Julius Caesar
brings up all sorts of questions about the nature of politics, but it
also brings up even more important questions about the nature of men.
One of the ideas that I found most intriguing in the play is the
conflict of honor vs. ambition and which brings greater happiness and
success in life. For me, when I come across this question I feel it is
more important to be honorable than ambitious. I am happier with myself
when I have done and said things that are good rather than doing things
that are big and impressive. However, the play call this into question
through three characters: Brutus, Cassius, and Antony.
Brutus
is the most honorable character in the play. Antony tells us this at
the end of the play, "This was the noblest Roman of them all" (Act V
Scene 5). Brutus makes his decisions because he truly believes it is
what is right for his people and his country. He agreed to kill Caesar
because he was given notes that he thought were from the people, leading
him to think that the death of Caesar is what the people wanted.
Without that reassurance, Brutus would never have agreed to the
assassination. He would have continued as he was before. Brutus refuses
to kill Antony, because he does not feel that it will help the country.
Brutus also agrees to let Antony speak at Caesar's funeral, because
Brutus feels it will be good for the people to hear from Antony. Those
are both tremendous mistakes. If Brutus had agreed to kill Antony as
well, he would not have ended up dead at the end of the play. If Antony
had not spoken at the funeral and riled up the people, Brutus would not
have ended up dead. Brutus's honor is his tragic flaw. How absolutely
terrible is that? Honor and being noble is a flaw, that ends up with a
tragic life and death. So if being honorable leads to tragedy, being
ambitious must lead to success and happiness, right? That is how it
turned out for Antony.
Antony
truly loved Caesar. There is no doubt about that. Caesar was his friend
and leader and Antony would follow Caesar to the end of the world. But
that does not make Antony honorable. Antony is ambitious. He wants power
and exploits Caesar's death in order to get power. He prays to the god
of chaos. He riles up the people of Rome in order to create chaos. Why
does he want chaos? So he can be the one to put the country "back
together." That is not honorable. That is ambitious. And it is ambitious
in the worst way. And he wins. Antony wins. He gets the power. He turns the country to chaos and he still gets everything he desired.
Now,
Cassius. Cassius is just as ambitious as Antony. However, Cassius's
ambition leads him to destruction. Cassius is shrewd and intellectual.
He is never wrong. If Brutus had followed through on all of Cassius's
ideas and decisions, then both of them would have much more pleasant
outcomes.
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ReplyDeleteAt first I didn't like Brutus as much. I thought he was too obsessed with Caesar being bad for government that he would just take whatever piece of evidence that the people wanted him dead. But thinking about the culture of the time, and how naive Brutus really is, it makes so much more sense. In fact it makes me relate to and respect him so much more. I too would rather have my honor than to have my ambitions at whatever cost.
ReplyDeleteA theme that I thought about was private life vs public life and the need for them to interact. Think back to when Portia was pleading for Brutus to tell her what was troubling him. She just wants to be there for him and try to ease his mind. He can't bring himself to tell her and expresses his gratitude for having a wife that loves him so much. What might have happened had he told her? Could she have convinced him otherwise? Would it just ruin their relationship? She later commits suicide because of the results of Caesar's murder. Could she have been saved from her grief? Brutus completely separates his private and public life, but they end up destroying each other, despite the separation.
Caesar does a similar thing with his wife Calpurnia. She begs Caesar to please think of all of the signs and omens of his death. Her nightmares and the prophet who declares about the "Ides of March". He starts to consent and listen to his wife, but when the idea of him receiving the crown arrives, he throws all caution to the wind. Had Caesar lived if only he had listened? Could he have changed the future for the country? Could he have saved Brutus from his choices?
You can't separate your private and public lives. The moral laws you live by dictate the choices you make in your public life. Also the need to listen to those who care about you. Sometimes we are so focused on achieving some task, that we are blind to what the consequences our actions may cause. Others can see what you don't recognize yourself and help you to stop before you really hurt someone.