Reflection Paper on “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare

“This was the noblest Roman of them all,” claims Marc Antony in the play Julius Caesar, written by the renowned playwright William Shakespeare. This famous quote is referring to the noble Brutus, one of the conspirators against Caesar. Although some might say Brutus is not true to Rome because of his betrayal of Caesar, these people are wrong because Brutus is willing to kill his closest friend for what he believes to be best for Rome. Brutus’ respect for Rome is the reason that he kills Caesar. He is told over and over again that Caesar is ambitious and that he will become the leader of Rome. Brutus is told that when Caesar becomes leader that he will drive Rome into the ground. Because Brutus cares about Rome and he does not want Rome to fall, he does the only thing he can: he kills Caesar. Brutus is the only conspirator that kills Caesar for the good of Rome.

All of the other conspirators, such as Cassius, kill Caesar for their own personal gain. With Caesar removed, more power shifted to those who depose him, but Brutus does not want this power. Brutus wants what is good for Rome. He believes that the people of Rome want Caesar as their leader, but he also believes that Caesar would be an ambitious leader and have Roman citizens become slaves. Brutus thinks these horrid things because this is what Cassius, the most deceitful conspirators, tell him. Cassius is the leader in taking down Caesar. He lies to Brutus just to make him think that the citizens of Rome want Caesar dethroned. Cassius throws bricks with notes tied around them through Brutus’ window. These notes say that the citizens want Caesar dethroned, thus making Brutus decide to join the conspirators. So Brutus is noble because he has great qualities such as honor and justice, but his one flaw, if it can be considered that, is that he loves Rome more than anything. The reason that this is a flaw is that he jumps to the conclusion that Caesar was ambitious and kills him with no evidence. If Brutus does not have this flaw then there would be no one to do what is best for Rome.