Read the excerpt from Julius Caesar, act 1, scene 2. Which statement best summarizes the conflict in this
passage?
45
BRUTUS. Cassius,
Be not deceived. If I have veiled my look,
I turn the trouble of my countenance
Merely upon myself. Vexèd I am
Of late with passions of some difference,
Conceptions only proper to myself,
Which give some soil, perhaps, to my behaviours.
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved
Among which number, Cassius, be you one
Nor construe any further my neglect
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.
O Brutus betrayed Cassius, and now Cassius is angry
with him.
O Cassius offends Brutus by saying that he does not
like the way Brutus looks.
O While Cassius and others have noticed a difference in
Brutus, Brutus explains that his actions are not
because of anything they have done. It is only
because Brutus is struggling within himself and has let
it unfairly impact how he treats others.
O Brutus clarifies that Cassius is his closest friend.
50