Julius Caesar Flaws

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Universal Imperfections Human beings often choose to characterize others as either bad or good. Those who are deemed bad are said to be villains, and those who are deemed good are said to be heroes. In reality, there are no definite heroes and villains. The world is full of universally imperfect people. All villains have good traits, and all heroes have bad traits. It is simply the way the human race operates. William Shakespeare’s use of ambiguous personalities in his play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar portrays the idea that humans are not labeled as heroes or villains by their unique character flaws. While Brutus presents himself as a noble character, Shakespeare uses his character flaws to display his ambiguity. Brutus is averse to the idea of Caesar being crowned king to the point that he reveals he would rather be a peasant. “Brutus had rather be a villager than to repute himself a son of Rome under these hard conditions as this time is like to lay upon us” (JC 1.2.181-184). Even though Brutus is practically Caesar’s son, he envisions the notion of Caesar becoming king as a bad idea. Another one of …show more content…

Cassius shows throughout the story that he is deceitful, persuasive, and at times arrogant. However, he also shows a constant loyalty to Brutus that is contradictory to these aforementioned traits. During a massive fallout between Cassius and Brutus, Cassius reveals his envy towards Brutus’s love for Caesar while holding a dagger to his own chest. “When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better than ever thou lovedst Cassius” (JC 4.3.117-119). Cassius is so distraught over the thought of Brutus having more love for Caesar that he threatens to kill himself. Despite all of the villainous traits Cassius has, he truly cherished his friendship with Brutus. This proves that even villains can have the traits of

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