Skip to main content

In Julius Caesar, how does too much ambition lead to disaster?

Ambition leads to disaster for Caesar, Cassius and Brutus because they all die as a result.


Julius Caesar was killed by a conspiracy of senators because they felt that he was too ambitious.  Caesar marched on Rome and defeated Pompey, the former Roman Consul.  Many senators felt that he had over-reached his authority.  They worried that he was setting himself up to be king, and wanted to stop him before he had so much power that he was unstoppable.


Brutus explains to the people in his funeral speech that Caesar died for his ambitions.



As Caesar loved me, I weep for him;
as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I
slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his
fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his
ambition.  (Act 3, Scene 2)



As far as Brutus is concerned, Caesar deserved death and they are heroes for killing him.  He wants the people to feel the same way.  Unfortunately for him, Mark Antony gives a speech after Brutus where he calls Brutus and the other conspirators killers.  He whips the crowd into a frenzy, and they drive the conspirators out of Rome.


Brutus and Cassius did not give up.  They attempted to defeat Mark Antony, now allied with Caesar’s heir Octavius (and Lepidus).  Raising an army with their own funds and promises of riches, they take on the triumvirate.  However, ambition again results in disaster.  Brutus and Cassius can’t agree on anything.  There is infighting within their ranks.  They end up committing suicide.  Cassius thinks he is defeated and kills himself, and Brutus kills himself when the battle is lost.


Despite the fact that he has been fighting Brutus, Antony gives an interesting speech in which he refers to him (not Cassius) as noble.



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. (Act 5, Scene 5)



Based on this, Antony (or Shakespeare) feels that Brutus was acting nobly.  This does not mean that he was not ambitious though.  You can be noble and still take on too much.  Brutus’s goal was to restore the Roman republic, but while that may have been a noble goal it was too ambitious and destroyed him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more