ABSTRACT
The consistent habit of mind which caused Elizabethans to think of political or other public forms of behaviour in terms of honour is apparent in Shakespeare's dramatization of the assassination of Julius Caesar. The noble Brutus' petty squabbling with Cassius in Act IV and his pathetic search for someone worthy enough to hold the sword on which he means to die in Act V are but the logical consequences of the idealistic assumptions about honour with which Shakespeare provides Brutus early in the play. Shakespeare develops their first dialogue by having Cassius respond to Brutus' asserted love of 'the name of honour' with arguments that are irrelevant to or even antithetical to 'the general good'. 'Well, honour is the subject of my story' Cassius maintains, and proceeds to demonstrate, with two examples, that Caesar has neither the physical strength nor the courage to warrant his exalted position.
