Suicide in Julius Caesar Essay

Suicide Watch

Throughout history civilizations have had varied views on the topic of suicide. In most modernized countries, a person who kills themselves is seen as a

coward who is just trying to find the easy way out. This view however was not generally held in ancient Roman times. Though suicide was discouraged among

soldiers and slaves, it was still considered an honorable death. Shakespeares Julius Caesar provides several examples of honorable, yet tragic, suicides.

Portia, Brutus beloved wife, is the first character in the play that commits suicide. From the brief explanation Brutus gives little concerning Portias personal

feelings or reasoning can be derived other than that she is scared and lonely. This however is not Portias motive for taking her own life. After Cassius and Brutus

resolve their quarrel with one another, Brutus provides Cassius with a concise description of Portias suicide and his justification for it. He says, Impatient of my

absence, And grief the young Octavius with Mark Antony Have made themselves strong . Brutus believes that Portia committed suicide not only because of her

fear of Antony and Octavius, but because she missed him. It is clear that Portia loves Brutus from the devotion she shows just before Caesar is killed. It was not so

much life without Brutus that drove her to kill herself, though it may have provided the final push. A bigger fear for Portia would be Antony and Octavius. Also from

Portias conversation with Brutus the day before the Ides of March, the reader may observe that she is a very intuitive woman. She is good at solving the puzzles of

human emotion and has long deciphered Antonys character. To save herself from future grief or dishonor, and to dispose of any risk of dishonoring Brutus, she

takes her own life. This preserves her dignity and Brutus as well.

Back at war, the tension is rising. Cassius is facing a new bout of depression because he does not want to fight. His suicide comes due to the guilt he

experiences in believing that one of his dear friends, Titinius, has been killed while on a mission from Cassius himself. Angered, Cassius exclaims, O, coward that I

am, to live so long, To see my best friend taen before my face! Cassius is mourning Titinius false death by taking the blame. He feels that because he is the one

that sent Titinius out it is his fault he that he was killed. Cassius also calls himself a coward for not doing his own work. Had he gone and not feared for his own life,

Titinius would not have died. He goes on to say, Caesar, thou art revenged. From this the reader learns that Cassius, no matter how motivated he was to kill

Caesar, feels guilty about his death. His death is not an easy way out of stress, but rather an eye for an eye sacrifice that will make him equal with both Titinius and

Caesar.