Marcus Brutus is a man that can be described as many things: honorable, loyal, intelligent, and honest to name a few, but many arguments have arisen pondering if he can also be characterized as “noble”. There are two emotions that firmly define nobility: unflinching faith and unconditional love. Brutus exhibits this nobility when he unites with Cassius and the conspirators to save Rome from Julius Caesar, when he exclaims that the conspirators do not need an oath to bind them, instead only relying on each other’s word, when he kills himself at the end of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar as punishment for his wrongdoings to Julius Caesar and all of Rome, as well as when he tries to protect his wife from the conspiracy in order to spare her hardship from his wrongdoings.
Throughout The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus is an unswervingly noble man. What makes him noble was that, although he loves Julius Caesar as a dear friend, deep down, Marcus Brutus is well aware that Julius Caesar's ambitions would eventually devastate Rome and the people living there. Brutus once exclaimed, “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose / against Caesar, this is my answer: / not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved / Rome more.” (3.2, 21-24) Brutus joins the conspirators because of his love for Rome. This is nobility in itself – wanting to save the greater good - Rome - instead of his best friend - Julius Caesar. As Brutus’ love of Rome was sounder than any other, (“He is convinced by the other conspirators to join their plot because they believe the future of Rome is at stake.” (Characters: Julius Caesar, n.p.)) Brutus takes action, along with the conspirators, and kills Caesar before his ominous actions were carried out. In itself, th...
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...s Brutus’ ambition to be honorable is the true tragic hero’s greatest downfall, leading to the ultimate defeat of everything he had originally thought to be right and true with himself, his friends, his city, and, ultimately, his life.
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...tus truly defined the definition of being a tragic hero. He took a drastic fall from being high standing Roman senator to committing suicide on the battle field. He also had several fundamental character flaws that defined not only his future but it also defined history as we know it today. His illogical thinking allowed him to justify the killing of Caesar; and his kindness allows Mark Antony to live and become a mighty ruler of Rome. Brutus’ finally has a revelation and his eyes are opened once he is defeated on the battle field during The Battle Philippi. Brutus’ participation in the assassination of Caesar defined his life and the lives of those around him; it also affected the way we look at history today. Without his involvement in the conspiracy the Roman Empire would not have been the same. Brutus’ name will forever be affiliated with the death of Caesar.
Even though Brutus knew that Caeser had turned down the crown three times, he still felt he was too ambitious to rule over Rome. If only Brutus would have had a level head on his shoulders like Antony. If anyone can call a murderer honorable, let them know. The third and final act Brutus committed that left him with a dishonorable image, was that he ran and then killed himself just to avoid battle. In early Rome, a man was thought to be noble and brave if he fell from an enemy’s sword, not if he ran and committed suicide.
Moreover, Brutus is considered a tragic hero first because of his numerous character flaws or hubrises. An example is Brutus’s flawed logic. By even deciding to kill Caesar for what he is ‘going’ to do, yet not by what he has done, Brutus sets himself up for failure. “‘And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, and kill him in shell’”(911). Brutus’s reasoning for murdering Caesar in such cold blood is because he is afraid of what he could do or what he could become. However, this is clearly faulty logic, fo...
“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (3.2.24) This quote reflects the motive of Brutus for the assassination of his friend, Caesar. I believe Brutus killed him not out of disrespect, but in a selfless act to protect Rome from the decree of Caesar yet to come. I also believe that he did this out of force from the manipulation from his “friend” Cassius. In Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar”, Brutus’ two most significant characteristics are virtue and unconscious hypocrisy. In order to fully understand these characteristics, it is necessary to analyze all other contributing characteristics, the manipulation of friendship that Cassius uses against him, and the motivations for
I came to this conclusion due to the fact that Brutus shares many similarities with other tragic heroes in literature such as Oedipus, Hamlet, and Ralph from Lord of the Flies. All four characters share the two critical traits that are needed to be tragic heroes: a tragic flaw that eventually leads to a tragic downfall. The tragic hero was defined by Aristotle, yet the “invention” of the tragic hero goes to Sophocles. Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus, made the tragic hero. In the play, a prophecy comes along that says the namesake character Oedipus will kill his father and impregnate his mother.
Brutus was a devious man, even though what he thought he was doing was right. Brutus told his fellow conspirators to kill Caesar “boldly, but not angerly.”(3.1.256-257) Brutus was one of Caesars right hand men, and yet Brutus kills his own friend. When Antony asks to speak at Caesars funeral, Cassius says no, but Brutus tell him that Antony will speak, but only what Brutus tells him to say. Brutus also embraces the fact that he just killed his friend, and also tells the senators who had just witnessed it to not be afraid, but to stay because ambition has paid its debt.
In the play the Life and Death of Julius Caesar (just as in all of Shakespeare’s tragedies) there is much death, much tragedy, and of course, a tragic hero. However unlike most of Shakespeare’s plays this time the tragic hero is not particularly obvious. Throughout the play a few main characters present themselves as possibilities for being the tragic hero. But as being a tragic hero is not only having a tragic flaw but also entails much more, there really is only one person to fit the mold. The character Brutus is born into power and is higher/better then we are. He has a tragic flaw that causes his downfall and at the end he realizes his mistake (a trait none of the other characters can really claim).
He reveals what makes Brutus noble from the rest of the Romans and how taking challenges, risks and being strong, honorable, and able to face sorrows is what makes someone noble. The noblest ones take risks and face the consequences and challenges of proving what is right. Brutus loved Rome and when Cassius asks him to join the conspiracy, he only agrees, knowing that Caesars death would make Rome a better place. Killing Caesar was hard for him to do, but it was a risk he was willing to take, knowing it would bring democracy to Rome. After Brutus forces himself to make the last stab in Caesars heart, he mentions in his speech, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I have loved Rome more” (iii. ii.
Brutus’s tragic flaw is that he is very easily manipulated and persuaded. He is very naïve and allows others to swindle him because he feels that no one would ever lie or deceive him since he didn’t do that to anyone. His first mistake is believing the forged letters from the conspirators. This was all ...
In his speech, Brutus appeals to the loyalism of his audience by making intertwining arguments of ethos, pathos, and logos. He begins by establishing his ethos by asserting his status as an honorable fellow Roman worthy of their respect. He expands on this ethos by dividing it into three parts: his love of Caesar, his loyalty to Rome, and his relationship to his audience. Brutus tells his audience that he was a “dear friend” to the man he murdered, invoking a pathetic sense of sympathy from his audience. However, as he says himself, it was “not that [he] loved Caesar less, but that [he] loved Rome more,” strengthening his ethos as a loyal countryman with the interests of his audience at heart. After establishing an emotional connection to his audience and earning their trust, Brutus explains his logic
A dream which Brutus gladly fights when he utters, “Let us be sacrificers but not butchers, Cassius. And in spite of the men, there is no blood”(2.1.173-175). Brutus offers insight into his notion of worth, he will kill for a righteous deed, an honorable action, but not slay wantonly. Brutus is a true martyr for a deceptive plan, when he says, “I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death”(3.2.41-43). A person of high moral values, an individual who strives to accomplish his ambition, Brutus was the most honorable Roman.
The definition of a tragic hero is perceived as on who is neither wicked nor purely innocent, one who “is brave and noble but guilty of the tragic flaw of assuming that honorable ends justify dishonorable means”. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus takes the role of the tragic hero. Brutus’s honor, nobility, and self-righteousness makes him “a tragic figure, if not the hero” (Catherine C. Dominic).
Throughout the play, Brutus speaks about honor and his loyalty to his country. These two concepts become major conflicts for him when it comes to his friendship and loyalty to Caesar. Brutus life is conducted by the concept of honor. He constantly throughout the play speaks of how honorable he is and how honorable men should live. He 's very proud of how Romans view him as a noble and honorable man, who fights for what is right and is always following the moral and ethical code. Brutus ends up using the concept of honor and loyalty to his country as a reason why Caesar must die. He 's convinced that his countrymen will thank him for saving them from a tyrant and that Rome would be much better off without Caesar, but it ends up being a big miscalculation
In conclusion, Brutus is the tragic hero in this play because of the mistakes that he makes, the fall that he takes, and the regrets that he feels after. Brutus will forever be labeled as a traitor, but in the end he is truly sorry for the mistakes that he makes. Because of this, Brutus is the tragic hero.
Brutus was a loving friend of Julius Caesar and wished anything but death on his comrade, but his love and dedication to the majestic city of Rome would force him to commit anything. He fights a war to defend Rome from a king or emperor's tyrannical rule. When the war was over, even his enemies saw that he was the most respectable Roman of them all. This (Brutus' body) was the noblest Roman of them all. All conspirators, save only he did what they did in envy of great Caesar....