Brutus: A Tragic Hero

The protagonist in any story is the central character, the heart of all the conflict. They are the hero we root for, a reflection of our own personal ambitions and hopes; protagonists are an ideal reflections of oneself. Saying this, sometimes the protagonist is up to debate. The audience of any book, movie, play or any form of story telling have their own morals and point of view. So naturally, people may debate who the real protagonist of a story is. Like in the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, one would assume, due to the title of the play, that the protagonist of the story is Julius Caesar. When in fact, Brutus is the protagonist. Due to his honour and positive intentions, his fatal flaw that makes him a tragic hero, and his

Throughout the play Brutus shows his high moral standards, only making decisions based on his moral code. He is considerably more ethical and logical than the rest of the conspirators, and furthermore the rest of Rome. These traits make him the protagonist of the story, a character the audience follows closely and empathize with. The audience can understand his motives.

One can see his honourable intentions in Act II, in the scenes right before Caesar is killed. Through various dialogues with the conspirators and monologues to himself, we can see he is not killing for Caesar for power or for hatred, but rather for the benefit of Rome. This attitude is shown in a scene in which Brutus, talking to himself, debates murdering Caesar. “It must be by [Caesar’s] death, and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general. He would be crowned. How might change his nature, there’s the question. It is the bright day that brings forth the adder.” [II, i, L 27] This line clearly describes Brutus’ cause for regicide: it must not be for personal spurn (personal hatred), but for the people of Rome, the public good. He also shows his fear of what Caesar might become, a tyrannical leader, as represented by an adder. This quotation makes it very clear that Brutus is doing this on behalf of the good of Rome, showing how ethical and compassionate Brutus

In scene 3, shortly after Caesar dies, Antony says, “That’s all I seek, and am moreover suitor, that I may produce his body to the market-place, and in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, speak in the order of his funeral.[III, i, L 243-248]” And Brutus obliges, but also adds that in Antony’s speech, he “shall not in your funeral speech blame us, but speak all good you can devise of Caesar, and say you do it by our permission. [III, i, L 264-266]” Brutus’ mistake is believing that Antony will stay true to his word and his honour. Brutus thinks too highly of others. But, as revealed later in the scene, Antony won’t stay true to his word, and will betray Caesar by using his persuasive voice to sway the crowd against the conspirators. This choice that Brutus makes ultimately leads to his downfall, because Antony changes the public view and make Brutus co-conspirators the villains. This vital mistake almost ensures Brutus’ downfall, and it was caused by Brutus himself. This again proves that Brutus is the tragic hero of the play, the honourable protagonist brought down by his own