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Brutus' tragic flaws
Brutus' tragic flaws
Brutus character analysus
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The Dark Side of Brutus in Julius Caesar
Brutus is considered the tragic hero because his attributes of being a good friend and a trustworthy person, his flaws includes trusting others too much and poor judgment; also his role in the play in Julius Caesar is being a back stabber and trusting Antony, this is what caused him being a tragic hero for Julius Caesar.
Brutus had a handful of qualities; a couple of them were being a good friend and a trustworthy person. He had these attributes of being a good friend. An example is, when the conspirators wanted to kill Mark Antony, Brutus objected to it. This clearly shows how when it comes to being a loyal person to a friend he is there. He is also a trustworthy person because, “throughout Julius Caesar, Brutus attempts to treat everyone with equal concern, rationally assessing how he should behave towards them”(Hadfield 261). This shows no matter what he has done and also all the power in the world, he is still trustworthy for still caring for Rome.
Brutus’s tragic flaws were that he trusted a person very quickly or too much. He also thought, just to save Rome that he had to kill Caesar. Brutus was also gullible enough too trust Antony after what all that happened and let Antony give a speech at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus acted as if nothing has happened between the two. The only reason he died is because of his major flaw of trusting people too much. “It is this division of thought that makes both Brutus and Cassius see Caesar as dangerous, though Cassius himself suffers no inward division, since he does not see”(Knight 124). This clearly shows how Brutus has poor judgment towards every little matter:
There are other flaws in their friendship. When they first meet anstart to plot the ...
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...ore experienced person in the group would’ve put Brutus out of power, and he would have had to get something else. Brutus could not really predict what Caesar would have done with the crown. He did know that if Caesar was crowned, however, then he had no chance of ever being crowned himself.
Brutus filled the description of the tragic hero quite well with the attributes of being a good friend and trustworthy person however still concludes flaws of trusting others too much and having poor judgment, also had a major role of being a back stabber. Therefore he was a great man, and everyone knew it. However he did kill Caesar, he had a valid excuse, which he had the people believe. He thought that killing Caesar was the right thing to do, even though it was not. Any way one looks at it; Brutus was a great man, and a played a perfect role of a tragic hero.
This flaw eventually leads to his downfall because of all the bad decisions it causes him to make. The first mistake pride causes him to make is to kill Caesar and the next mistake follows right after. “ Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar’s body. You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, but speak all good you can devise of Caesar, and say you do’t by our permission; Else shall you not have any hang at all about his funeral; and you shall speak in the same pulpit wherto I am going, after my speech is done.” (24) This was said by Brutus to Antony right after Caesar’s death. Brutus not only allows Antony to live but then allows him to speak at Caesar’s funeral after Brutus speaks, completely unsupervised. This choice of Brutus’ is brought about by his pride (and maybe a little bit of shortsighted stupidity).
The second reason why Brutus should not be a tragic hero is because he has a tragic flaw and this flaw leads to his ultimate downfall. The tragic Flaw for Brutus is his idealistic view of the world. He contracts this view about Caesar after Cassius persuades him by saying that Caesar will be a tyrant. Because of this, Brutus joins the conspirators and kills Caesar. This shows that Brutus, like other tragic heroes uses his tragic flaw and thus will cause his eventual defeat. Later in the play Brutus directs, as any ideological man would, to charge rather than wait for the enemy to attack. This is an excellent exemplar of the Brutus’s tragic flaw since Brutus did this so that he would not lose support in Rome.
Brutus was a very selfish and self-centered person. He continually ignored Cassius’ and the conspirators’ ideas. He was the leader and everyone was supposed to go along with them. Not to mention that all of his decisions went against Cassius and they were all the wrong moves. Brutus refused to admit that he was wrong or listen to other people.
During Caesar’s funeral, he is very respectful to those who mourn and sends his condolences to those who are very lost without their leader. In addition, Brutus knows how hurt Mark Antony is by Caesar’s death, so Brutus lets him speak at his funeral. Also,Cassius theorizes that Mark Antony may be dangerous and that they should kill him along with Caesar. However, Brutus declines his proposal because he thinks that Mark Antony is not a bad man and also thinks that he will have nothing left when his leader is dead. Casca says, “Oh, he sits high in all peoples hearts, and that which would appear offense in us, his countenance, like the richest alchemy, will change to virtue and to worthiness” (I.iii.159-162), this quote basically means that because of his honor, that he was very respected and loved by the people of Rome. Furthermore, Brutus’ honor and respect shows to all the citizens in Rome and he is mainly well known by these two traits. Overall, Brutus perfectly fits into all the categories that define a hero. Brutus is a true inspiration, not only to me, but to everyone who reads the
Brutus has several tragic flaws. One of these tragic flaws is how he trusts people a lot. Brutus says that he “know[s] that we shall have [Antony] well to a friend” (1140). He trusts Antony will be a friend of the conspirators, yet he seems to not realize that Antony is obliviously against them, because they killed his friend. Brutus trusts Antony so much, that he lets Antony speak to the public alone. Antony turns the people against Brutus and the conspirators, leading to the wars where Brutus takes his own life. Brutus also receives letters, supposedly from the people of Rome. As he reads the letter out loud, Brutus remarks “‘Speak, strike, redress!’ Am I entreated to speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise, if thy redress will follow, thy receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus” (1118).
He shares many character qualities with the other tragic heroes. So, if we say that Brutus is a tragic hero, then we are once again at that same question: “What is his tragic flaw?” I would say that Brutus’s tragic flaw is his pride. He is too proud as a Roman to let Caesar take control of the empire, too proud to let Antony be killed, and too proud to be taken prisoner. It is because of this pride that he takes his own life, ending the tragedy.
Brutus was a supporter of the republic as well as Caesar’s truthful friend. However much he loved Caesar, he opposed the fact that a single man ruled Rome and he feared Caesar would rise to hold that power. Brutus was a good leader. He was truthful and honourable. Brutus tries to justify his reason for killing Caesar and he says
Caesar and Brutus were truly noble people. Caesar was a dignified and courageous man. He gained his power through hard work and courage. However, Caesar was marked by a weakness: he wanted too much power. This weakness proved to be fatal in the play. Brutus, on the other hand, was a strong leader throughout the whole play. People listened to him easily and he showed his nobility by always being open to others. Despite his good character, he did make one fatal mistake in judgment. He killed Caesar thinking he would gain too much power, yet it was truly his friend Cassius’s jealously of Caesar that truly snared him into the conspiracy.
Brutus’ final flaw is his idealism. His idealism leads him to believe everything that everybody tells him. His idealism causes him to believe in Antony and Cassius. Cassius uses Brutus’ idealism by getting him to believe that they are killing Caesar for the betterment of Rome. Antony uses the idealism to get to talk to the com Brutus’ tragic flaws are part of what makes him a tragic hero. In Julius Caesar, Brutus is a great example of a tragic hero. His tragic flaws are honor, poor judgement, and idealism (Bedell). In Shakespeare’s plays, the tragic hero and his flaws cause the downfall of the play (Tragic Flaws).
...tus truly defined the definition of being a tragic hero. He took a drastic fall from being high standing Roman senator to committing suicide on the battle field. He also had several fundamental character flaws that defined not only his future but it also defined history as we know it today. His illogical thinking allowed him to justify the killing of Caesar; and his kindness allows Mark Antony to live and become a mighty ruler of Rome. Brutus’ finally has a revelation and his eyes are opened once he is defeated on the battle field during The Battle Philippi. Brutus’ participation in the assassination of Caesar defined his life and the lives of those around him; it also affected the way we look at history today. Without his involvement in the conspiracy the Roman Empire would not have been the same. Brutus’ name will forever be affiliated with the death of Caesar.
Moreover, Brutus is considered a tragic hero first because of his numerous character flaws or hubrises. An example is Brutus’s flawed logic. By even deciding to kill Caesar for what he is ‘going’ to do, yet not by what he has done, Brutus sets himself up for failure. “‘And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, and kill him in shell’”(911). Brutus’s reasoning for murdering Caesar in such cold blood is because he is afraid of what he could do or what he could become. However, this is clearly faulty logic, fo...
The play Julius Caesar depicts Brutus to be an extremely noble being who is well respected and honored by all Romans, even his enemies. Brutus was a loving friend of Julius Caesar and wished anything but death on his comrade, but his love and dedication to the majestic city of Rome would force him to commit anything. He fights a war to defend Rome from a king or emperor's tyrannical rule. When the war was finished, even his enemies saw that he was the most respectable Roman of them all.
Brutus's fatal flaw is his trustworthy nature. He joins the conspiracy not because he "loved Caesar less but loved Rome more." ( ) Brutus joins the conspiracy under the impression that he is preventing Caesar's tyranny and saving the people of Rome. He also trusts the motives of the other conspirators. In entering the conspiracy he is also responsible for the death of Caesar and the movement of the plot. The civil war is a direct result of Caesar's assassination and eventually Brutus's own death. Brutus's fall is definitely caused by his trustworthy nature.
Brutus commits three costly mistakes during the play. The first mistake that he makes is that he participates in the assassination of Julius Caesar. “People, and senators, be not affrighted. /Fly not; stand still; ambition’s debt is paid”(938). In doing this, Brutus does just the opposite of what he set out to do which is to protect Rome from the ambition of humans. This action also perpetually gives him the name of a traitor. The second and most important mistake that Brutus makes is that he allows Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral. “And you shall speak in the same pulpit whereto I am going /After my speech is ended”(945). Not only does Brutus allow Mark Antony to speak after Cassius tells him not to let him have such a right, but he gives him the better time to do it as well. Speaking second is more strategic than first because of the fact that the man or woman that speaks second is delivering the speech that the audience will remember. The citizens most likely will not remember Brutus’s meager speech that is soon disregarded after Antony begins to speak. This act of arrogance is actually the backbone to the downfall of Brutus. The third mistake that Brutus makes is tha...
Brutus had a strong relationship with Caesar but a stronger relationship with Rome and its people. I think during Roman times, the only way for someone to get close to a person of high rank is if he/she is a close friend or relative to him/her. Brutus loved Caesar but feared his power and ambition. In the early acts of the play, Brutus says to Cassius, "If it aught toward the general good, set honor in one eye and death in the other, and I will look on both indifferently…,,"(act 1, scene 2, ll.85-89), as he is speaking to Cassius. "He then unto the ladder turns his back..."(act 2, scene 1, line 25). As the quote says, Brutus would not allow Caesar to rise to power and then turn his back on the people of Rome. This is the only reason Brutus would conspire against Caesar. Brutus says to himself, "I know no personal cause to spurn at him...How that might change his nature..."(act 2, scene 1, and ll.11-13)