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 symbolizes the Tragic Hero in Julius Caesar on various aspects and levels. He chose to kill Caesar with honor, and did not corrupt his actions with greed and hunger. He did not stray from his true purpose like the other conspirators. Brutus also fulfilled many trivial components of the Tragic Hero such as being of noble birth and having supernatural encounters. Lastly, Brutus realized his downfall at the end of the novel by asking for his death in honor of Caesar. He understood that his death was nigh and accepted it. “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” (117).
The character of Brutus in Shakespeare’s epic play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar undertakes a great fall from his position as a well-loved senator. Brutus was a man of the common populace. After Caesar’s assassination, he is considered a traitor to the Romans. A man unaware of his follies until the end, Brutus is manipulated and used by the conspirators to achieve their own goals. However, throughout the course of this play, he remains loyal to the Roman people and what he believes to be their opinions. Brutus, a loyal man of the Roman Republic, is most definitely a tragic hero.
Throughout this tragedy Brutus exhibits many character flaws. He starts off by attempting to be too honorable for the adoring people of Rome. He tries to protect him from what Caesar could potentially become, a tyrant. “Wolf but that he sees the Romans as but sheep, he were no lion, were not the Romans hinds”(903). At this point Caesar has not shown any tyrannical ambition. He has been shown to be all for the people without the venture of self gain. “Thrice did I present a kingly crown and thrice did he refuse” (951). He was slightly ambitious, but what human is not? Another flaw we discover in Brutus is that he is an easily swayed man. The truculent and virulent Cassius is able to alter his perception on life especially about his people and the ambitious Caesar. Every move this confused man makes is justified by some flawed logic. This is augmented in his idiotic choice to underestimate Antony and allow him to live. “For Antony is but a limb of Caesar let us be sacrificers not butchers Caiu...
Brutus exclaims that the masses are worth more than an individual, that individual who is Caesar. In spite of those beliefs, Cassius offers him salvation. Cassius entices Brutus with the notion of a false faith, the end to his suffering with be at the end of Caesar's life. 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 strive to accomplish his ambition, Brutus was the most honorable Roman. However, many would view
William Shakespeare illustrates Brutus to have outstanding morals, but also displays Brutus’s naive and over-trusting personality which becomes his tragic flaw. For example, when Brutus suffers from an internal conflict on deciding if Caesar should be emperor or not, Cassius
Brutus was a man of noble birth. He had multiple servants and was often referred to as “Lord”, which indicates a certain level of respect for him. He was a very highly thought of person in Rome. At no point did he ever betray anyone, although he did kill Caesar, he did it to better Rome, not to mislead him. Everything he did was for the advantage of someone else. Even after Brutus dies, Marc Antony says “This was the noblest roman of them all; all the conspirators, save only he, did that they did in the envy of Caesar; he only in a general honest thought and common good to all...” This shows that regardless of brutus killing Caesar, he is still considered noble because he had good intentions. Brutus was also the best friend of Julius Caesar, the most powerful man in Rome. Had he been a commoner, Caesar most likely would not have associated with him or trusted him as a friend.
Shakespeare’s complex play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar contains several tragic heroes; a tragic hero holds high political or social esteem yet possesses an obvious character flaw. This discernible hubris undoubtedly causes the character’s demise or a severe forfeiture, which forces the character to undergo an unfeigned moment of enlightenment and shear reconciliation. Brutus, one of these tragic heroes, is a devout friend of the great Julius Caesar, that is, until he makes many execrable decisions he will soon regret; he becomes involved in a plot to kill the omniscient ruler of Rome during 44 B.C. After committing the crime, Mark Antony, an avid, passionate follower of Caesar, is left alive under Brutus’s orders to take his revenge on the villains who killed his beloved Caesar. After Antony turns a rioting Rome on him and wages war against him and the conspirators, Brutus falls by his own hand, turning the very sword he slaughtered Caesar with against himself. Brutus is unquestionably the tragic hero in this play because he has an innumerable amount of character flaws, he falls because of these flaws, and then comes to grips with them as he bleeds on the planes of Philippi.
Brutus has a naive view of the world. He is unable to see through the roles being played by Cassius, Casca, and Antony. He does not even recognize the fake letters were sent from Cassius. Then Brutus says,“You shall not blame us Antony, in your funeral speech, but speak all the good you can of Caesar.
As a “speculative man of high motives and refined sensibility”(Catherine C. Dominic) Brutus does have his confusion of motives. Act I, scene ii, is the first we see his weakness, “his concern with reputation and appearance, his subtle vanity and pride”(Gayle Green). Yet the main bases of Brutus’s bewilderment of motives takes place in Act II, scene I, with his famous soliloquy beginning with “It must be by his death”. This speech may be the turning point in which Brutus feels better about the assassination of his once called friend.
His honor and loyalty shape the world around him. You can see how honor and loyalty shaped the world around him when Cassius comes to him to ask him for help in dealing with Caesar. Even thou Brutus love 's Caesar and knows that Caesar is a good man, he lets Cassius talk him into looking deeper and see that Rome can 't have a tyrant as a leader. He tells Cassius "Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, That you would have me seek into myself, for that which is not in me?" (1.2.65-67). Brutus knows that killing his best friend is not something he wants to do, but he 's ready to commit such crime because it 's for the good of the Rome and the people of
Greed, ambition, and the possibility of self-gain are always constant in their efforts to influence people’s actions. In Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus, a venerable politician, becomes a victim of the perpetual conflict between power-hungry politicians and ignorant commoners. He is a man of honor and good intentions who sacrifices his own happiness for the benefit of others. Unfortunately, his honor is strung into a fine balance between oblivion and belief and it is ultimately the cause of his downfall. His apparent obliviousness leads him to his grave as his merciful sparing of Mark Antony’s life, much like Julius Caesar’s ghost, comes back to haunt him. Overall, Brutus is an honest, sincere man who holds the lives of others in high regard while he himself acts as a servant to Rome.
Brutus was one of many Romans with noble bloodlines. Although Brutus was noble, he never used it to get ahead. There are many times when Brutus could have used the fact that he is truly noble but he didn’t. Many people argue that a noble man wouldn’t have killed Caesar. In some ways that is true, but Brutus’ case was different. A noble man would only for the good of others and that is what Brutus did. He killed Caesar because 7he was afraid of how powerful he could become. Even then he had a hard time doing it, and that is what separates Brutus from the other conspirators. Every other conspirator had little or no reason to kill Caesar. Brutus was willing to do anything for Rome. During his speech about Caesar’s murder Brutus stated “I have the same dagger for myself when it shall please my country to need my death” (III.ii.45-46). This shows how Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III.ii.20-22). He was too passionate about his country to let Caesar turn it into a dictatorship. Mark Antony and Octavius recognized that Brutus was the one noble roman. In his final speech mark Antony said “This was the noblest roman of them all. / All the conspirators save only he/ Did that they did i...
Two powerful leaders, one power hungry whose ambitious ideas lead to his downfall, the other mindful of people who deserve their higher positions. A true leader is someone who has a vision, a drive and commitment to achieve what's best. In the play written by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Brutus and Caesar are one of the main characters. They demonstrate leadership qualities that are still relevant to today. They are both very ambitious characters; however, they do so for different reasons and differ in their openness to others. There are many similarities and differences that lie between them. Both are noble and great men with loyal followers and neither man questions the rightness of his own path. Both made crucial mistakes that resulted in their death. However, Caesar acts out of love for for himself, his country, and to retain his power as ruler of Rome. Brutus on the other hand acts out of love for freedom of Rome. This essay will discuss and compare their qualities as leaders as well as their styles and how they are effective/ineffective in the play.
In front of the people of Rome at Caesar’s funeral whilst giving his speech, Antony makes up Brutus to up to be this honorable and noble man, nonetheless Brutus is one of the conspirators who ended Caesar’s life. Caesar has been slain by, Trebonius, Cinna, Cassius, Brutus, Ligarius, Decius, Metellus and Casca. All because most had felt that he was too ambitious for their liking, Cassius has manipulated each one of them into committing the crime alongside him. Once Caesar is killed, Brutus delivers his speech, saying, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”(lll.ii.20). Basically just trying to justify the reason he helped to kill one of the most loved Romans in all of Rome. Antony then comes out and begins his speech at Caesar’s