Question

[CASSIUS.] Well, Brutus, thou art noble: yet I see

Thy honourable 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 humour 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.

–The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,
William Shakespeare

In this passage, it can be inferred that Cassius is motivated to use Brutus’s status to convince him to join the conspiracy. Which line best supports this motivation?

“Caesar doth bear me hard, but he loves Brutus”
“For we will shake him, or worse days endure”
“Yet I see / Thy honourable mettle may be wrought”
“Caesar’s ambition shall be glancèd at”

Answer 1

“Yet I see / Thy honourable mettle may be wrought”

This line shows Cassius believes Brutus’s honorable character can be shaped or worked on—implying Cassius intends to use Brutus’s reputation to bring him into the conspiracy.