In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Caesar is a future monarch who is murdered by a group called the Conspirators whose justification for their actions can be debated. Throughout the story, Brutus switches sides several times, starting as Caesar's best friend, then killing Caesar, and finally ending his own life with an apology to Caesar. The conversation between Antony, Octavius, Massala, Lucilius and Stratus in Act 5, Scene 5, lines (50-81) portrays Brutus as a distinguished man towards whom everyone feels positively because he did not kill Caesar out of envy of power like the other conspirators and instead did everything for the common good, demonstrating his honorable and kind nature. To convey these ideas, Shakespeare uses assonance, logos, and foreshadowing respectively. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Shakespeare uses assonance to draw attention to Brutus' altruistic motives for killing Caesar. By acting for the good of the majority, Brutus proves himself to be a respectable man. Later, when Brutus realizes that he made a mistake in killing Caesar, Brutus takes a further reputation-worthy action by killing himself while stating “Caesar, now stand still; I did not kill you with even half a good will” (Vv50-51). Shakespeare helps emphasize main points using assonance; in this case, the “ill” sound is repeated in key words like “still,” “kill,” and “will.” Having this pattern allows the words to emerge individually to the reader, thus emphasizing their meaning for the passage. According to what the ancient Romans believed, suicide preserves one's honor in the face of defeat, and also prevents another from taking away one's honor. At the moment of Brutus' epiphany in how he made the wrong choice in killing Caesar and facing defeat, he obeys this Roman law and impales himself on his own sword, thus maintaining his reputation as honorable. His last words show that Brutus has regrets about his past as he wonders what the real reasons are why he committed suicide. Furthermore, he wishes that “Caesar, now stand still,” to rest in peace and believes he did a better thing by killing himself. Because of the assonance of this passage, Brutus' last words tend to echo in the reader's mind, leaving him or her with something to think about as he or she continues reading. Logos and a hint of personification help portray Brutus as a gentle being in Antony's speech. After hearing the story of Brutus' death, Antony says, “This was the noblest Roman of all [...] Nature might arise and say to the world, 'This was a man!'” (Vv68-75). Antony addresses his audience using logos by giving logical examples of how Brutus is kind, for example by saying that Brutus aimed for the "common good". Then, he praises Brutus as an example of goodness in nature with the words "Nature might arise and say to all the world, 'This was a man!'" Shakespeare also manifests personification here by characterizing nature as a literal figure with the qualities of a human being. In Antony's eyes, Brutus was the "noblest Roman" because he had not committed murder "out of envy of the great Caesar", but instead for the common good. Brutus believed that by killing Caesar he had liberated Rome and preserved its democracy, so he would be doing something beneficial to the majority. Likewise, the logic that readers see in Antony's arguments aids Antony in his portrayal of Brutus as a kind being. In particular, the fact that Brutus is an honest and kind person – accentuated by Shakespeare's foreshadowing of the.
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