WTL SAMPLE CASE NOTES FOR TERM PAPER TRYING BRUTUS
EVIDENCE PROVING BRUTUS IS GUILTY OF
COMMITING AN UNJUSTIFIED MURDER OF JULIUS
CAESAR AND TREASON
-Brutus claims that Caesar was ambitious, but
Caesar brought glory and money to Rome, cried
for the poor, denied the crown when Antony
presented it to him, and granted a large amount of
money and land to the Roman people in his will.
-Brutus has no real evidence that Caesar will
become a brutal dictator. Instead his opinion is
formed on a basis of conjecture.
-Brutus was supposed to be a friend to Caesar. If
one is a friend, they should talk to their friend
when they have a problem with them or see
trouble coming to them. Instead, Brutus associates
with self-centered thieves and liars allowing them
to persuade him to do something against his will.
-Brutus is too easily swayed to carry out the plot. If
he was as worried about honor as he said, he
would have approached Caesar in an appropriate
manner and handled things with him.
-Brutus continues to be part of the resistance even
after he can see the popular will is against his
conviction.
-Brutus said he would turn his knife on himself if
ever Rome required it of him, yet he only turns his
knife on himself when faced with imminent death
from Antony and Octavius.
-Brutus’ conscience dogs him: Brutus himself
knows he is guilty, as he has committed a
treasonous crime against Caesar and Rome. This is
manifest in his talking to the ghost of Caesar
throughout the close of the play.
-Brutus is changed by his association with the
conspirators, if he had still been a man of morals,
why did he not simply disappear into the night
when the mobs rejected him? Instead he amassed
an army trying to help rise up and bring power to
him and Cassius.
-Brutus acts as if he is an honorable man, but his
actions do not add up.
EVIDENCE PROVING THAT BRUTUS’ PLOTTING
AGAINST AND HELPING CARRY OUT THE MURDER
OF JULIUS CAESAR WERE JUSTIFIED
-Brutus takes a great while to deliberate upon
what he should do to handle the potential
problem of Caesar. He is honorable.
-Killing Caesar is not even Brutus’ idea. He simply
has a problem with the idea of a government led
by a dictator.
-Brutus is misled by Cassius into thinking that
overthrowing of Caesar is the desire of the
populous by the fake notes that are passed along
through Cinna.
-Brutus is up all night brooding over whether or
not he should be a part of the conspiracy.
-Even upon joining into the conspiracy, Brutus is
insistent that all things be done honorably: He will
not swear an oath and he refuses to kill Antony.
- He refuses to kill Antony despite the fact that
Antony would have presented a great threat to
Brutus.
-Even Mark Antony proclaims Brutus is the most
noble of all Romans. He says that all that Mark
Antony did, He did with an eye single to the glory
of Rome.
- Murdering Caesar may actually be seen as a
move that would empower Rome as Caesar was
stricken with epilepsy. This could have been a
problem in his continuing to rule Rome.
- Brutus does not censure or try to get rid of
Antony after Caesar’s death. Instead, he gives him
a part at the funeral and trusts him to his word.
-It seems as if Brutus is the last to stab Caesar, as
Caesar cries “et tu Brute, then fall Caesar” as his
last act.
-Caesar was on course to become a brutal dictator:
He crushed Pompey and his army to take control
and may not have hesitated to use force to take
further control.
-Brutus loved Caesar, but he simply loved Rome
more.
- Rather than hide or run. Brutus always stood
proud and battled for what he held to be the
honorable thing.
-Caesar only decided to go to senate after learning
he would be crowned king: Seems a little
ambitious.