The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a play of honor, loyalty, and betrayal. Written by William Shakespeare, the play, unlike what its name may suggest, focuses on Marcus Brutus. Brutus is the tragic hero, and he has one tragic flaw. The play tells the story of what happens when his tragic flaw becomes a catastrophe. Shakespeare incorporates traditional elements throughout the story on what a tragic hero should be. The first traditional element that is introduced is how the tragic hero is usually from noble descent. Marcus Brutus is the descendant of Lucius Junius Brutus. Lucius Brutus overthrew the tyrannical Tarquin kings and established a democracy that lasted hundreds of years. The Roman people were proud of their democracy, so Marcus Brutus …show more content…
He does not make those heros single sided, but he reveals instead the internal conflict that the character must endure. Brutus is torn on whether or not he should kill someone he loves, or let Rome and its democracy succumb to monarchy. Brutus’s love for Caesar is most apparent during his funeral. “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” (III.ii. 20-22). On the other hand, he does not want Rome to lose its democracy. He wants to be like his ancestor Lucius Brutus and get rid of the threat to democracy. His loyalty to Caesar is still causing doubt. He hides that doubt by hiding the reality of the deed he is about to commit. Brutus’s, “impossible separation of ideal and reality, a separation revealed in Brutus’s attempt to make the act a sacrificial rite transcending and thereby obscuring the reality” (Simmons 62). Even when he plans on killing his close personal friend, his loyalty to him is creating hesitation. His inner turmoil and hesitation is directly seen in Brutus’s soliloquy. The night before he plans on killing Caesar, he is wide awake, strolling through his gardens, because he is trying to reason with his inner turmoil. He comes to the conclusion that Caesar is “A serpent’s egg / which hatched, would, as his kind grow mischievous" (II.i.32-33). He then forgoes his loyalty to Caesar to protect Rome’s …show more content…
However, in Greek theater the characters are predestined by fate. Although Brutus made small choices, they ultimately led to his downfall. His first choice was allowing Antony to live, while they were planning the murder of Caesar. Cassius wanted to be sure Antony would not rise in revenge against them, but Brutus told them “For Antony is but a limb of Caesar. / Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers” (II.i.165-166). Antony would fight back, because he was still alive. In one fell stroke they could have gotten rid of all of their problems, if it were not for Brutus. When Antony wanted to speak at the funeral, Cassius told Brutus, “Know you how much the people may be moved by that which he will utter” (III.i. 233-234). Brutus dismissed his question and instead did what he thought was best. If he would not have let Antony speak, their cause would have remained just, and the people would have sided with them. The decision to let Antony speak led to the exile of the conspirators, while they were hunted like dogs by Antony and his forces. His next decision would lead him and others to their death. He tells Cassius that “from which advantage we shall cut him off, if at Philippi we do face him there” (IV.iii. 208-209). Cassius agrees, but his forces become weaker because of that. They ultimately succumb to Antony and his forces because of Brutus’s decision. If Brutus would have listened all three times to
After the Civil War, America was in a lot of turmoil, especially in the southern states. A goal of the U.S was to bring the southern states back into the union and fix up all the physical damage that tore apart the south. Reconstruction had a couple main goals to bring America back together and that was to fix the southern states of all the damage that was done, explain how the southern states could be readmitted into the union, and also implement how whites and blacks could live together without slavery. Also during reconstruction, black and white teachers would help teach former slaves who were illiterate how to read and write. Thought the main goal of reconstruction was to rebuild America, there were three different plans on how America
Each ruler of Rome seemed to have made poor decisions, and this is exactly what occurred with Brutus. Brutus became very naïve. All of the conspirators confronted Brutus with the idea of killing Mark Antony. They believed he would continue Caesar’s legacy but Brutus thought differently. Brutus added, “And for Mark Antony, think not of him, for he can do no more than Caesar’s arm” (Shakespeare, 24). He proposed that Antony was too weak for them to worry about while this was actually what brought about his fall. When the murder of Caesar had concluded, Antony wished to speak in honor of Caesar. Brutus agreed with the idea but Cassius was hesitant. Cassius insulted, “You know not what you do. Do not consent that Antony speak in his funeral. Know you how much the people may be moved by that which he will utter” (Shakespeare, 44). Cassius feared that Antony’s persuasive speech would turn the citizens against the conspirators. Brutus continued to ignore Cassius’s warning, but was proven wrong immediately. The locals were influenced by Antony and led an angered march to end the conspirators. Brutus caused their arrangement to fail by lack of
His intentions were not motivated by his own ambition rather he acted to ensure that Rome would not be taken over by a dictatorship. When the other conspirators wanted to go after Marc Antony as well, Brutus stood up to the others stating that their cause would be lost if they went after Antony. "Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius to cut the head off then hack the limbs. Like wrath in death and envy afterward. For Anthony is but a limb of Caesar. Let us be sacrifiers, but not butchers, Caius." Brutus could have just run off and hid when the townspeople turned against him, however fought The Battle of Philippi because he believed so strongly in his cause. Before the battle he begins to realize that he had put too much trust in Cassius as he disagrees with Cassius methods. Brutus refuses to bully the peasants into supporting him as Cassius has. “You have done that you should be sorry for. There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, for I am armed so strong in honesty that they pass by me as the idle wind, which I respect not. I did send to you for certain sums of gold, which you denied me, for I can raise no money by vile means. By heaven, I had rather coin my heart And drop my blood for drachmas than to wring From the hard hands of peasants” Although he regrets having killed Caesar and can now see that Cassius did not have the same honorable
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.
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.
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).
First one can see that Brutus is the tragic hero by looking at his background and comparing it with the background of a tragic hero. The first of the requirements for a tragic hero is that he has to be of noble birth. Brutus is of noble birth, and this influences many of his traits. For example, Brutus is Brutus is educated and this leads to his flawous idealistic views. Also, he fulfills another requirement, the requirement that he comes into some kind of understanding. In the case of Brutus, he is convinced into believing that he has to kill Ceaser because “That lowliness is young ambition's ladder, Whereto the climber-upward turns his face; But when he once attains the upmost round, He then unto the ladder turns his back, Looks into the clouds, scorning the base degrees By which he did ascend”. This shows that Brutus killed Caesar for the good of Rome. Overall, Brutus is the tragic hero because he fulfills all of the background requirements to be a tragic hero.
Brutus emerges as the most ambiguous and complex character in Julius Caesar and is also the play’s tragic hero. In his soliloquies the audience gains insight into the complexities of his motives. In Brutus’s first soliloquy he states “It must be by his death and for my part I know no personal cause to spurn at him But for the general”(Act 2,scene 1, Julius Caesar). This highlights the internal struggle brutus is going through. He loved Caesar as a friend but yet he loved Rome more, he had to make a decision to kill his best friend for the good of the Roman empire.
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 a devious man, even though what he thought he was doing was right. Brutus told his fellow conspirators to kill Caesar “boldly, but not angerly.”(3.1.256-257) Brutus was one of Caesars right hand men, and yet Brutus kills his own friend. When Antony asks to speak at Caesars funeral, Cassius says no, but Brutus tell him that Antony will speak, but only what Brutus tells him to say. Brutus also embraces the fact that he just killed his friend, and also tells the senators who had just witnessed it to not be afraid, but to stay because ambition has paid its debt.
If then that friend demands why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." (3.2.19-24). His concentration on honor and nobility ends up being used against him by Cassius, who instigates him to kill his best friend. Cassius knows how naive and how moral Brutus is and he uses this information into making him help kill Caesar. Being naive and over trusting causes his first mistake and helps with his downfall when he refuses to listen to Cassius, who wants Antony to be also killed because he knows that he will seek revenge for Caesar. However, Brutus code of honor won 't let him approve the killing of Antony "Our plan will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius. We cut off the head and then hack the limbs, seem to kill Caesar in anger and then vent malice on his friends, for Antony is only a branch of Caesar."(2.1.169-172), he doesn 't want to be seen by the Roman people as a killer, but someone who 's doing what 's right for the people of
According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a man of noble stature, and throughout the play Brutus shows his nobility and greatness in many ways. The most prevalent virtue Brutus has is honor. One way he shows his honor is when, after killing Caesar, in his oration to the citizens he does not slander or belittle Caesar. He simply explains that Caesar was too ambitious. So great is Brutus's honor that ironically, the man who is responsible for Brutus's death, Antony, calls him the "noblest Roman of them all" while looking down on his cadaver at the end of the play. Another virtue Brutus has is his sense to do common good. In his view, he resolves that by killing Caesar before he is crowned and becomes a possible tyrant, is the best thing to do for the people, "...Why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that ...
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...
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 shows he knows what is to be done is crucial to the betterment of Rome, and time is of the essence.Brutus voices “; We, at the height, are ready to decline. There is a tide in the affairs of men ”(4.3.292). Brutus understands that the longer they wait to execute their plan they must act soon. Brutus shows his idealistic and naive nature when he goes against the other conspirators standpoint on killing Mark Antony. Brutus articulates “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off, and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death, and envy afterwards; For Antony is but a limb of Caesar.” (2.1.99). Brutus believes Mark Antony will crumble with Caesars death. Cassius proposes an oath to the conspiracy which Brutus declines saying oaths are for old men and cowards. Bruts declares ““ The even virtue of our enterprise, Nor th' insuppressive mettle of our spirits, To think that or our cause or our performance Did need an oath”.(2.1.95). Brutus thinks the conspiracy and a love for Rome are more meaningful than an oath showing his naive nature because his honor outweighs his logical thinking. Brutus expects everything to be okay, but with a conspiracy to kill a leader things cannot be that