“I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general.” (Shakespeare, 74) Brutus of Julius Caesar says. Throughout the play, Brutus seeks to maintain his honorable reputation and stay true to those he loves. Brutus is a complex character, a tragic hero of sorts. But he isn’t just a hero or a dramatic character. He is also a man. Like all men, he is motivated by many factors, whether within himself or drawn from the outside world. Because of Brutus’s own motivators of pride and loyalty, Brutus slew a powerful man for what he believed to be a purpose for the general good of Rome. The very purpose stands as honorable but not reasonable.
The tragic flaw of Brutus is often identified as honor. However, it is Brutus’s pride that motivates him to seek honor. Brutus is at such a high status in society, from such an honored family, that he enjoys the esteem of all of Rome. His pride is inflated like a balloon every time a senator flatters Brutus into accordance. From this growth of ego, Brutus’s character has blossomed. Although well meaning, Brutus’s personality is such that he can easily be roused in the name of honor. “ Brutus had rather be a villager than repute himself a son of Rome.” He is angered by the thought of losing his title; even so that he would relinquish his money and influence to maintain it. When Brutus’s pride gets the best of him is he relies on his reputation and not reason to sway the dangerous people of Rome. “Believe me for mine honor, have respect for mine honor, that you may believe.” Brutus is asking the people of Rome to judge him as the honorable man he is famous for being. He doesn’t even explain to the people his true motives for killing Caesar, other than the vague “ambition” of the great leader. The pride of Brutus motivates him to kill Caesar, and to later kill himself in order to spare himself social humiliation. Brutus’s pride is a main motivating factor of Brutus that influences his actions and his words.
Brutus kills his best friend Caesar because his pride causes him to desire honor. It may not seem very loyal of him to strike one so near to his heart, but Brutus is indeed influenced by loyalty as well. Loyalty is a main motivating factor that draws Brutus onwards through a path of honor and glory… and death. Brutus is not just loyal to his friends, with whom he enjoyed a long comradeship in school. He is also loyal to the city of Rome, fulfilling her demands as he believes fit. Rome has been good to him, bequeathing to him honor, riches, and education. “My answer is not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” He is saying that his loyalty of Rome required him to kill even a man who endowed him his influence. The patriotism in his blood forever binds him to his great city, motivating him to ungrudgingly murder other Romans. However, he assumes too much when he believes others have the same purposes. Brutus expects a mutual relationship of trust with those to which he is loyal, as when he refuses an oath because he trusts that no one will run their mouths. He doesn’t just trust those to which he is loyal, he also attempts to please them. “Let not therefore my good friends grieve.” He wants to keep his friends in good spirits, because he is attached to them. Brutus’s loyalty to both Rome and his good friends, later shady fellow conspirators, motivates him to murder his own best friend.
Brutus’s insides are spinning and clashing like a washing machine. He is being tossed about with the conflict of his love for Caesar, and his love for Rome. Whether the conflict has become a tempest in a teapot or is an actual threat is left only to imagination as it torments Brutus. Brutus’s loyalty to Rome and Caesar play tug o war, while his pride of his reputation battles reason. He decides to kill Caesar to protect and unify Rome; the ultimate outcome contradicts his goal. The city of Rome roils with turmoil, and many lose protection and die. This is because he overreacts and doesn’t back up his argument with reason. His trust for the people of Rome exceeds their competence and a war is born. Although his goal is not successful, his purpose is honorable. It is not jealousy or greed that motivates him to murder, it is his pride and his loyalty.
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