Brutus and his bad decisions and misfortunes

Brutus: A Tragic Hero

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare depicts a tragic hero, or one who has high standing and causes his own downfall. The tragic hero is Brutus, and he makes multiple and ultimately fatal mistakes that lead to his enlightenment and then his death. Brutus’ death is the result of many misfortunes, including being herded into the conspiracy and thus aiding in the death of Caesar, hearing of the death of his loyal wife, and waging a war against Rome.

Brutus’ negative characteristics are his flawed reasoning and bad judgment. While still planning Caesar’s murder, Cicero’s name is brought up and it is suggested that he be included in the conspiracy. However, Brutus is against this thought, saying that Cicero shouldn’t even be mentioned. “O, name him not. Let us not break with him, / for he will never follow anything/ That other men begin” (916). The problem is further augmented when he allows Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus failed to think twice, and underestimated Antony. Antony asks Brutus to allow him to “in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, / Speak in the order of his funeral” (943). The way he speaks of Caesar is intimate, with his words flowing and carefully placed. In this way he persuades the collective mind of the commoners with ease. Also, Brutus and Cassius’ opposing strategies jeopardize their plan to fight Rome. While Cassius says they should wait to fight, Brutus says the army should march out to meet their adversaries. Cassius explains that they should let the enemy chase after them because that way “So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, / doing himself offense, whilst we, lying still, / Are full of rest, defense, and nimbleness” (974). Brutus te...

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...ut even in this scene, Cassius seems to be more emotional than Brutus, and also creates a feeling of sadness within the audience. Antony’s speech creates an enormous amount of chaos within the crowd. “Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up/ To such a sudden flood of mutiny” (954). Here, Antony uses reverse psychology on the crowd, thus bringing them to decide that there should be punishment for the conspirators. Even though Brutus tries to use his rank and trust of the Romans to bring down a potential threat, his plan backfires and he dies a man who had to flee Rome.

Brutus can be described as the tragic hero of the story because he makes many fatal mistakes that cause his downfall. However, the audience can sympathize with him because his cause was pure: to benefit the Romans. Still, his death is the main cause of the fall of a great empire.