According to Aristotle, a tragic hero experiences a change in fortune from good to bad brought about by his or her own errors. By this definition, Brutus acts as the tragic hero of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar because, despite his good intentions, his actions ultimately lead to his death and the downfall of the Roman Republic.
Throughout Julius Caesar Brutus acts in accordance with his morals, which makes his eventual fall all the more tragic as Brutus genuinely believed his actions benefitted the future of Rome. Unlike most of the self-interested people around him, Brutus genuinely cares for the continued well-being of the Roman republic. Brutus sees Caesar's rise to power and imminent crowning as a danger to the freedom of the people in Rome since, "crown [Caesar] that, and then I grant we put a sting in him that at his will he may do danger with. Th' abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power" (2.1.15-19). Brutus knows that many past rulers have turned into tyrants and oppressed their people after gaining substantial authority, and fears that the same tragedy will befall Rome if the Senate crowns Caesar. And although Brutus conspires to kill Caesar rather than finding a peaceful solution to this disagreement, he tells the other conspirators to limit their violence as "this shall make our purpose necessary and not envious, which so appearing to the common eyes, we shall be called purgers, not murderers" (2.1.175-178). Brutus' constant requests to preform the assassination quickly and honorably reveal his concern about the fate of the Romans acts as the motivation behind his actions (unlike the other conspirators who "did that they did in envy of great Caesar") (5.5.71).
But, these philosophical beliefs alone d...
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...ro of the play when, facing certain defeat, he orders Strato to "hold then my sword, and turn away thy face, while I do run upon it" (5.5.48-49). For even his good intentions and conviction that "did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake" could not convince the Roman people to adopt his worldview (4.3.19). And, despite the fact that Brutus "only, in a general honest thought and common good to all, made one of [the conspirators]," he had to die with his vision unfulfilled and with the Roman republic in a worse state than it started the play in(5.5.72-73).
Due to the errors Brutus makes throughout the play and the harm that befalls him as a result, he represent the true tragic hero of Julius Caesar. For despite holding one of the few sets of good intentions in the play, Brutus ultimately suffers and dies farther away from achieving his dreams than he started from.
A tragic hero must be a person of importance at the opening of any story. The story must then ultimately end in their demise. Brutus is a mighty man of Rome who is used to living in opulence at the opening of the play. He is not only well beloved by the Roman people, but he is also well loved by Julius Caesar himself. The Brutus is portrayed as an honorable man who is held in highly extolled among the people of Rome. He is even compared to the greatness of Caesar. “Brutus and Caesar—what should be in that “Caesar”? Why should that name be sounded more than yours? Write them together, yo...
In conclusion, Brutus is a tragic hero in this awe-inspiring play because he is burdened with countless character flaws that engender his inevitable awakening, enlightenment, and death. They also lead to his dramatic change from a despicable fiend, to a loved companion of Rome. Through massive loses, and profound change in character, Brutus is transformed into a kingly tragic hero.
The defenition of a tragic hero a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy. This defenition is perpetuated most clearly by one of the major characters. This character is the noble roman Brutus. Brutus is the tragic hero because of the fact that he fulfills the requirements of a tragic hero. He is a person of noble bith. He does have a tragic flaw, he does come to some understanding, and he does finally meet his end due to his tragic flaw. The tragic flaw of Brutus is his idealistic view, which ultimately leads him directly and indirectly into his death.
In William Shakespeare's classic tragedy “Julius Caesar” the characters are all positioned on a path that leads them to a terrible and disastrous end. Some destroy themselves for the greater good of Rome or just because of their own selfish greed for power. Some characters proceed to destroy others in hopes of protecting the greater good, but lose those closest to them. Cassius leads a dark conspiracy and kills Julius Caesar, but later kills himself. Marc Antony and Octavius track down and kill the assassins that killed Caesar, but lose those they care about most along the way. A true hero will rise to adversity and meet a situation head on to conquer the problem or his foes; however, a tragic hero may do just the opposite. A tragic hero, through errors in judgment and personal flaws, combined with fate and forces often beyond their control ,will fail and bring those around them down as well. No hero has ever been so tragic in literature than Marcus Brutus. Brutus, through persuasion of others, bad decisions, and his personal fears of those around him meets a tragic end. When his beloved wife, Portia, kills herself, he later is compelled to do the same. Brutus’ character flaws bring about his ultimate downfall, which has been judged by critics throughout the ages. Brutus allows his flaws to overshadow his quest to do good, causing him to appear as a weak character. Brutus’ mistakes begin when he lets his thoughts be infiltrated by Cassius. Brutus admits to having an ongoing struggle within him about where his loyalties lie. When Cassius first presents the idea of overthrowing and assassinating Caesar to Brutus, Cassius begins by saying Brutus looks troubled, in response Brutus says, “Be not deceived. If I have veiled my lo...
The tragic hero is one of literatures most used (and sometimes abused) characters. The classical definition of a tragic hero is, “a person with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. The person is doomed by the Gods or some other supernatural force to destruction or suffering. The hero struggles against the fate, but due to a personal flaw, ultimately fails in the battle against fate. It is my personal opinion that Brutus,as he is portrayed in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, is a tragic hero by this definition. 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.
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...
He has two opposing desires that he has to choose between. These are killing Caesar to preserve democracy in Rome and to save Caesar, since he is a friend of Brutus. A quote from J.L. Simmons that summarizes this well is, “Certainly the material lends itself to a conflict between private and public affections” (Simmons 64). Brutus wants to kill Caesar for Rome because the citizens of Rome want to preserve democracy and Caesar is preventing that by being dictator for life. A quote that puts this in other words is, “The ultimate factor in persuading Brutus to join the conspiracy is his belief that his countrymen wish him to act on their behalf” (Shalvi 71). Killing Caesar would be a choice made for not himself, but the citizens of Rome while saving him would be for himself and to preserve his friendship with Caesar. Saving Caesar would be a deed for himself and would strengthen his relationship with Caesar. He could have warned Caesar of the conspirators’ plans and put a stop to them. Brutus ultimately makes the choice of following through and assassinating Caesar. His plan was for this to be a honorable action, but it ended up negative on his behalf. The majority of the citizens in Rome did not take this lightly and wanted revenge for his actions. This is the main mistake made by Brutus that lead to his own
In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, I saw two main characters as tragic heroes. First, I saw Julius Caesar as a tragic hero because his will to gain power was so strong that he ended up losing his life for it. The fact that he could have been such a strong leader was destroyed when he was killed by conspirators. I saw Marcus Brutus as a second tragic hero in this play. Brutus was such a noble character that did not deserve to die. The main reason why he did die, however, was because he had led a conspiracy against Caesar and eventually killed him. These two characters were the tragic heroes of the play in my opinion.
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).
Tragedy concerns itself with the downfall of a protagonist (or the tragic hero) that suffers crushing defeat or death. Brutus certainly fits in as the protagonist of Julius Caesar and the tragic hero. Since Brutus was one of the main characters of the play, it would be obvious that he would be the tragic hero of the play as well.
In conclusion, Brutus is the real tragic hero because throughout the play he is battling himself over good vs. evil. Even though he has tragic flaws he is still seen as a noble and respected figure in Rome both by those who wanted Caesar dead and those who did not. His ability to be easily manipulated led to the death of Caesar, himself, and countless others. If he had made his own decisions, he would not have ended up causing the chaos and tragedy he did. But, on the other hand he did have his own personal reasons for killing Caesar.
The threat Caesar could become outweighs the loyalty Brutus has for Caesar. By killing Caesar, Brutus thinks he was saving the republic and his ancestors’ hard
Brutus recognizes that the “enemies have beat [Brutus and the conspirators].. to a pit” and believes it is honorable “to leap in” themselves “than tarry till” the enemies force them (5.5.23-25). Hence, Brutus requests his servant to assist him in committing suicide and finally utters “Caesar, now be still / I kill’d not thee with half so good a will” (5.5.50-51). Brutus’s action exhibits his understanding of the killing of Caesar, and now views it as irreparable. Furthermore, Brutus takes notice of the fights and unending deaths around him all due to his naivety and failure to judge people’s evil side. As a result, Brutus views suicide as the most appropriate “method” to retain his honor and dignity; otherwise, he would have to encounter the Roman citizens’ criticization and would be humiliated for his actions. In addition, Brutus requests Caesar to be done with his vengeance and to forgive him as he acts solely for the best of Rome, displaying Brutus to be a tragic hero who failed doing his best for good. Furthermore, the play ends with Antony’s summary of Brutus’s character leaving the audience to characterize Brutus to be the one who suffered the most and died in a tragic way. Antony describes Brutus to be “the noblest Roman of them all…/ [and have acted] only in a general
There is no such thing as the perfect person. We may dream of such a person, but sadly, everyone has flaws. These flaws are what make us human. Something else that makes us human is our need for heroes. We attribute 'perfect' qualities to our heroes. In reality even our heroes are flawed. The closest thing to the idealized person, or hero, is the Shakespearean tragic hero. The tragic hero is someone of high standing, good character, and a flaw. While it may be only one flaw, it is often fatal. An example of a tragic hero can be best seen in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus is a prominent leader and noble citizen of Rome who leads in the assassination of Julius Caesar. We see that Brutus plays the role of the tragic hero through his noble standing, fatal flaw, and legacy.
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.