It is interesting to draw several parallels between this
play and Macbeth. Both murderers, for the crime of killing their
leader, are plagued with sleeplessness and visions of ghosts of those that they have
killed. At the very end of Act IV scene 3, we see Brutus is trying to desperately get
some sleep, but is unable to, in spite of the music that tries to lull him to sleep. As
he struggles against his insomnia, the Ghost of Caesar enters, and says that it is the
"evil spirit" of Brutus and says that they will meet again at Philippi. Note Brutus'
response when the ghost appears:
It comes upon me. Art thou
anything?
Art thou some god, some angel, or some
devil,
That mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to
stare?
The impact of this
vision is thus clear. Brutus is terrified by what he sees and in particular the guilt
that this ghost arouses. Having slaughtered Caesar, Brutus has condemned himself to
being haunted.
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