Friendship and Betrayal: Caesar and Brutus

"Et tu, Brute?"

22 May, 20244 min read

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a play about the betrayal of Caesar’s friends or those he thinks of as friends, the assassination of Caesar and his true friends taking his revenge afterward. Julius Caesar is a very brave and successful man and the crowd is celebrating his victory at the very beginning of the play. He is a godlike character in nearly everyone’s eyes. Even though he is liked and respected by people, some characters are jealous of Caesar and tricked that Caesar is a risk for Rome and should be killed. The most remarkable theme is friendship. We see Brutus and Caesar’s relationship and how it is shaped and turns into a betrayal.

Between Caesar and Brutus, we see a strong relationship. Brutus loves Caesar very much but at the same time he is scared of Caesar’s power and he doesn’t want Caesar to be king. “Where to the climber-upward turns his face; But when he once attains the upmost round, He the nun to the ladder turns his back,” (Act 2, Scene 1, 23,26) From that quote, we understand that if Caesar wants to be king, Brutus won’t let that happen.

For the assassination of Caesar, Brutus is very important and Cassius knows that very well. At first, he tries to convince Brutus because without him the assassination looks very cruel to the crowd. The crowd knows Brutus as a nobleman, if he helps the assassination, they will see it as a true movement and they will take the side of Brutus and Cassius. “His countenance, like richest alchemy, Will change to virtue and to worthiness.” (Act 1, Scene 3, 159,160) In these lines of Casca, we understand that everyone is aware of Brutus’ nobleness and he is needed for assassination. If they can’t convince him, it is the end of the assassination. They can’t accomplish it without Brutus. If Brutus decides to kill Caesar, it means that he has to betray Caesar and their strong friendship. When they assassinate Caesar, the only one who kills Caesar because of his love for the country is Brutus.

“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (Act 3, Scene 2, 22,23) He is a nationalist. Brutus’ love for Rome and its people is more powerful than his love for Caesar and the friendship between Brutus and Caesar. Even though Caesar is dead, Brutus still respects him and loves him no matter what. “O that we, then, could come by Caesar's spirit, And not dismember Caesar!” (Act 2, Scene 1, 169,170) From these lines of Brutus, we see that he doesn’t want to kill Caesar but it must be done to save Rome. “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar was dead, to live all free men?” (Act 3, Scene 2, 24,25) He is so convinced that he can’t think Caesar can be a successful king or if he accepts to be king of Rome or not because Caesar refuses to be king three times by reason of that we understand he doesn’t want to be a king but he wants to be a successful and powerful man and he loves the crowd too. When Caesar dies, Antonius reads Caesar’s will. Caesar has left all his properties to the people of Rome. Brutus only thinks Caesar can be a big threat to Rome and before he accepts to be king of Rome, Caesar should be killed immediately but he can’t see Caesar is also working for the freedom of Rome and by killing him he betrays his friend.

Caesar’s love for Brutus is so obvious in the play. Caesar trusts him and their friendship is so powerful that when they are assassinating Caesar, the others stab him in 22 places but on the 23rd Brutus stab him and we see the fall of Caesar. It is not because of others; Caesar’s death is because of Brutus’s stab. When Caesar is falling, we see the most known lines of the play. “Et tu, Brute I—Then fall, Caesar!” (Act 3, Scene 1, 76) He trusts Brutus so much that he doesn’t think Brutus can betray him and that causes his death. Even though some people see Brutus as a tragic hero, he is not a hero because he doesn’t have an actual reason for killing Caesar, he just has imaginative thoughts. No matter what the assassination’s reason, it is very bad. By killing Caesar, Brutus becomes a traitor. He may be a tragic hero but he is not a good friend, he proves that. He betrays not only Caesar but also their friendship.