Betrayal Quote Act I

“Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet I see
Thy honorable mettle may be wrought
From that it is disposed; therefore it is meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes;
For who so firm that cannot be seduced?

Caesar doth bear me hard, but he loves Brutus.

If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius,
He should not humor me. I will this night,
In several hands, in at his windows throw,
As if they came from several citizens,

Writings, all tending to the great opinion
That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely

Caesar’s ambition shall be glancèd at.
And after this, let Caesar seat him sure;
For we will shake him, or worse days endure.”

In this quotation taken from Act I of Julius Caesar, Cassius is talking to himself about the nature of Brutus and a part of his plans to overthrow Caesar. Cassius realizes that Brutus is very close with Caesar and in order for his plan to work he needs Brutus to turn against him. Cassius also realizes that Caesar has a grudge against him so he must be careful. Cassius is planning to give letters to Brutus claiming that he should take over the throne from Caesar. Cassius truly believes that Caesar will be a terrible leader, even though he is supposed to be one of Caesar’s friends.

This quote is related to the topic of betrayal because Cassius is supposed to be one of the people that Caesar can trust, yet he is going behind his back to overthrow him. Cassius is also planning to turn Caesar’s best friend, Brutus, against him. This is another act of betrayal. Based on this quotation, I predict that Cassius’ plan to persuade Brutus to take over the throne will work and Caesar will be betrayed by more than one of his “close friends” or allies. Even though the play’s settings and characters are just being introduced, it is clear that betrayal will play a huge part in the theme of Julius Caesar.

-Jackie Chan