Brutus and Julius Caesar are more different than similar. The biggest difference shown in the play is that Caesar is extremely ambitious, whereas Brutus does not display any ambition at all. Brutus is a philosopher, and as a philosopher he values knowledge, study, solitude, and introspection. Caesar is much more a man of action. He has proved it by his conquest of Gaul, which took many years. When he decides to do something, he does...
Brutus and Julius Caesar are more different than similar. The biggest difference shown in the play is that Caesar is extremely ambitious, whereas Brutus does not display any ambition at all. Brutus is a philosopher, and as a philosopher he values knowledge, study, solitude, and introspection. Caesar is much more a man of action. He has proved it by his conquest of Gaul, which took many years. When he decides to do something, he does it. Nothing can stop him. It may seem surprising that these two men are friends. Caesar values Brutus because he know him to be intelligent and honest. Brutus apparently likes Caesar because he believes him to be a patriotic Roman who wants to help improve the lives of all the people of Rome. Since Brutus values intelligence, he values this in Caesar. Both men are equally intelligent and can therefore engage in interesting conversations without arguing or quarreling.
It can be seen in Act 1, Scene 2 that Brutus must be having second thoughts about his relationship with Julius Caesar. This is shown early on when Cassius asks, "Will you go to see the order of the course?" and Brutus replies, "Not I." Brutus expects Caesar to make a big entrance at the Lupercal races. (Casca will describe all this contemptuously when he encounters Brutus with Cassius after the event.) All Caesar's followers will be with him at the reviewing stand. But Brutus is an independent spirit, like most real philosophers. He does not like being used, and he does not want to appear to be either Caesar's follower or his supporter. Brutus may know that Antony is slated to offer Caesar something representing a crown, and Brutus does not approve of Caesar becoming king. He is not jealous or envious of Caesar, but he is concerned about the future of Rome. Cassius plays on this to arouse Brutus's fears of Caesar's intentions. The friendship between Brutus and Caesar is weakening. But most friendships do not last.
When Brutus is debating with himself over whether or not to join the conspiracy against Caesar, he says:
But 'tis a common proof
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend. (II.1)
This seems to suggest that Caesar's friendship with Brutus is not reliable. As Brutus says, "'tis a common proof." It is very common for all of us to lose a friend once he has risen to a higher status in life. If Caesar became king, Brutus might find that Caesar's attitude towards him was no longer the same. Caesar in fact seems to despise most people. He expresses this plainly in Act 3, Scene 1 just before he is assassinated. He says:
The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks;
They are all fire and every one doth shine;
But there's but one in all doth hold his place.
So in the world, 'tis furnish'd well with men,
And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive;
Yet in the number I do know but one
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshaked of motion;
In Shakespeare's play, Caesar always seems to express himself in a grandiose way, while Brutus always seems modest, thoughtful, and polite, as he does in that long conversation with Cassius in Act 1, Scene 2.
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