cassius

• “what should be in that ‘Caesar’? why should that name be sounded more than yours?”

  • repeated interrogatives equalise Brutus and Caesar
  • evokes envy
• ”I was born as free as Caesar, so were you.”


  initial self centric pronoun “I” shifts to inclusion of “you“ to Brutus to create a false sense of unity against Caesar
• “like a Colossus, and we petty men”


  simile deifies him as a megalomaniac tyrant
• “upon what meat doth our Caesar feed?”


  carnivorous imagery depicts Caesar as a power crazed megalomaniac
• “the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves”


  celestial imagery - galvanises Brutus to act to protect Rome as it is a matter of fate
• “as a sick girl” vs “I as Aeneas, our great ancestor”

  • emasculates Caesar - incompetent, effeminate
  • lionizes & panegyrises himself
• Ultimately, Shakespeare presents Cassius as the machiavellian tragic villain of the play whose seditious motives become a catalyst for tragedy. Shakespeare uses Cassius as a didactic vehicle to warn against the cyclical usurpation of an established hierarchy.
• Cassius is an exploitative character who abuses Brutus’ unwavering Stoic ideals and his hamartia of myopic patriotism.
• In keeping with his Epicurean philosophy, Cassius’ purpose is purely hedonistic, he plots to usurp Caesar to pursue his own selfish megalomaniac desires.
• In convincing Brutus to join the conspiracy, Cassius, as the tragic villain, acts as the catalyst for the tragic downfall of the three tragic heroes of the play; Caesar, Brutus and the Roman Republic.