Brutus in his Soliloquy Justify Caesars Murder
At
a sleepless night, Brutus in a soliloquy (Act II, Scene I) reviews his reasons
for joining the conspiracy to murder Caesar. He starts his soliloquy with the
words, ‘It must be by his death’. He means to say that his purpose can be
achieved only through the assassination of Caesar. Brutus then admits that he
has no personal cause to hate
Caesar; he is being prompted wholly by his
thoughts of the welfare of the common people. Caesar, he says, wishes to be crowned
a king. If Caesar becomes a king, his very nature would change, and he would
soon become a dictator. A great man always tends to become dictatorial because
the possession of power and authority weakens his capacity to feel sympathy for
others. In the beginning an ambitious man behaves in a humble manner, but once
his ambition has been fulfilled he becomes proud and arrogant. Brutus then
compares Caesar to a serpent’s egg from which only a serpent can come out. And
so, to prevent Caesar from becoming dangerous like a serpent, it is necessary
to kill him. But the fallacy in his reasoning is that Caesar is to be killed
not for what he has done but for what he may do and in fact, Caesar as a king
could hardly have any more absolute power than he has at the moment.
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