Julius Caesar

I wrote an essay about Cassius in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", for our humanities class' essay prompt asking who is the most noble Roman in the book. Our teacher shared my essay to the class, liking my viewpoint spotlighting Cassius and establishing a clear definition of nobility in the start.

Who is the Most Noble Roman?

Regardless of the common opinion that Brutus is the most noble Roman in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, I believe that this honor should be given instead to Cassius. Cassius is often seen as a juxtaposition of Brutus, considering how Cassius is often perceived as a power-thirsty monster and Brutus a genuine servant of Rome. However, is Cassius really a dishonorable figure? Nobility is the capability to stay consistent with one's own virtues and remain unswayed despite difficult situations. Brutus convinces himself that he is killing Caesar because Caesar is being overly ambitious, yet his stance often fluctuates throughout the book. Meanwhile, Cassius kills Caesar because he does not think Caesar deserves it, and this idea does not change once. What determines an individual's nobility is not what his virtue is, but how he treats that virtue. If one has his own reasons for his virtue, and if his virtue does not change even when his own safety is not guaranteed, he is a noble person. This makes Cassius the most noble Roman of them all.

Cassius' primary motive for killing Caesar is for the sake of justice. Cassius believes that it is unjust for Caesar to receive such fame and glory compared to his actual capabilities. Although this may look like mere jealousy at first sight, Cassius has his own reasons: he does not want an unequal shift of power, and he wants to prevent himself and other capable senators from potentially getting oppressed. This virtue remains strongly within him, and he is willing to make sacrifices in order to make his virtue come true. His thoughts and plans, although silenced by Brutus, would have altered history if they were actually done. In the first place, if Brutus listened to Cassius and killed Antony, the following tragedies in Act 5 would not have happened at all. Thus, although the nature of Cassius' motives are still discussed today, his actions never contradict: he is transparent throughout the book, and thus noble. This reveals Cassius' commitment to his virtues, or his values pertaining to justice, fairness and opportunity, and again, proves him to be a noble figure.

On the other hand, Brutus may not be as honorable as the majority of Shakespeare readers think. Brutus kills Caesar for the sake of Rome, thinking that Caesar might become too ambitious soon. This may look like a nice virtue towards the general good, but this virtue is not as firm as Cassius. Cassius kills Caesar because he doesn't think Caesar is doing the right thing in the status quo: Caesar is getting more than what he actually deserves. However, Brutus kills Caesar because he thinks Caesar would probably not do the right thing in the future, which is already an assumption and needs self-convincing. Such an unstable virtue can be seen throughout the book. For example, if he did persuade himself that killing Caesar is a noble act, why is he feeling guilty? Why does he want to let Antony live? If killing Caesar is a noble act because Caesar may be growing too powerful, wouldn't it be a natural response for one to also be aware of Caesar's "remainders"? Such contradictions may make Brutus seem like a noble Roman, but in fact, they all show hesitancy. Brutus seems like a noble Roman because he wants to be seen as a noble Roman.