Julius Caesar Flaws

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William Shakespeare wrote many tragedies and Julius Caesar was one of them. Based on history as well as his own interpretation, Shakespeare retold the story of the death of Caesar. In each tragedy he writes there is a tragic hero, or someone who falls from grace. Although the actual character of Julius Caesar didn’t live past Act lll, he showed enough qualities to qualify as the tragic hero of the play. Shakespeare gave Caesar many tragic flaws which eventually led him to a tragic death. In Act 1 Scene 2 we are introduced to Caesar’s weaknesses by Cassius. Cassius tells us that Caesar is weak because he almost drowned and Cassius saved him, he was once sick and acted like a little girl, and he is deaf in his left ear. These traits all portray that Caesar is not invincible and is still human, contrary to the belief of some of the public. Some Romans see him as a god but Cassius, Brutus, and those who conspired against him focused on what made him weak. Caesar’s ambition was another reason why they decided to kill Caesar. During a meeting of the conspirators Brutus says “And therefore think him as a serpent's egg / Which, hatch'd, would as his kind grow mischievous / And kill him in the shell” (2.1.32-34). They decide to kill Caesar before he becomes too dangerous and his ambition runs away from him. …show more content…

He is stabbed 33 times by all the men he thought were his friends, and he ends up dying directly in front of a statue of Pompey, the man he killed in order to gain power. His friend Antony paints Caesar as a good and noble man during the speech he gave for Caesar to the people of Rome. When he died, Caesar was back-stabbed, quite literally, by all the men he thought he could trust. Before he met his tragic end he said “Et tu, Bruté?” (3.1.84). This means “And you too, Brutus?”, which shows Caesar’s surprise and sorrow after realizing even Brutus has betrayed

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