Skip to main content

In Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, what final impression are we left with of the character Cassius?

What Cassius says and does throughout the play paints a very negative picture of him. There is not much good one can say about him since he comes across as sly, scheming, manipulative, greedy, ruthless, corrupt and cowardly. In the end, one can understand Caesar's suspicion of him when he tells Antony, during the Lupercalian Festival, in Act 1, scene 2:



Let me have men about me that are fat;
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights:
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.



Caesar is accurate in his assessment. Cassius' 'lean and hungry look' portrays him as both a scavenger and a predator. He is hungry with ambition. The fact that 'he thinks too much' suggests that he is constantly plotting, which is exactly what Cassius does. 


His scheming and manipulative nature is pertinently displayed when he draws the honourable Brutus into his web. He flatters him and says exactly what he knows Brutus wants to hear. He preys on Brutus' concern for the Roman state by emphasising that Caesar is a threat and by asking rhetorical questions in which he compares Caesar to them. In this, he presents the general as frail and weak, one not fit to lead, whilst they, who are much stronger and capable, have to bow to his authority. In scene 2, of Act 1, he tells Brutus:



Ye gods, it doth amaze me
A man of such a feeble temper should
So get the start of the majestic world
And bear the palm alone.


Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.



Brutus agrees to meet Cassius later where they would speak further of what action to take against Caesar. Afterwards, the scheming Cassius instructs Cinna to plant letters, urging Brutus to act, in a variety of places where he is sure Brutus will find them. The purpose is to further convince him that Caesar's removal requires immediate attention.


When the conspirators come together at Brutus' house and agree on a course of action, Cassius displays his ruthless thirst for blood when he states that Antony should also be killed. Brutus opposes this request, saying they would look like butchers and defeat the true purpose of their intended act, which is honourable since it would be for the good of Rome.


We learn of Cassius' greed and corruption from Brutus in Act 4, scene 3, when the two men argue during a confrontation. Brutus accuses Cassius of stealing money and paying bribes, accusations which he most vehemently denies. Brutus tells him:



Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself
Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm;
To sell and mart your offices for gold
To undeservers.



He later also accuses Cassius of being a coward when Cassius, in a rage, tells him that even Caesar would not have dared to anger him. In response, Brutus says:



Peace, peace! you durst not so have tempted him.



Cassius is offended but Brutus reiterates the fact because he does not fear, what he believes, are Cassius' feeble threats. To illustrate the point, he had even remarked that he would use Cassius as a clown, for his behaviour was comical rather than fearsome. 


In the end, we are left with the image of a character who deserves our sternest damnation. Cassius was not noble, loyal or courageous. His moral turpitude makes him one of the more despicable characters in Shakespearean literature and he, in the end, got just what he deserved.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

A man has a garden measuring 84 meters by 56 meters. He divides it into the minimum number of square plots. What is the length of the square plots?

We wish to divide this man's garden into the minimum number of square plots possible. A square has all four sides with the same length.Our garden is a rectangle, so the answer is clearly not 1 square plot. If we choose the wrong length for our squares, we may end up with missing holes or we may not be able to fit our squares inside the garden. So we have 84 meters in one direction and 56 meters in the other direction. When we start dividing the garden in square plots, we are "filling" those lengths in their respective directions. At each direction, there must be an integer number of squares (otherwise, we get holes or we leave the garden), so that all the square plots fill up the garden nicely. Thus, our job here is to find the greatest common divisor of 84 and 56. For this, we prime factor both of them: `56 = 2*2*2*7` `84 = 2*2*3*7` We can see that the prime factors and multiplicities in common are `2*2*7 = 28` . This is the desired length of the square plots. If you wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

What warning does Chuchundra issue to Rikki?

Chuchundra, the sniveling, fearful muskrat who creeps around walls because he is too terrified to go into the center of a room, meets Rikki in the middle of the night. He insults Rikki by begging him not to kill him. He then insults him by suggesting that Nag might mistake Chuchundra for Rikki. He says, "Those who kill snakes get killed by snakes."  He issues this warning to Rikki not to help keep Rikki safe but as a way of explaining why Rikki's presence gives him, Chuchundra, more reason to fear.  Chuchundra starts to tell Rikki what Chua the rat told him--but breaks it off when he realizes he might be overheard by Nag. He says, "Nag is everywhere, Rikki-Tikki." Rikki threatens to bite Chuchundra to get him to talk. Even then, Chuchundra won't overtly reveal any information. But he does say, "Can't you hear, Rikki-Tikki?" This is enough of a clue for the clever mongoose. He listens carefully and can just make out the "faintest scratch-s...
Post a Comment
Read more