Considerations for the play...
· Is Brutus a good man?
· Can a good man commit murder?
· Is the quality of shrewdness the fatal missing ingredient in Brutus’ character?
· Or alternatively, is he just an evil person?
Lit Terms 2
6 years ago
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Et tu, Brute?
Posted by A. Davis at 11:02 AM
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13 comments:
Brutus may not be the most morally straight individual, but I would not call him evil. He did commit murder which is obviously an evil act to commit, but he did it in his mind to help an entire civilization.
Tim Horick
I agree with Tim on that Brutus isn't an evil person. However, instead of killing Caesar he could have approached this situation in a different way. One way is by talking to Caesar. I know that sounds boring and girlish but if Brutus is one of Caesar's favorite people, Caesar most likely would have listened to him. I know that he had a "deaf ear" but wouldn't you listen to someone you trusted? So I think what Brutus and the conspiracy was wrong but there is also the phrase "kill one, save a million" to consider.
Katelyn McChesney
Ha, ha to the "girly" comment, Katelyn! Seriously, though, you do have a point on the listening to someone you trusted. I am a little concerned that there aren't 34 such good comments on the Caesar postings, since they are due by the end of WEDNESDAY!!!
I agree with Tim and Katelyn. Brutus was kind of put in a bad situation. After the fake notes that Cassius wrote to him, he thought that killing Brutus was what everyone wanted. He really did care about Rome, and his intentions were good. However I think he could have approached it differently. He could have at least tried to talk to Caesar first and see how he reacted. I think Caesar was very fond of Brutus, and he might have listened to him.
Gabby Earby
Brutus is a good man. He just wanted what was best for Rome. He may have been manipulated by Cassius, but over all it was his decision. In Brutus's case, a good man can commit murder. I do not think there was anything missing in his character. Moreover, he is most definitly not an evil person. Going back to what Katelyn said, there were other ways he could have gone about confronting Caesar. Who knows, maybe if they would have told them how the felt, Caesar might have backed down. Although, I think it is highly unlikey. I think they should have atleast considered the possibility of talking to him, rather then taking 'the easy way out' and killing Caesar.
Brooke Muller
I don't think he is an evil person. I think although he murdered a man back then his reason would have probably been good enough to get away with it. I don't murdering Caesar was the answer, but I don't think he is a bad person. He is actually my favorite person of all. He is honest and very trustworthy.
Amber Ballew
As it has been said many times already, Brutus wasn't evil. He was naive enough to believe what he was told be Cassius. Even though Cassius was a manipulator, Brutus could of figured out that he just wanted power. Also about just talking to Caesar, I think that was the worst option they could of taken if they all wanted to live. That is like walking up to the president and say that your going to kill him next morning. If you said that then the Secret Service would be arresting you, but in that time it would of likely been execution because they didn't have due process.
I believe that Brutus is a good person at heart. It's just that one of his flaws is that he can be manipulated rather easily. I don't think that he ever wanted to kill Caesar.
Will Hearn
I think that brutus was a good man, not the gratest, but he wasn't evil. Good men that are misled and misjudge can kill but that doesn't neccissarily make him evil. It just makes the act all on its own evil. He thought he was helping his country... I dont stand behind his actions because like katelyn said, we can choose a different route with almost anything.
Nataliya Migovich
I agree with what Tim said about how Brutus' morals mind be out of line but after all he is considered "the most noble Roman". In my opinion, Brutus had so many influences to assassinate Caesar that he never had the choice himself to back out. This is very similar to what happens in today's society. A kid might not what to get involved in a situation but in the end he always gives in b/c of peer pressure. So no, i don't believe Brutus is an evil man.
Colton Ward
This is to whomever left the "Seem familiar" comment, then asked me to delete it...
Yes, it does seem familiar because it was obviously used as a model... not sure what you are implying... I don't think anyone said that it was an original idea, just an original creation... I hope you were merely pointing out how impressive the project actually was compared to the original. And hey, no name on your comment? If you want to make a point, make it like a man or woman and put your name to it!
Tim's right.
I don't think that Brutus is an inherently good or evil person. He's kind of neutral, seeing as he killed to save a nation.
Although after reading the play, killing Ceaser didn't really do any good for Rome in the time afterward. Seeing as the killing started a civil war.
So, like in the play, the general people must have thought he was a malicious and evil man, but those who knew him would've been a bit more forgiving.
I think Brutus is a good man, a rather stupid one but a good one. A good man can commit murder, it's like our soldiers, they're not bad they're good which they commit murder for a "good cause" or at least that's what the government tells us. But Brutus commited murder for what he thought was a good cause so if you look at it from his point what he did was right.
Levi Long
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