A Truly Selfish Act

Cassius

“I was born free as Caesar.” [Act I, Scene 2. Line 36] Julius Caesar, a play written by William Shakespeare, is about the rise and fall of the ruler, Julius Caesar, and the corruption of the Roman Republic at a time when it was filled with people who were against Caesar and others who supported him. Cassius was one of the people who wasn’t fond of Caesar, and it was he who talked of plotting a conspiracy first. He compares himself to Caesar, this man who had done nothing worthy but became ruler of the Roman Republic, noting that they were equal in terms of achievements. Cassius does not believe Caesar is deserving of the additional power he gained by eliminating Pompey, and, driven by his personal envy and ambition, Cassius is led to conspire against Caesar.

Cassius’s personal envy affects his every thought and decision, resulting him into appearing as an antagonist at first. He is envious of Caesar’s power, especially since he believes Caesar does not deserve it. He compares Caesar to himself and other characters, and then states that there is nothing special about Caesar; that he is equal to everyone else. This envy leads Cassius into being contemptuous, bitter and manipulative. He turns others against Caesar, and primarily manipulates Brutus. Brutus is a well-respected and honorable man who isn’t only respected and trusted by Caesar, but also the whole of Rome. Cassius approaches Brutus during Lupercal, while the two of them are out of Caesar’s earshot. It is here when Cassius first starts to manipulate Brutus into turning against Caesar. He talks about Caesar’s faults; how Caesar is not as Rome sees him and is actually a dependent, cowardly person. Cassius tells Brutus of the time he saved Caesar from drowning in Tiber when there was a storm and the waves were choppy. Cassius proved himself to be more courageous of the two of them and says, “And this man is now become a god, and Cassius is a wretched creature, and must bend his body if Caesar carelessly but nod on him.” [Act I, Scene 2. Lines 114-117] Cassius complains to Brutus that while Caesar had been a coward, and it was Cassius who saved Caesar, Caesar is still the one who gets praised while Cassius must bow down to Caesar as if he was a god. Cassius emphasizes Caesar’s faults and tells Brutus that Caesar is just a mortal and does not deserve to be praised as a god. Therefore, Cassius explains they must work together to take this status away from Caesar. Cassius is not content with only Brutus on his side, and as a result he manipulates others as well, Casca being one of these people. On a stormy night when Casca visits Cassius, Casca talks about his fear of the storm and how this might be an omen that Rome is in danger. But, Cassius thinks otherwise. He sees the storm as an omen that they should indeed kill Caesar for he is the one who is causing Rome to be in grave danger. He again compares Caesar, but this time to himself and Casca, and shows his bewilderment that such an unworthy man deserves such power. “A man no mightier than thyself, or me, in personal action, yet prodigious grown, and fearful, as these strange eruptions are.” [Act I, Scene 3. Lines 76-78] Cassius, in saying this, tells Casca that this man, Caesar, has done nothing awe-inspiring but still receives a formidable reputation, and people fear him as they fear the stormy weather. Cassius, at this point, has not only manipulated Brutus, but Casca as well, and his conspiracy commences as he recruits more people to turn against Caesar. As an overall motivator, Cassius’s envy continues to affect himself and also merges with another motive for killing Caesar: ambition.

Cassius’s ambition influences him to yearn triumph, even though this may make him dishonest and conniving. In order for the conspiracy to be successful, Cassius felt it was necessary to eliminate all possible threats. He wanted triumph over Caesar as he plotted for Caesar to lose not only his status, but his life as well. As Cassius thinks about the tyranny Caesar could cause, Cassius reflects on Caesar’s faults and those around Caesar who may cause for something to go wrong in their plot. His ambition makes him manipulative and dishonest. Cassius, calculating his actions and how others could make his actions seem more honorable, manipulates Brutus since Caesar and Rome respected him. He succeeds in doing so, and in his soliloquy rejoices, knowing Brutus is on his side. “That noble minds keep ever with their likes; for who so firm that cannot be seduc’d? Caesar doth bear me hard; but he loves Brutus.” [Act I, Scene 2. Lines 301-303] Knowing Brutus is a noble man, Cassius predicted that it might be challenging to turn Brutus against Caesar. But with his calculated words, Cassius is able to succeed in doing so and in this soliloquy he says that no one is so incorruptible that they cannot be turned against someone. With Brutus on his side, Caesar will not doubt their actions so much. Cassius’s ambition leads him to being so calculative and wanting to rob Caesar of his power, he makes the noblest of men to turn against Caesar. Cassius wants to make sure that nothing gets in the way of his triumph, and therefore he wants to eliminate all possible threats. As he and the other conspirators talk about their mutiny, he suggests that they kill Antony too. “Let Antony and Caesar fall together.” [Act II, Scene 1. Line 161.] Because Antony is very loyal to Caesar, Cassius sees him as a threat, for he predicts that he will turn against the conspirators and cause chaos. Therefore, he wants Antony to die alongside Caesar. This shows Cassius’s ambition because he wants to make sure he gets overall triumph with nothing getting in the way. He yearns to eliminate all posing threats to fully strip Caesar of his power. Cassius’s ambition is evidence that he, as a schemer, calculates everything that would make his actions seem less suspicious, and that this ambition leads him to aspire for victory over Caesar.

Because Cassius is envious of Caesar, he reflects on all of Caesar’s faults, reasoning that they are evidence Caesar isn’t deserving of this power. His personal envy fuels him to see each of Caesar’s faults, comparing Caesar not only to himself, but to others as well. This makes him contemptuous and conniving, seeking to grab leadership from Caesar. His ambition makes him manipulative and dishonest as he does everything in his power, whether it is noble or not, to gain triumph over Caesar. Overall, Cassius appears to be a very corrupted character, always scheming and always thinking about his own victory. In the end, Cassius only partially achieves his goal because he did eliminate Caesar but he did not gain the power for himself. This was neither a noble nor worthy cause because Cassius mainly wanted to strip Caesar of his power because he was envious, not because he wanted it for the good of others. Therefore, it appears that his plot to overthrow Caesar was mainly for himself without having the good of others in mind.