55 pages • 1 hour read
William ShakespeareA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Brutus is a patrician Roman senator who is notable for his rigid honor and sense of virtue. Brutus is the most famous conspirator in Shakespeare’s version of Caesar’s assassination. Brutus and Caesar shared a close friendship, making Brutus’s betrayal more significant than that of the other senators. Brutus can be considered the tragic hero of the play. His tragic flaw is his adherence to his sense of justice, which puts him at odds with Mark Antony after Caesar’s death and ultimately leads to his suicide. Antony praises Brutus after his death, saying, “This was the noblest Roman of all” because he turned against Caesar for the good of the republic, rather than personal gain (5.5.67).
The conflict Brutus faces stems from the fact that he logically knows that Caesar presents an existential threat to Rome, yet he does not wish to turn against a friend. Cassius convinces Brutus that Caesar’s death is for the greater good. Brutus gets the other conspirators to agree not to kill Mark Antony, even though he presents a danger to them due to his loyalty to Caesar. Following the assassination, Brutus takes on a leadership role, addressing the mob of plebeians alone to convince them that Caesar needed to be killed for the good of the Republic.
By William Shakespeare
All's Well That Ends Well
All's Well That Ends Well
William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
William Shakespeare
Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
William Shakespeare
As You Like It
As You Like It
William Shakespeare
Coriolanus
Coriolanus
William Shakespeare
Cymbeline
Cymbeline
William Shakespeare
Hamlet
Hamlet
William Shakespeare
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1
William Shakespeare
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry IV, Part 2
William Shakespeare
Henry V
Henry V
William Shakespeare
Henry VIII
Henry VIII
William Shakespeare
Henry VI, Part 1
Henry VI, Part 1
William Shakespeare
Henry VI, Part 3
Henry VI, Part 3
William Shakespeare
King John
King John
William Shakespeare
King Lear
King Lear
William Shakespeare
Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost
William Shakespeare
Macbeth
Macbeth
William Shakespeare
Measure For Measure
Measure For Measure
William Shakespeare
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
William Shakespeare
Othello
Othello
William Shakespeare