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Brutus is the tragic hero
Discuss the character of Brutus as depicted in the play of Julius Caesar
Brutus is a tragic hero
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All of humanity exhibits flaws that can not be avoided, despite race, religion, or ethnicity. Flaws are something that is observed predominantly in humans, and often reflected in work made by humans, specifically literature. There exists a more grievous type of classical literature that contains realistic heroes with flaws called tragedies. Heroes in these tragic stories fight for the common good like normal heroes, but they usually exhibit one destructive flaw that eventually leads the character to his or her catastrophic downfall, and eventually to their fateful and tragic death. Brutus in the The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is no exception, and is undeniably presented as the main focus and the tragic hero of the play. Brutus plays the part …show more content…
of tragic hero through his noble and honorable personality, his tragic flaw, and through his demise. Although William Shakespeare’s play is titled The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the real tragedy lies within the character of Brutus who most distinctly displays the qualities of a tragic hero throughout the course of the play. Brutus repeatedly exhibits one of the most distinctive qualities of a tragic hero, nobility. Throughout the course of the play, Brutus never deceives anyone and fights for the prosperity of his country, even if it meant killing one of his closest friends. The sole reason for Brutus joining the conspirators was due to Cassius’ persuasion which stirs Brutus to believe that Rome was going to deteriorate under Caesar’s rule. Unlike the other conspirators who kill Caesar from being envious of his position, Brutus kills Caesar because he truly believes that Caesar was bad for Rome. This is most apparent when Brutus delivers his speech in front of the plebeians during Caesar’s funeral. “As I slew my best lover for the good of Rome,/ I have the same dagger for myself when it shall please/ my country to need my death” (III, ii, 44-47). Brutus conveys to the crowd that Caesar was one of his best friends, and he killed him for the prosperity of Rome and is ready to kill himself if Rome suffers because of him. Brutus makes it very evident that he exhibits the most noble character in the play through his speech because he was not hatred or bitter towards Caesar, but rather was more expressive about his love for Rome. Despite Brutus’ noble personality, his prominent tragic flaw of trusting people too easily dominates his rationale and logic while making imperative decisions.
When Cassius persuades Brutus to join the conspirators to kill Caesar, Brutus honestly believes that by joining the conspirators, he will prevent the citizens of Rome from tyranny.“Not that I loved Caesar less but that I loved Rome more”(III, ii, 21-22). Brutus never questions Cassius’ accusations of Caesar, and Brutus misjudges Cassius and looks past the true devious intentions of the lead conspirator. Because of Brutus’ faith and trust in Cassius, he kills Caesar and becomes overwhelmed with the guilt of the murder. This guilt and dishonor leads Brutus to his downfall, and Brutus kills himself. This same trait is also observed when Brutus interacts with Antony before the funeral. Brutus allows Antony to speak at the funeral simply because of Antony vowing to not say anything against the conspirators while speaking in front of the crowd. Brutus oversees the obvious risks that come with allowing Antony to speak in front of the plebeians, and seems blind to the manipulative and deceiving brain of Antony. At the funeral, Antony does the exact opposite of what he promised he would do and speaks against the conspirators and successfully turns the Romans against Brutus and his group. Because of Brutus’ trusting nature towards Antony, a war breaks out between the conspirators and Antony and his soldiers, an event that could have been easily prevented if Brutus did not possess such a trustworthy nature. Brutus’ tragic flaw of trustworthiness in Cassius and Antony leads to his downfall and eventually his
death. Brutus’ demise portrays a tragedy; his death leads to an increase in self awareness and Brutus and the audience gain knowledge. At the end of the play, Brutus finally fully realizes that he did not kill Caesar for the right reasons even though he initially thought he did, and that he was falsely persuaded by Cassius. “Caesar…/ I killed not thee with half so good a will” (V, V, 50-51). The guilt that’s been eating up Brutus since the day Caesar was murdered finally explodes inside of him, and Brutus comprehends what he has done. Brutus gains self awareness and knowledge before his death, and comes to the conclusion of killing himself, thinking that it would be more honorable to be dead than be captured by his enemy and be dragged through the streets of Rome. Antony finds Brutus, and declares his true feelings for Brutus, proclaiming that, “This was the noblest Roman of them all./ All the conspirators save only he / Did that they did in envy of great Caesar; /He, only in general honest thought / And common good to all, made one of them./ His life was gentle, and the elements / So mixed in him that Nature might stand up / And say to all the world, “This was a man!” (V, V, 68-75). This last dialogue from Antony ties up the play and confirms to the readers that Brutus left a legacy behind, and delivers the catharsis. Despite Brutus’ flaw and loss in the war, the lesson that the audience learns through Brutus’ demise, and the emotional release at the end of the play, signifies Brutus as a tragic hero. Through Brutus’ characteristics, the readers learn that Brutus stands as the tragic hero in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Even the most perfect hero-figures have flaws, and Brutus precisely depicts his tragic flaws despite the large amount of the many positive attributes that he exhibits. Through his flaw, the audience discovers the weaknesses of tragic heroes, and through Brutus’ death he delivers a note worthy legacy of nobility, one of the most honorable legacies in literature. Brutus unmistakably displays all of the qualities and aspects of a tragic hero, and is definitely the main focus of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare.
Brutus put his trust in Antony to not turn on him at the funeral. He was lead to believe that Antony would only speak good of the conspirators and defend them for the actions they have made. He trusted Antony when he told him he would not express such hate and talk of the bad they did and then later turned against them for the vengeance of Caesar. Brutus told Antony, “You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, But speak all good you can devise of Caesar” (III.i.245-246). He told him that the only way he is going to be able to speak at Caesar’s funeral is if he speaks good of the conspirators. After Antony said his speech, the whole crowd immediately switched and sided with him against them. They wanted nothing more than for Brutus, Cassius and the other contributors to be dead. This reveals that Brutus is shameful for putting his trust in someone who was so close to Caesar. Brutus trusted that Antony wouldn't do anything and just imagined he would be to scared to step up and speak out. This leads to Brutus losing the trust he had for Antony and starting a war between the people and the conspirators. As the war was about to proceed, they all prepped for what was about to happen. Antony and his army completely dominated Brutus’ and lead to many of them fleeing for their lives. Many people died by genocide while other committed suicide. Brutus was among the ones of suicide. He no longer wanted to be alive and felt that he had lived and fulfill what he had wanted. People were dead and he knew he was going to be one of them. Brutus’ last words were, “Caesar, now be still; I killed not thee with half so good a will” (V.v.50-51). He wanted Caesar to know that he can now be at rest because the vengeance he was looking for has been given. Because of all the trust he put in the people that were taking advantage of him, he ended up finishing his life. This reveals that Brutus really did
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
Throughout most of the play Brutus is constantly internally conflicted. Does he do what he believes is best for Rome or stay loyal to his friend and leader? Should he assist in the murder of one person to benefit many? Although killing Caesar was in the end a bad choice, Brutus always tries to do what is best for Rome and for the people. However even though all of Brutus’ motives are good he still has the tragic flaw of pride, which ultimately leads to his downfall. The reason that Brutus gets caught up in the conspiracy is because Cassias appeals to his pride and flatters him with forged letters from the Roman people saying he is a greater leader then Caesar.
Brutus is considered an honorable man by all those who live in Rome. He is a close friend of Caesar, husband of Portia, and is also a Senator. Brutus is drawn into killing Caesar by Cassius, who was jealous of Caesar's degree of power. Brutus was pulled into the scheme by letters brought to his house by Decius to make him think that the people of Rome wanted him to replace Caesar. Brutus also feels that Caesar is being given too much power and will destroy Rome's democracy. Brutus' reason for killing Caesar is to benefit Rome, he proves this when he states"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." After losing to Mark Antony and Octavious, Brutus runs onto his own sword. He sticks to his beliefs, not altering them for others.
Brutus’ leadership and compassion for others make him a popular figure amongst the Roman people, and it is his reputation that establishes him as an influential individual. For example, despite the fact that Brutus loves Caesar like a brother, he warily joins the conspiracy to assassinate him. He does this because he believes that Caesar’s ambition would become tyranny and that Caesar’s death is a necessary evil in order to preserve the liberties of the Roman people. In his own words Brutus claims, “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, Page 1116). In addition, Brutus takes the reins of authority from Cassius and becomes the leader of the conspiracy. He gains this prerogative because of his convincing tongue and powerful influence. His leadership is evidenced when he begins to challenge Cassius’ ideas. When Cassius asks the conspirators to “swear our resolution”(Act 2...
Brutus has a naive view of the world. He is unable to see through the roles being played by Cassius, Casca, and Antony. He does not even recognize the fake letters were sent from Cassius. Then Brutus says,“You shall not blame us Antony, in your funeral speech, but speak all the good you can of Caesar.
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).
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
In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, I saw two main characters as tragic heroes. First, I saw Julius Caesar as a tragic hero because his will to gain power was so strong that he ended up losing his life for it. The fact that he could have been such a strong leader was destroyed when he was killed by conspirators. I saw Marcus Brutus as a second tragic hero in this play. Brutus was such a noble character that did not deserve to die. The main reason why he did die, however, was because he had led a conspiracy against Caesar and eventually killed him. These two characters were the tragic heroes of the play in my opinion.
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).
Brutus also frequently demonstrated many acts of affection toward others. In Act 1, Scene 2, he is reluctant to join Cassius's conspiracy because he did not want to betray Caesar. He had to weigh his choices and in Act 3, Scene 2, Brutus kills Caesar only because he is afraid of what will happen to Rome if Caesar remains ruler. He knew the commoners life would be difficult with the ruling of Caesar. He realizes what a honorable man Caesar was. This is shown again in the same Act and Scene when Brutus allows Mark Antony to speak at Caesar's funeral even though Cassius highly disagreed. Brutus realized Caesar deserved an proper ceremony, and that the best way to do that would be to let Caesar's best friend speak.
(transition), Cassius uses a fair amount of trickery in order to recruit Brutus for his conspiracy. Many of the conspirators voice their desire to have Brutus on their side during the conspiracy. Casca states the benefits of working with Brutus by saying, “Oh, he sits high in all the people’s hearts, / And that which would appear offense in us, / His countenance, like richest alchemy, / Will change to virtue and to worthiness” (I,iii,159-162). The senators believe that anything they do to Caesar will look bad in the eyes of the people, but Brutus, whom the plebeians love, will make their actions appear honorable. In order to achieve this, Cassius creates a plan in order to prod Brutus in favor of the assassination:
Brutus’ tragic flaw was his perception that all men were identical to him in their motives. This factored allowed his decisions to be easily influenced by others whose motives were devious. Cassius was able to convince Brutus to join the conspiracy because Brutus thought the only reason behind the conspiracy was to prevent one man from becoming “Rex.” He allowed Antony’s speech to occur because he was sure that Antony was motivated by the same “honor” which motivated himself.
In tragedy plays, there is a character who suffers from a tragic flaw in his or her personality may it be excessive pride, poor judgement, or both which eventually leads to the hero’s downfall and makes the character the tragic hero. In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Marcus Brutus is the tragic hero of the play due to his tragic flaw which is his naïve and over-trusting personality, which he eventually realizes too late but still aims to prevent his loss of dignity.
Brutus was one of many Romans with noble bloodlines. Although Brutus was noble, he never used it to get ahead. There are many times when Brutus could have used the fact that he is truly noble but he didn’t. Many people argue that a noble man wouldn’t have killed Caesar. In some ways that is true, but Brutus’ case was different. A noble man would only for the good of others and that is what Brutus did. He killed Caesar because 7he was afraid of how powerful he could become. Even then he had a hard time doing it, and that is what separates Brutus from the other conspirators. Every other conspirator had little or no reason to kill Caesar. Brutus was willing to do anything for Rome. During his speech about Caesar’s murder Brutus stated “I have the same dagger for myself when it shall please my country to need my death” (III.ii.45-46). This shows how Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III.ii.20-22). He was too passionate about his country to let Caesar turn it into a dictatorship. Mark Antony and Octavius recognized that Brutus was the one noble roman. In his final speech mark Antony said “This was the noblest roman of them all. / All the conspirators save only he/ Did that they did i...