In scene 3, Cassius, who has asked his bondsman, Pindarus,
to stab him, says the following before he expires:
Caesar, thou art revenged,
Even with
the sword that kill'd
thee.
It is clear from his
final words that Cassius felt that Caesar's murder had to be avenged and he, being one
of the assassins, had to be punished for his heinous act. For Cassius, there is honour
in his own death. He has atoned for his crime and recognises the irony of dying by the
same sword which he used to slay his emperor.
In scene 5,
Brutus asks Strato to hold his sword so that he may run into it, killing himself.
Brutus' final words are:
Caesar, now be still:
I kill'd not thee
with half so good a
will.
Earlier in Act 5,
Brutus had been visited by Caesar's ghost and in his dying moments he refers to Caesar's
restless spirit which can now be at peace since his assassin has now also lost his life.
In the second part of his statement, Brutus alludes to the torment he had experienced in
murdering Caesar. He had been Caesar's confidant, trusted by him and loyal to him.
Brutus had felt that he had acted for the common good, persuaded by Cassius and his
co-conspirators that Caesar's death was in Rome's best interest. Brutus' words reflect
regret as he states that there had been a greater desire (will) in him to kill himself
than there had been to kill Caesar. His conviction then had been half of that which he
has now had.
Yes, both men had a choice. They could have
battled on and would have either been captured or killed. However, there would have been
greater dishonour in both options. Suicide in the face of defeat was, for a Roman
soldier, a greater honour. In this sense, then, both Brutus and Cassius felt that they
had no choice but to kill themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment