Question

Why does Brutus commit suicide at the end of Williams Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar? The guilt over killing his friend Julius Caesar? But that doesn’t make sense since he sincerely believed that killing Caesar is for the greater good. Or did he just realise his own mistake and decide that he would rather take his own life? I’m very confused. Why did Brutus take his own life?

Answer 1

Brutus committed suicide because he believed death is his fitting punishment for bringing Rome to ruin. So Brutus conspired with Cassius to assassinate Julius Caesar, convinced by Cassius that by killing his close friend Caesar, he would save Rome. Becasue of his love for the country, which he valued much more that the friendship they two have held, Brutus agrees to Cassius plan to put a stop to Caesar’s reign. However, after the death of Caesar, things only get much worse. Mark Antony throws Rome into a civil war when he betrayed Brutus and reveals the conspiracy during Caesar’s funeral oration. Well, that decision to allow Mark Antony to speak was Brutus fault to begin with much to Cassius disagreement, arguing that letting Mark Antony speaks might get the crowd to sympathise with their cause. That didn’t go so well and the crowd begins a riot that led to the civil war. Knowing that he caused the downfall of Rome, Brutus decides that the only appropriate punishment for his error is only through death. He ends his life with the sword, which led Mark Antony to refer to him as the “the noblest Roman of them all.”

Comments

I totally agree with your explanation to why does Brutus commit suicide.

Answer 2

Brutus is written to be a complex character and a tragic hero. He is complex in his own right, a powerful public figure, a husband, a master, a respected military leader and a trusted friend of Julius Caeser. During his many soliloquies to the insight of his motives, we learn that he is always in conflict with his own decision, the hindsight of his own decision and the regret of the ones he failed to take. So, why does Brutus commit suicide? You know when he finished his assassination, he ponders whether killing a friend is worth it for the greater good of his country, noble or just selfish, a failure for his own beliefs. He is idealistic, being one of his greatest flaws, his own ambition dominate every other motivation. This naive idealism led to miscalculation that brings a chain of effects that led Rome to the civil war. He refuses to kill Mark Antony when he killed Caesar, then he let Mark Antony speaks to the crowd during Caesar funeral oration, which Mark Antony to rally the crowd against Brutus. The only way he could repay for all the error he made is only by killing himself, which he did.