"Et tu, Brute"?
Julius Caesar: Act 3, Scene 1
CAESAR Doth not Brutus bootless kneel? bootless in vain (Caesar's point is that if Brutus can't change Caesar's mind, no one can.) CASCA Speak, hands for me! Speak plead, strike They stab CAESAR. CAESAR Et tu, Brute?— Then fall, Caesar! Et tu, Brute? and you Brutus? Dies.
Shakespeare gives us all a lesson in humility, the ultimate betrayal, the price for devouring one another, and the mountains of doubt encountered by those who strive for greatness among us. But do we really want the greatness of America, or do we just aspire for the gladiatorial thrill of the bloodsport and self-flagellation, and the languishing in our own misery? Misery, indeed! And misery loves company!
It seems that we Democrats love the agony of defeat more than the unity of victory over the repubs.
More under the fold...
Julius Caesar - Analysis of Brutus
William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is mainly based on the assassination of Julius Caesar. The character
who was in charge of the assassination was, ironically, Marcus Brutus, a servant and close friend to Julius Caesar. But what would cause a person to kill a close friend? After examining Brutus' relationship to Caesar, his involvement in the conspiracy, and his importance to the plot, the truth can be revealed.
Marcus Brutus, a servant and close friend to Caesar, has a strong relationship with Caesar but a stronger relationship with Rome and its people.
Brutus is very close to Caesar.
In Roman times, the only way for someone to get close to a person of high rank is if he/she is close to him/her. In many points of the play, Brutus was walking and next to Caesar.
Brutus also loves Caesar but fears his
power.
In the early acts of the play, Brutus says to Cassius, "What
means this shouting? I do fear the people do choose Caesar for their king...yet I love him well."(act 1, scene 2, ll.85-89), as he is speaking to Cassius.
Brutus loves Caesar, but would not allow him to
"climber-upward...He then unto the ladder turns his back..."(act 2,
scene 1, ll.24,26).
As the quote says, Brutus would not allow Caesar
to rise to power and then turn his back onto the people of Rome.
After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus talks to Antony about Caesar's death. "Our hearts you see not; they are pitiful; and pityto the general wrong of Rome..."(act 3, scene 1, ll.185-186).
Brutus says that Antony cannot see their(members of the conspiracy) hearts, which are full of pity. Again, this shows how Brutus loved Caesar but cared for the life of Rome and its people more.
This is the only reason Brutus would conspire against Caesar. For Brutus says to himself, "I know no personal cause to spurn at him...How that might
change his nature..."(act 2, scene1, ll. 1,13)
Caesar's relationship with Brutus is also strong. Just allowing Brutus to speak to Caesar shows his respect for Brutus.
Caesar feels that Brutus is noble to him and does the right thing regardless of personal danger.
On the Ides of March, as Caesar was assassinated, Caesar's last line is: "Et tu,Brute?--Then fall, Caesar."(act 3, scene 1, l.85).
This shows that Caesar would not die without Brutus' stab.
Caesar realizes that there must be a noble reason for this assassination if Brutus was in it.
This again shows how much Caesar respects Brutus. Brutus and Caesar both respect each other, but in different ways.
Marcus Brutus had a very important role in the conspiracy
against Caesar. He was the "back-bone" of the plan.
According to Cassius, Brutus' main purpose in the conspiracy is for an insurance policy. The people will think, since Brutus is noble to Caesar, that there is a good reason for Caesar's assassination.
Brutus will also be the leader of the conspiracy for another "insurance policy" for the assassination. Cassius is the one who declares this, "Brutus shall lead the way, and we will grace his heels with the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. "(act 3, scene 1, ll.135-136).
Again, if Brutus leads the way, the people will think that the death of Julius Caesar wasn't such a bad thing. Brutus also declares to himself that his role in the conspiracy is to save Rome. He says to the people that, "If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more."(Act
3,scene 2,ll.21-24).
If Brutus was not in the plot of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the conspiracy would probably not have worked. Since Brutus "...loved
Rome more."(Act 3,scene2, ll.23-24), he decided to be a part of the conspiracy.
If he hadn't loved Rome more than Caesar, he would not
have joined in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Cassius and the rest of the conspirators would probably not have continued on without Brutus because they would have no "insurance" afterwards.
The people would think that there was no reason for Caesar's death and most likely beheaded all the conspirators.
Also, if Brutus was not in the play, the whole end of the play would not ever occur.
Brutus would not be there to have an army or kill himself, and Cassius will already bebeheaded.
If Brutus was not in the play, the title would have absolutely no meaning.
Marcus Brutus was a good friend to Julius Caesar, but not good enough.
He had moral values dealing with Rome and its people. Brutus' values then made him join a conspiracy against Caesar put together by Cassius.
Brutus joined this mainly because he didn't want Caesar to turn his back on Rome so there would be a reasonable reason for killing Caesar.
If Brutus wasn't in the play, there would be no
"Tragedy" in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.
http://www.field-of-themes.com/...
So what is it about Hillary Clinton that makes this republic and many hundreds, if not thousands of kossacks hate her or feel so threatened by her? Our Democratic party and Dkos of late, reminds me of Brutus, Caesar's close friend, who legitimized her political assassination!
I've been active in politics for over 40 years, since getting my start in the Young Democrats at the tender age of 15 in 1967 when we endorsed and supported Robert F. Kennedy until Sirhan Sirhan silenced his heart and broke our's forever on 06.06.68!
This is what Jackie Kennedy said when he announced he was challenging the then sitting President Lyndon Baines Johnson:
On 16th March, 1968, Robert Kennedy announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States.
"I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man but to propose new policies."
As Richard D. Mahoney points out in his book, Sons and Brothers: "If there was one reason why Bobby was running, it was to end America’s war in Vietnam.... Politically, however, this looked self-destructive.
A substantial majority of Americans supported the president’s policy. The antiwar movement, though a significant new factor in American politics, was not yet a defining factor."
That was true, but that now had the potential to change. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King joining forces against the Vietnam War posed serious problems for Lyndon Johnson.
This decision by Robert Kennedy to take on Lyndon B. Johnson caused Jackie Kennedy great concern. A few days after Kennedy announced his candidacy, Jackie said to Arthur Schlesinger at a dinner party in New York: "Do you know what I think will happen to Bobby?"
When Schlesinger replied that he didn’t, she said: "The same thing that happened to Jack."
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk...
As it turned out Jackie Kennedy was right! The same thing that had happened to his brother Jack Kennedy happened to Bobby. Dead by an assassin's bullet, but their ideas and dreams lived on.
Or at least I thought they did until this weekend. This weekend Dkos showed me a side of themselves I didn't even know had existed in the year I lurked here and in the 13 months I've posted here since becoming a registered user and a TU on my birthday December 19, 2006.
But what was it that changed, you may ask? This weekend there was a FRONT PAGE REC'D diary on Dkos with over 800 comments that was nothing short of a hit-piece, hatchet-job diary against Hillary Clinton that was based on an OUNCE OF TRUTH mixed with about a METRIC TON OF LIES!
Why do so many kossacks hate her so much, or why is victory over the repubs so disdainful a concept?
And I know and felt first-hand the rancor and hatred towards this woman, because I was among only a handful of kossacks who defended her honor from this pack of ravening wolves who smelled blood, and attacked her like a school of blood-lusting sharks who hadn't eaten in weeks!
Dkos was changed forever in my mind's eye because the veneer of fairness and objectivity was forever changed, just when it was forever changed when Jack, Bobby, and Martin Luther King were assassinated in the timultuous 60s, changing the landscape of America and her politics forever.
And this damage to our beloved Dkos and our party was inflicted by those whom I thought were our friends!
And I expected the Reich wing blogosphere to attack us, and they certainly did most handily fulfill their mission, all about the same time this hit piece diary made the Front Page of Dkos, it was on nearly EVERY SINGLE REICH WING BLOG'S FRONT PAGE TOO!
So you are probably wondering what is my point? My point is aren't we better than our republican political enemies, or do we even want a DEMOCRATIC POTUS IN '08?
Well, let me give you all some sage advice.
Keep up feeding the Reich wing talking point and propaganda machine, and when you wake-up on January 20, 2009 and a republican is sworn-in, and all of your hopes for a DEMOCRATIC AGENDA being fulfilled DASHED right before your very eyes, then you will have no one to blame but yourselves!
So keep-up the backstabbing, the backbiting, the devouring of one another, and you will have accomplished more than what a thousand assassin's bullets could have accomplished! Peace.