A Hero’s Tragic Downfall

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A Hero’s Tragic Downfall In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus is portrayed as a tragic hero. He believes he can amend the Roman Empire by killing Caesar and granting Romans freedom from a potential monarchy. Cassius comes to Brutus with intentions of obviating Caesar from the throne. At first, Brutus is against this. Then, Cassius changes his mind by lying to him and persuading him with false letters supposedly from other Romans. Ultimately, Brutus is the tragic hero because his actions cause him to lose all superior status; they also land him on a path toward his downfall and his death. Brutus has severe flaws, he loses power and respect, and his readers show sympathy for him in the end. Brutus’s first characteristic that deems him a tragic hero is his flawed persona. Brutus is an honorable, trustworthy man to even the most respectable Romans. However, he is easily manipulated. Caesar was a friend to him and never would have believed his benevolent friend would literally stab him in the back. Brutus never wanted to partake in the duplicity of the assassination. Unfortunately, he is a pliable man and Cassius knew how to mold him into the ringleader of the conspiracy. “Brutus and Caesar: What should be in that ‘Caesar’? / Why should that name be sounded more than yours? / …Upon what meat doth our Caesar feed, / That he is grown so great?” (893). Brutus listens to Cassius, who only wants Caesar assassinated because he is envious of him. Cassius lacks a legitimate reason to truly hate Caesar. Brutus fails to see this. He also fails to see how much Cassius deceives him. “If I were Brutus and he were Cassius, / He should not humor me. I will this night, / In several hands, in at his windows throw, / As if... ... middle of paper ... ...ll slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all / Free men?” (948). Brutus’s horrific act was reprehensible yet unselfish. He never would have killed a friend, or anyone else, if he didn’t believe his intentions were noble ones. “He, only in a general honest thought / And common good to all, made one of them. / His life was gentle, and the elements / So mixed with him that Nature might stand up / And say to the world, ‘This was a man!’” (998). In conclusion, Brutus is the tragic hero of the play. He causes his own downfall and demise by partaking in the conspiracy. His flaws, downfall, and understandable reasoning support him being the tragic hero. In the end, while he didn’t deserve scorn, Brutus did deserve to pay the ultimate price for such a gruesome, noble act. Works Cited Elements of Literature. Orlando: Holt, Winston, Rinehart, 2007.

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