Brutus In Shakespeare's The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar

William shakespeare is a universally known writer, who has written a numerous amount of plays particularly tragedies. Many of his plays are often analysed by critics,teachers, and students, and then argued about amongst them. One of his many controversial plays included is The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. The play, set in Rome, 44 B.C., about politicians and an assassination has brought about many disputes, such as about the historical accuracy, and who the true hero of the play is. These arguments are quite common amongst literature, but there will never be one set answer as everyone has different opinions regarding the matter at hand. Typically stories are named after the hero in the play, however not in most of Shakespeare’s works. The Tragedy

This is because the whole design of the play is brutus’ attempt to liberate Rome (Littman Critical Commentary). Most of the action is revolved around Brutus starting from when the conspirators had planned for him to join and when the power shift from Caesar to Brutus occurred. Brutus’ orders of the group for them to not let Cicero join, Antony die, or to pledge an oath were the major signs of power shifting and him becoming the leader within the group (Shakespeare 2.1). Brutus as the leader of the conspirators essentially put Caesar out of power completely from that point onward. Brutus also shows up more than Caesar, as he dies halfway through the play so the course of his action dies there, with the exception of his ghost appearing briefly later on, but for the most part he was included as much as a minor character would be. If Caesar truly was the hero of the play, it would have focused more on his course of action than Brutus. However, most of what was shown of Caesar's actions had instigated his death, such as not listening to any of the three warnings given to him before his demise. Brutus is also studied in greater depth than other characters, like mentioned previously his psychological struggle is shown, which gives the audience insight into his state of mind. Brutus’ position of his character is also studied and viewed as that of a hero’s physically and

The last act of the play ends with the suicide of Brutus, led to by his tragic flaw. The last act of the play is often the most memorable and is used to show off the hero. His death had been foreshadowed early on when the ghost of Caesar visited him. The suicide not only shows that Brutus is the tragic hero, as the hero typically dies at the end of a tragedy, but it also appeases the guilt of his wrongdoing, assassinating Caesar due to the influence of the conspirators. Before and after his death, Brutus is seen as brave and noble from beginning to end because while he is blinded by what he believes is the right choice, he fixes what is in reality the wrongdoing in the end. The play ends on a tribute to Brutus after he has killed himself which brings forth the question, why would Shakespeare end the play with a tribute to the person who is not even the hero of the play? That is because he would not and does not because Brutus is the hero, which is even seen by the words of Antony and Octavius in the tribute, that speak about how Brutus is the “noblest Roman of them all” (Shakespeare 5.5.73). These words said by Antony, a politician alongside Caesar, who had once resented all of the conspirators and called Brutus “an honorable man” while his words were dripping with sarcasm, had now just given Brutus the highest honor he could. Just like how the last act of the play is the most