Question

Read the excerpt from act 3, scene 2, of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.

[ANTONY.] For Brutus is an honourable man,
So are they all, all honourable men—
Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me.
But Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And sure he is an honourable man.

Which piece of evidence describes Brutus and best supports the theme that even people with strong morals make mistakes?

“He was my friend, faithful and just to me.”
“He hath brought many captives home to Rome.”
“Brutus says he was ambitious, / And sure he is an honourable man.”
“When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept

Answer 1

“Brutus says he was ambitious, / And sure he is an honourable man.”

This line directly describes Brutus as morally upright. Antony’s repeated, ironic use of “honourable man” shows that Brutus’s strong sense of honor and principle led him to justify Caesar’s murder — a grave mistake. It supports the theme that even people with high morals can be wrong in judgment.