Honors Role in Julius Caesar

Honor is defined as honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs and actions. It can also be defined as a concept entailing a perceived quality of worthiness and respectability. Honor can sometimes be hard to earn, but is very easy to lose, which is why people strive to maintain it. In William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, both definitions of honor are used surround the story. Honor was used in Julius Caesar to show how one's desire to be honorable can influence decisions, was used as a method to persuade Brutus, and also to develop characters throughout the play.

The most important role of honor in Julius Caesar was to show how one's desire to be honorable can influence decisions. One of the characters that demonstrated this the most was Brutus. In Act two, it is revealed that Brutus does not want to kill Caesar but feels it is the only way to protect Rome. He says, "O, Rome, I promise thee, if the redress will follow, thou receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus" (II.i.56-58). Brutus is saying that if Rome is meant to receive justice, it will be through him. This shows that Brutus wants to be honorable and because of that, he will help his Roman people no matter what. Another situation in the play that shows Brutus's desire to be honorable is what drove him to his actions was his speech at Caesar's funeral. Brutus says, "If friend demanded why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" (III.ii.23). This quote undoubtedly shows that Brutus's actions were driven by his want to be seen as honorable by his people.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Ed. Paul Moliken. Cheswold, DE: Prestwick House, 2004. Print.