The Theme in the Work
In Act I, Scene 2, Cassius tells Brutus that his name weighs as much as Caesar's, and Caesar, in turn, speaks of his own name as a force that fears nothing. The contest for Rome begins as a contest of names. In Act II, Scene 1, Brutus wants the act to look clean: he refuses the oath, because the honor of honorable men needs no promise, and asks that they be sacrificers, not butchers.
In Act III, Scene 2, in the Forum, Brutus asks to be believed on his honor and offers one reason to be judged: he loved Caesar, but loved Rome more. Antony repeats that Brutus is an honorable man, and the formula turns into irony until it becomes an accusation.
In Act IV, Scene 3, Brutus accuses Cassius of selling offices for gold and asks whether those who killed Caesar out of justice can now soil their hands with bribery. In Act V, Scene 1, Brutus says he thinks it cowardly to kill oneself out of fear of what may come, but refuses to be led to Rome as a prisoner. In Act V, Scene 4, the young Cato shouts his own name and dies fighting, and Lucilius declares that Brutus will not be taken alive.
In Act V, Scene 5, Brutus kills himself, and Antony calls him the noblest of the Romans: the only conspirator who acted for the common good, and not out of envy.
In Act I, Scene 2, Brutus answers Cassius that if honor were in one eye and death in the other, he would look at both with equal calm, because he loves the name of honor more than he fears death. In Act II, Scene 2, Caesar decides to stay home because of Calpurnia's dream, but changes his mind when Decius says the senators will say he is afraid; he is ashamed of having given in and asks for his cloak. In Act III, Scene 2, Brutus opens his speech asking people to believe him for his honor, and Antony, afterward, repeats that Brutus and the others are honorable until the word loses its meaning. In Act IV, Scene 3, Cassius complains that Brutus treats him like a slave and keeps a record of his faults, and the reconciliation comes only when Brutus admits that he too was angry when he spoke.
In the play, honor is what each one wants to be seen as: Caesar, the name above men; Cassius, the free man; Brutus, the sacrificer without guilt. The highest title, that of the noblest of the Romans, comes only from the mouth of the enemy, after death.
Where It Appears
- Act I, Scene 2: Cassius works on Brutus by reminding him that his name weighs as much as Caesar's and that an ancient Brutus would not have tolerated a king in Rome.
- Act II, Scene 1: Brutus refuses the conspirators' oath because the honor of honorable men needs no promise, and he wants them to be sacrificers, not butchers.
- Act III, Scene 2: In the Forum, Brutus justifies the crime by saying he loved Caesar but loved Rome more, and Antony repeats that Brutus is honorable until the phrase turns into an accusation.
- Act IV, Scene 3: In the tent, Brutus accuses Cassius of selling offices for gold and recalls that the conspirators killed Caesar out of justice.
- Act V, Scene 1: Brutus says he thinks it cowardly to kill oneself out of fear of what may come, but refuses to be led to Rome as a prisoner.
- Act V, Scene 4: The young Cato shouts his own name and dies fighting, and Lucilius, taken in Brutus's place, declares that no enemy will ever take Brutus alive.
- Act V, Scene 5: Antony praises the dead man, calling Brutus the noblest of the Romans and saying that all the conspirators, except him, acted out of envy of great Caesar.
Passages
Lucilius, taken in Brutus's place, says how he will be found:
When you do find him, or alive or dead, / He will be found like Brutus, like himself.(V.4)
Antony, over Brutus's body:
This was the noblest Roman of them all. / All the conspirators save only he, / Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;(V.5)