Brutus Is A Tragic Hero

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“Brutus, a Tragic Hero” Tragic heroes are composed of the following characteristics: nobleness/wisdom by birth, a tragic flaw, reversal of fortune by the tragic flaw, and anagnorisis. Being excessively honorable can be a person’s tragic flaw. In Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, Brutus is shown to be a tragic hero. Born a nobleman, Brutus was Caesar’s close friend. However, he betrayed and murdered Caesar, which eventually led to Brutus’s death. Ultimately, Brutus’s tragic flaw was his honor and his demise was his death. Brutus shows that he is honorable through his choices to murder Caesar. Caesar was his close friend and Brutus cared for him. However, Brutus joined the conspirators because his honor towards the Roman First, Cassius and the conspirators used his honor for Rome to convince him to join them. Their fake letters from the citizens that they sent Brutus assisted in making his decision. Brutus said, “It must be by his death. And for my part/I know no personal cause to spurn at him, /But for the general.”(II.i.10-12) His extreme honorability to Rome had blinded him from the real reasons why the other conspirators wanted him to join. Cassius only wanted Caesar dead because of his jealousy and Brutus would have been a great asset. Brutus did not have any personal reasons for Caesar’s assassination. However, it was his assumptions on what may happen to Rome that caused him to join the conspiracy. In addition, Brutus’s fierce honor to Rome caused him to betray a friend, Caesar. Brutus was afraid that Caesar would become a tyrant and become corrupted like most dictators in the past. Tyranny was also the opposite of the Roman senate that the empire had at that moment. Brutus states, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more…But as he was ambitious, I slew him” (III.ii.23-24, 28) It was his honorability to Rome that pushed him to murder Caesar and put him on the path, which would soon lead to his

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