Transcript Brutus - Aoife's Notes

Brutus
Act Three
Poor Judge of Others
• Brutus believes that he will be respected for
having sacrificed much by murdering a close
friend for the good of Rome.
• He even thinks he can persuade Antony of the
necessity for the murder:
‘Our reasons are so full of good regard,
That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar,
You should be satisfied’.
Does Not Understand Ordinary
Romans
• Brutus speaks to the people, but he does so in
prose rather than poetry. His speech is plain,
probably because he believes the ordinary
people will understand this better.
• While he does persuade them that Caesar’s
murder was necessary, he does not realise
how quickly the mob can change its
allegiance.
Clinging to Honour
• Brutus tells the crowd that he will answer
those who ask why he killed his friend.
‘…this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar
less, but that I loved Rome more.’
• ‘I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I
have the same dagger for myself when it shall
please the countrymen to need my death’.
Misjudges Antony
• Antony is all that Brutus is not.
• He descends from the pulpit to talk to the
people and bowls them over with his rhetoric.
• Brutus gave the people the facts as he saw
them, but was not terribly emotional. He
used argument where Antony uses
persuasion.
Public Enemy
• Brutus has made a terrible mistake in
believing that Caesar’s murder would bring
and end to his charisma.
• The people now seek revenge on Brutus and
the other conspirators, in Caesar’s name.
• We will soon see that Caesar lives on in
Brutus’ troubled mind just as he does in the
Roman people’s hearts. Caesar’s ghost will
appear to Brutus on the battlefield.