Julius Caesar's Dilemma

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a dilemma based on Julius Caesar. Caesar is a Roman general who is considered a king, even without his crown. Antony is a devoted friend of Caesar, who pairs with Octavius, Caesar’s nephew, after his death. Caesar considers himself an autocrat, which isn’t suitable or liked by the Romans. A noble Roman whom all of Rome adores including Caesar, Brutus, plots against Caesar’s dictatorship. Many other people were involved in the plot against Caesar including Cassius, Casca and Decius. They assassinated Caesar, who trusted them dearly, on the ides of March. All people of Rome were happy except one, Antony. Antony joins hands with Octavius and plans to avenge Caesar’s death. This leads to a …show more content…
His fatal flaw is his astonishing lack of discernment. His judgement that all Romans are as high minded as him often proves him wrong. After Caesar’s death, Antony comes to the conspirators in wishes to stay alive and say a speech in front of the plebeians. Brutus agrees to his wish with two conditions, “You will not blame us in your funeral speech, but will say all the good you want to about Caesar and that you do it with our permission. Otherwise, you’ll have no role at all in his funeral. And you’ll speak on the same platform as I do, after I’m done.” After Brutus speaks, he steps off the pulpit and exits. When Antony speaks to the plebeians, he says exactly what Brutus tells him not to. By placing a negative input of the conspirators in the plebeians minds, they began despising the conspirators and causing chaos; this instigated the war. If Brutus had not been so foolish and had not considered Antony so trustworthy, the barbarous war and his death could have been …show more content…
When Caesar said “Et tu, Brute?” after being stabbed by his most trusted men, it was evident that he knew he deserved his cruel death and it didn’t place any pity in the audience's heart. On the other hand, Brutus’ death was a joyus one. In act 5, scene 5 it states, “I’ll have glory in this losing day—more than Octavius and Mark Antony will gain by their foul conquest. So farewell, all, for my tongue has almost finished with its life. I can’t see ahead of me. My bones want to rest after helping me up to this hour.” This shows that Brutus was fine with death because he believes he has done all that he can as a noble Roman. It still filled the audience's heart with pity because if it wasn’t for Brutus’ terrible judgement he would have been