Brutus: "It must be by his death; and for my part,
I know no personal reason to reject him,
But for the good of Rome. He would be crowned;
How that might change his nature, there's the question!
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder,
Then one must walk with care. For, if we crown him,
Then I concede we put a sting in him,
That at his will he may do danger with.
So therefore think him as a serpent's egg,
That would grow dangerous when once he's hatched,
And kill him in his shell."
"Julius Caesar", a play written by William Shakespeare probably in 1599,
is one of the earliest of Shakespeare's three Roman history plays. Like Anthony
and Cleopatra and Coriolanus, Julius Caesar is based on actual events. Its
main characters are Caesar, Brutus, and Mark Antony and the plot of the play
evolves around the three of them. The play deals with Julius Caesar's ambition
to become "king", those that oppose him and his assesination. The play shifts
from Rome to the battlefield where Brutus meets his inevitable defeat.
The character portrayed by Steven Culp, that of "Brutus" is considered by most
critics as the tragic character of the play. Brutus is a noble Roman who
takes part in the conspiracy to seek freedom, a decision that sends him into
"personal conflict". Brutus is indeed the central character of this play as it
is inside his mind that the conflict of freedom vs tyranny takes place. Brutus
is a character that goes from being an admired politician and military leader, to
an inconsitent man that makes several mistakes. He shifts from optimism to
pessimism about his country's civil war, he is almost seeking punishment for his
actions against Caesar, all this makes Brutus an incredible character to portray
on stage.
Mark Anthony's speech about Brutus:
This was the noblest Roman of them all:
All the conspirators, save only he
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar,
He, only in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mix'd him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world: "This was a man!"
(V, v, ll.68-75).
