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All Site ContentJulius CaesarAct 4Scene 2
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"I did send to you for gold"
Irony
Act 4,
Scene 2
Lines 123-134a

An explanation of the irony in Brutus' criticism of Cassius in Act 4, Scene 2 of myShakespeare's Julius Caesar. 

Brutus

For I can raise no money by vile means.
By heaven, I had rather coin my heart,
And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring
From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash
By any indirection. I did send
To you for gold to pay my legions,
Which you denied me. Was that done like Cassius?
Should I have answered Caius Cassius so?
When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous,
To lock such rascal counters from his friends,
Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts,
Dash him to pieces!

Brutus, an idealist of questionable judgment, misses the irony of his criticizing Cassius for extorting money, and then reprimanding Cassius for not giving him some of that money when he asked for it.