Claire
Of all the complex and dynamic
relationships William Shakespeare created throughout his plays, the twisted web
of friendships in Julius Caesar is one so personal and heart wrenching that it
must be near the top of the list. As the reader moves further into the lies and
betrayals of early Rome, they are shown honestly, and sometimes brutally, what
friendship means in a world of shadows and blood. Friendship is a very
important theme of the play, and it has an impact on the lives of the
characters to the point where some must choose between loyalty and death,
between love of a fellow human or love of a civilization on the brink of civil
war. The questions many characters must eventually ask themselves are: How far
would I go for the good of the country? How far would I go for the love of a
friend?
At the end of Julius Caesar, a
bloody battle has finished, and many important figures and main characters are
lying in pools of their own blood. This is the result of individual decisions,
and the ability of some characters to sway others towards cruel things,
believing it to be an act of friendship or national loyalty. Different Romans
see friendship differently: some hold it close to their hearts while others use
it as a bargaining tool to get what they want, namely power. Each Roman treats
his fellows differently, each has a different idea of what friendship means and
where it stands against ideas like politics and power.
For Caius Cassius, conspirator
against Julius Caesar, friendship is a way to impact the decisions of others,
to sway their votes or encourage them to join a cause. In Act 1 Scene 1,
Cassius complains to Brutus that their friendship has cooled. “You bare too
stubborn and too strange a hand over your friend, that loves you” (1.1). Here,
he is referencing the way Brutus is becoming distant towards him, to which
Brutus replies,
“Into what dangers would you lead me,
Cassius,
That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?” (1.1)
Would
a true friend try to convince you to do something that may be dangerous and not
something you would normally do? Brutus seems to be pressured by Cassius to
find ideas and actions within himself that would not appear there naturally.
Cassius claims to be a dear friend to Brutus, yet is he the one who sways
Brutus into killing Caesar, who was also a friend of Brutus.
In the later acts, when the battle
is looming and Caesar is dead, Cassius and Brutus share a strange moment of
intimacy, knowing full well they may never see each other again.
BRUTUS For ever and for ever farewell,
Cassius.
If we do meet again,
why, we shall smile;
If
not, why then, this parting was well made.
CASSIUS For ever and for ever farewell, Brutus:
If we do meet again,
we’ll smile indeed;
If not, ‘tis true this
parting was well made. (5.2).
However
much Cassius has used Brutus to kill Caesar and manipulate him to gain power,
this tender moment before a battle shows that Brutus and Cassius, at least on
some level, truly do care about each other, and are friends.
The friendship of Brutus and Julius
Caesar is one of the most famous and platonic that Shakespeare ever created. At
the beginning of the play, Brutus and Caesar appear to be great friends, yet
the in the climax of the play, in Act 3, Caesar is stabbed by the very person
who once loved him so dearly. Why would Brutus turn against his friend? After
Caesar’s death, Brutus attempts to explain in front of the people of Rome.
“If there be any in this assembly, any
dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less
than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my
answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (3.2).
This
is a very poignant explanation of Brutus: he reveals his great love for Caesar,
and his greater love for his country of Rome. This powerful monologue is not
the only moment when Brutus shows his friendship to Caesar; from the very
beginning of the play, their relationship is established. The conspirators try
to convince Brutus that Caesar is too ambitious, ready to take the throne and
become a King of Rome, but Brutus shows doubt at first, not believing his
friend capable. “I have not known when his affections swayed more than his
reason.” (2.1). Brutus knows Caesar well, knows that he would not seize the
power as the conspirators think he would. Sadly, doubt begins to creep into his
mind as the night wiles away, and when morning comes, the conspirators have
succeeded in changing the ideas of Brutus, so the friendship is ultimately
ripped apart.
Even when Brutus is persuaded to
join the conspirators against Caesar, he knows that he will lose Caesar’s
friendship, and his presence, forever. In a meeting with the others, Brutus
states, “O, that we could come by Caesar’s spirit and not dismember Caesar!”
(2.1). In that moment, he knows he must kill Caesar for Rome, but for a brief
second, is unwilling to think of it, wishing he could maintain a nation and a
friendship at the same time.
After the night of thunder and
secret meetings, Brutus is firm in the belief that Caesar must die if Rome is
to live. The strong bond of friendship is broken, and Brutus must not only rip
apart the friendship, but kill the man he once loved so much. The last words of
Decius Brutus to Julius Caesar are, “I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery,
Caesar.” (3.1). These cruel words come seconds before Caesar is stabbed, and
Brutus must now live with the murder of a close friend resting on his shoulders.
What was Brutus thinking in those last seconds? Was he regretting his decision,
or did he know it was right for Rome in the end? Come the end of the play, we
see that Brutus is indeed regretful, torn apart by his previous actions, to the
point where he feels he must kill himself to pay the debt of killing Caesar. In
Act 5 Scene 5, Brutus reveals that the ghost of Caesar has come to him, and he
knows it is time for him to go. The guilt and raw pain of his actions has
driven him to the brink, and he knows that there is nothing left for him.
Brutus has saved Rome, but in the process hurt himself so badly that he cannot
continue to live. It is the ultimate sacrifice.
Julius Caesar is a powerful man. He
has success in battles, and he knows how to stir the hearts of the people.
Caesar is a good politician, a good general, but is he a good man too? Caesar’s
friendship with Brutus is powerful, and very real, and Caesar, while not coming
out and saying it, does show friendship to Brutus on more than one occasion. When
Caesar is killed in a stage production, there is not one person in the audience
who is not on the edge of their seats. It is a tormenting scene, horrific and
bloody, yet in this scene of action, there lies a clue to the firm bonds of
friendship between Caesar and Brutus. These are Julius Caesar’s last words, the
famous “Et tu, Brute?” (3.1), which has stirred the hearts of so many. A man
does not tell lies as he is dying, and the fact that Caesar chooses to address
his comrade in the final seconds of his life shows that there is a friendship
between them, one that no man can break apart. As friends and courtiers of
Caesar take turns stabbing him, he utters his veiled last words, words so
mysterious that only Shakespeare truly understood. Could these words have been
desperation, and the realization that a friend has betrayed you? Yes, but I
believe it was something even more powerful than that.
Brutus is the last to stab Caesar,
and perhaps in those last seconds he is feeling a great remorse, guilt, and pain
at the thought of ending the life of his best friend. The last words of Caesar,
“And you, Brutus?”, could have been the last act of an eternal friendship, the
desire to help his friend even as he bleeds to death. If Brutus does not stab
Caesar, the conspirators may turn against him and kill him for being a coward,
and Caesar may realize this as he sinks to the ground. Caesar does not want the
same for his friend, so he beckons Brutus to stab also, ensuring him the side
of the conspirators. Is their friendship strong enough that the last words of
Caesar are to help his friend? The secret died with Caesar, and we shall never
know.
Another character touched by the
great Julius Caesar is Mark Antony, the man who becomes a triumvir of Rome
after the fall of Caesar. Mark Antony claims to have also been a great friend
of Caesar, and others around him seem to agree. Antony is educated, well
spoken, and he is allowed to speak at Caesar’s funeral. At one point, Brutus
calls Antony, “but a limb of Caesar,” (2.1), acknowledging that they share a
powerful friendship. Later, when Caesar and Calpurnia argue about Caesar going
to Senate, Calpurnia announces, “We’ll send Mark Antony to the Senate house,”
(2.2). Although it is not Antony speaking, we sense that Antony would be
willing to help Caesar, even mask the fact that he is staying home to avoid the
conspirators. Unlike Brutus, Antony has nothing to do with those who would hurt
Caesar until after Caesar is dead and he has no choice but to cooperate.
Almost directly after Caesar is
killed, a servant of Antony arrives at the scene to pass on a message to the
conspirators. The servant declares that Antony will side with the conspirators,
not against them. Antony is not doing this because he believes they are right,
but because he does not have much choice. Antony had no part in the killing,
but chose to side with the power afterwards, in hopes of staying safe. Antony’s
servant, speaking as Antony, says,
“Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and
loving...
I feared Caesar, honoured him and loved
him” (3.1).
Antony
was a friend to Caesar, one who acknowledged his great power and pull with
people, but who also loved him and did not believe he was overly ambitious.
Later, when Antony arrives and
speaks with the conspirators, he attempts to make peace with them, shaking
their hands and making up with them because he believed they had honorable
intentions. He praises Caesar and begs him to, “Pardon me,” (3.1) for siding
with those who killed him. As he speaks, he calls the conspirators friends, yet
is deeply moved by the loss of Caesar, who he calls Julius. During the
conversation, Brutus refers to Antony as “son of Caesar,” (3.1), again showing
that Antony had a tangible attachment to Caesar.
At Caesar’s funeral, Antony is clear
and concise, speaking of the friendship he and Caesar shared, and the good man
that Caesar was. At one moment, Mark Antony is so emotional that he asks the
crowd for a moment, saying,
“Bear with me.
My heart is in the coffin there with
Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to
me.” (3.2)
Antony
speaks of both Brutus and Caesar and good people, yet the crowd is impassioned
by his speaking of Caesar. “He was my friend, faithful and just to me,” (3.2).
Obviously, Antony cared deeply about Caesar, and remembers him as a good man
and a strong leader, without the ambition to take the crown.
Both Brutus and Antony were
fortunate to be friends with the great Julius Caesar. Both were influenced by
his loyalty and honesty. While Brutus had the more passionate friendship,
Antony seems to have been the better friend in the long run, sticking with
Caesar until the very end, never doing him wrong. Brutus and Caesar loved each
other dearly, yet Brutus chose his country over his best friend, a choice
Antony never had to make. While Brutus’ choice eventually killed him, he was
committed in the moment when his sword stabbed Julius Caesar, one who trusted
him. Brutus may have made the noble choice, not putting his friendship before
his country, but his national leanings caused him to shatter the greatest
friendship he ever had. While Mark Antony was not as deeply attached and
emotionally bonded to Caesar, he was a true friend, staying away from the
conspirators and convincing the common people that Caesar was, and always will
be, a hero. Each man was a friend to Caesar, but Brutus cowardly allowed others
to cloud that friendship. As Julius Caesar says,
“Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but
once." (2.2)
Mark
Antony was valiant, and will surely die only once, yet Brutus died twice, once
with Caesar, and again when he could not bear the haunting of his own actions.
Passionate friendship is the most powerful, yet in the end, it is loyalty that
really matters.
No comments:
Post a Comment