that promise, and there are several reasons why this occurred, which are closely tied in with Brutus errors of judgement. Brutus is foolhardy in his trust of people, and his image of how people see him. He overly trusts Cassius and the conspirators, and does not think for one moment that they could be using him as a tool to achieve their ends, or fooling and duping him. He also trusts the public too much, as he thinks they would not turn against him, as he is a noble and respected figure, and thinks himself to be great in the public s eyes, despite the fact that his ideals are a bit more lofty than most of the commoners principles. Described before, but also relevant in this section of the essay is the downfall of Brutus reasoning. The more the story develops, the more clouded and disjointed Brutus reasoning and thinking is. He cannot judge people and their actions properly, and he loses the ability to think clearly in troubled situations. This played a large part in the failure of Brutus promise to Rome. Contrary to what he thinks, Brutus is not the representative of the people. In his mind, Brutus creates an image of himself as the people s noble, the person who is prepared to voice the opinions of the people and take action.Brutus thinks of himself in such a position, but no person can represent such a diverse body of citizens. He thinks the crowd is always with him and does not seem to recognise how easy their allegiances can change, as Flavius and Marellus, the two tribunes, pointed out at the start of Act 1 Scene 1, where the people who had previously recognised Pompey as their ruler now looked up to Caesar. And the main reason why Brutus failed to deliver his promise to Rome was because of the judgemental errors he made that were described earlier in this essay. Not many people can make that many mistakes and then go on to win a war and the support of the people, and the rest of the government. Brutus was not the clear-headed thinker needed for this plan to succeed. Cassius may have been able to succeed in the place of Brutus, as he was an astute person and a quick, level thinker. Ultimately Brutus failed in this revolution, and delivering his promise to Rome, because he made far too many mistakes and judgement errors to be successful, and did not possess a clear, level mind, that is so greatly needed in the situation that Brutus was placed in. Brutus had a good cause and valid motives, but really he stood in his own way when it came to success.