Cassius and Brutus: The Significance of their Deaths

After reading Act 5, it has become clear to me that Cassius's and Brutus's deaths were very significant in showing the state of mind of the characters.  Both Cassius and Brutus die from a sword through the chest, however the similarities stop there.   Cassius dies after mistakenly interpreting the cheers and grabbing of Titinius off his horse as the enemy taking him prisoner, and thus has Pindarus run the sword through his chest while Cassius closes his eyes.  When Cassius realizes this he states:

"O coward that I am, to live so long
To see my best friend ta'en before my face!" (Act 5.3 lines 34-35)

and then right before he dies says:
"Now be a freeman, and , with this good sword
That ran through Caesar's bowels...
...Caesar, thou art revenged,
Even with the sword that killed thee." (Act 5.3 lines 34-45)

What these lines show is that Cassius clearly sees that he is about to die as a direct result of having killed Caesar, it is Caesar's revenge for why he is being killed.  However, from these lines I got the impression that Cassius isn't seeing his death as a way of making amends and reconciling Caesar's death, but instead as more of a curse / ill fate that is all Caesar's fault.  It sounds to me that he is blaming Caesar still for both what he thought was Titinius's captured imprisonment as well as his death.  However, the fact that Cassius still decides to kill himself because of what he thought happened to Titinius shows that he felt guilty for bringing about Titinius's fate because he sees that it is a direct result of him trying to stop Caesar that lead to these events.  Finally, the fact that Cassius closes his eyes / covers his face shows that he is fearful of meeting his end, and thus in a way it shows that he probably doesn't regret killing Caesar because it was wrong but regrets it because it lead to the end of him and his friends.

On the other hand, Brutus's death is very different.  While he dies by a sword as well, he chooses to have Strato hold the sword and has him cover his eyes, while Brutus keeps his eyes open and runs into the sword, killing himself.  Brutus before his death states:

"I shall have glory by this losing day,
More than Octavius and Mark Antony
By this vile conquest shall attain unto." (Act 5.5 lines 36-38)

and

"Farewell, good Strato.
Caesar, now be still.
I killed not thee with half so good a will." (Act 5.5 lines 49 - 51)

From these lines it is clear that Brutus sees his death as a way of reconciling his deed of killing Caesar, and that by now killing himself Caesar's ghost can now rest in peace.  The fact that Brutus ran into the sword himself with his eyes open, shows that he did not fear death, and maybe in a way wanted it because he couldn't live with himself for what he had done to Caesar.  This makes since because Brutus didn't really have anything against Caesar himself in the first place.  Also, it shows that unlike Cassius, Brutus is accepting his punishment of death and because he tries to be honorable decides to carry it out himself for the good of Rome.  Finally, the fact that he has Strato cover his eyes shows that he cared about other peoples feelings and reactions, which could explain why he accepts his own death because he knows the people of Rome want him to die.

Thus, it is clear that while both Cassius and Brutus acted together to kill Caesar, and choose to die by the sword, their deaths show that down deep in their character they were very different.