how does brutus represent the theme of honor in julius caesar?

Answer 1

Well, in a funny way, Brutus really IS what Marc Antony sarcastically calls him, an honorable man. Cassius undertakes to recruit him into the conspiracy to lend it respectability and appeals to his idealism, convincing him that Caesar is a threat to democratic government. Somewhat like Othello, Brutus tends to believe that everyone is as honorable or honest as he is and therefore trusts Cassius even though Cassius' scathing comments about Caesar make his envy very plain. In any case, Brutus lets himself be convinced that the killing of his friend and former commanding officer is a necessary sacrifice. When the conspirators make their plans and someone suggests rubbing out Antony as well, Brutus protests that killing anyone besides Caesar would put them in the wrong, as if they were not there already. When he's about to confide in his wife (who, we're given reason to think, would have quickly set him straight), he's interrupted by another conspirator who has come to his house late and wants to join the assassination pact. After repeating his oath with this man, Brutus feels too committed, too "honor-bound" to the plot to withdraw from it. Once the assassination is accomplished and the empire is plunged into civil war, Brutus may realize that he has sacrificed his honor as well as his friend, or he may continue to convince himself that he has done the right thing. When he and Cassius quarrel in Act 4, it's over matters of integrity, and it's interesting to note that, whereas Cassius persuades his servant to kill him when the conspirators are defeated in battle, Brutus throws himself on his sword in noble old Roman fashion. Even Antony, once Brutus is dead, acknowledges that , while all the other conspirators "Did that they did in envy of great Caesar" (Act 5, Scene 4, l. 70), Brutus acted "in a general honest thought/And common good" (ll. 71-72).


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Answer 2

Ironically, Brutus really IS what Marc Antony sarcastically calls him, an honorable man. Cassius undertakes to recruit him into the conspiracy to lend it respectability and appeals to his idealism, convincing him that Caesar is a threat to democratic government. Somewhat like Othello, Brutus tends to believe that everyone is as honorable or honest as he is and therefore trusts Cassius even though Cassius' scathing comments about Caesar make his envy very plain. In any case, Brutus lets himself be convinced that the killing of his friend and former commanding officer is a necessary sacrifice. When the conspirators make their plans and someone suggests rubbing out Antony as well, Brutus protests that killing anyone besides Caesar would put them in the wrong, as if they were not there already. When he's about to confide in his wife (who, we're given reason to think, would have quickly set him straight), he's interrupted by another conspirator who has come to his house late and wants to join the assassination pact. After repeating his oath with this man, Brutus feels too committed, too "honor-bound" to the plot to withdraw from it. Once the assassination is accomplished and the empire is plunged into civil war, Brutus may realize that he has sacrificed his honor as well as his friend, or he may continue to convince himself that he has done the right thing. When he and Cassius quarrel in Act 4, it's over matters of integrity, and it's interesting to note that, whereas Cassius persuades his servant to kill him when the conspirators are defeated in battle, Brutus throws himself on his sword in noble old Roman fashion. Even Antony, once Brutus is dead, acknowledges that , while all the other conspirators "Did that they did in envy of great Caesar" (Act 5, Scene 4, l. 70), Brutus acted "in a general honest thought/And common good" (ll. 71-72).