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The characterization of brutus in julius caesar
The characterization of brutus in julius caesar
Examining brutus from julius caesar
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A tragic hero is a person who has helped change a friend for their good but dies while in the process or has to kill the person for their good. A tragic hero is a person who has kept a watch on someone then dies or gets hurt while keeping them safe or trying to change them. In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare he uses Brutus as a tragic hero.Brutus is a tragic hero because he does everything for the better of Rome, he doesn’t abuse power, and being friends with Caesar at a young age then killing him. In the whole play Brutus believes that everything has to be for the better of Rome to be a tragic hero. A tragic hero to Brutus is someone that commits their whole life to bettering Rome and their people.
Why do we need a tragic hero in life and what do they do for our life? Do tragic heroes help us succeed in life or drag us back in life? Brutus does everything for the better of Rome. “Cowards die many times before their deaths/ The valiant never taste of death but once”(II .i.). Brutus believes Caesar is a coward and won’t die the first time so Caesar will return for Brutus. Another belief is that Caesar will never taste death because it will happen so quickly. Even if Caesar will return for Brutus he won’t be able to kill Brutus all he can do is make Brutus want to kill himself because he killed his friend for the Roman people.
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Brutus has always helped Caesar; Brutus even saved his life once.
Why would anyone want to kill a friend that has saved their life once? Brutus doesn’t abuse his power over Rome. Brutus believes he is different from Caesar and believes that he won’t abuse power. Brutus has the belief that all that needs done is for the better of Rome and its people. “Crown him? that;/ And then I grant we will he may do danger with”(II.i). Brutus believes if the people of Rome give Caesar power he will abuse it but not Brutus. The people of Rome won’t believe Brutus because they think he is jealous and that if he had power Brutus would abuse power
too. Caesar abused power because he wanted to be the ruler of Rome instead of Brutus even though they had a friendship once. Anyone can be friends at a young age then turn around and kill them. Why would people want to kill their best friend? “To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood/ That will be thaw’d from the true quality”(III.i.). Caesar thinks that he has rebel blood and no one can hurt him. Then Brutus hurts Caesar even after being friends. Brutus believes friends can change and other friends don’t change at the same time so in this case Caesar changed and got to be greedy for power over Rome and Brutus didn’t change with Caesar. Brutus believes that Caesar wants power over Rome because Brutus has always helped Caesar and now Caesar wants to do something without help from Brutus. There is only one true friend for each human being in the world and not everyone finds their true friend in life. People who do find their true friend shouldn’t kill them just because they are abusing and using the country to get powerful. Brutus is the tragic hero because Brutus makes all of his decisions for the better of Rome and Brutus doesn’t abuse power he uses his power for the better of Rome and its people. Brutus was friends with Caesar at a young age and always helped him even saved his life once then saw that Caesar was abusing his power and took matters into his own hands by killing Caesar for the better of Rome. Brutus is a tragic hero even though he wasn’t the first person to die but he died for the better of the Roman people.
The definition of a tragic hero is perceived as on who is neither wicked nor purely innocent, one who “is brave and noble but guilty of the tragic flaw of assuming that honorable ends justify dishonorable means”. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus takes the role of the tragic hero. Brutus’s honor, nobility, and self-righteousness makes him “a tragic figure, if not the hero” (Catherine C. Dominic).
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.
A tragic hero is defined as a person of high social rank, who has a tragic flaw or flaws that lead to their downfall. These heroes’ downfalls are usually either complete ruin or death. Tragic heroes face their downfall with courage and dignity. While many characters in Julius Caesar could fit these conditions, the person who fits the role of a tragic hero the best is Marcus Brutus. Brutus develops into a tragic hero throughout the play, and this is shown though his qualifications of a tragic hero, his high status, his tragic flaws, and his courage in the face of his death.
The tragic hero is one of literatures most used (and sometimes abused) characters. The classical definition of a tragic hero is, “a person with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. The person is doomed by the Gods or some other supernatural force to destruction or suffering. The hero struggles against the fate, but due to a personal flaw, ultimately fails in the battle against fate. It is my personal opinion that Brutus,as he is portrayed in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, is a tragic hero by this definition. I came to this conclusion due to the fact that Brutus shares many similarities with other tragic heroes in literature such as Oedipus, Hamlet, and Ralph from Lord of the Flies. All four characters share the two critical traits that are needed to be tragic heroes: a tragic flaw that eventually leads to a tragic downfall. The tragic hero was defined by Aristotle, yet the “invention” of the tragic hero goes to Sophocles.
In conclusion, Brutus is a tragic hero in this awe-inspiring play because he is burdened with countless character flaws that engender his inevitable awakening, enlightenment, and death. They also lead to his dramatic change from a despicable fiend, to a loved companion of Rome. Through massive loses, and profound change in character, Brutus is transformed into a kingly tragic hero.
There is no such thing as the perfect person. We may dream of such a person, but sadly, everyone has flaws. These flaws are what make us human. Something else that makes us human is our need for heroes. We attribute 'perfect' qualities to our heroes. In reality even our heroes are flawed. The closest thing to the idealized person, or hero, is the Shakespearean tragic hero. The tragic hero is someone of high standing, good character, and a flaw. While it may be only one flaw, it is often fatal. An example of a tragic hero can be best seen in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus is a prominent leader and noble citizen of Rome who leads in the assassination of Julius Caesar. We see that Brutus plays the role of the tragic hero through his noble standing, fatal flaw, and legacy.
In conclusion, Brutus is the tragic hero in this play because of the mistakes that he makes, the fall that he takes, and the regrets that he feels after. Brutus will forever be labeled as a traitor, but in the end he is truly sorry for the mistakes that he makes. Because of this, Brutus is the tragic hero.
Within act 1, I believe Brutus is most likely to be a hero. In the play there are some good examples of Brutus being Heroic.
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.
A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway” (Christopher Reeve). How can a murderer be considered a hero? Throughout the play, Brutus proved to be an impulsive character who often acted before thinking. However, if the audience looks past the outcome of the situation and focuses on what Brutus’ true intentions were, he can be portrayed as a hero. A hero is someone who acts for the good and this is exactly what Brutus did. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus can be considered a hero based on his desire to help Rome despite his mistakes.
In the world today people consider a hero to be someone like Superman or Spider-Man. In the dictionary a hero is considered or defined as a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities. Though a hero is thought to be free of mistakes they all have tragic flaws like everyone else. A tragic flaw is explained by Aristotle’s definition, which says that: a tragic hero as a character of great reputation and prosperity whose misfortune is not due to depravity or vice, for the hero is a virtuous man or woman but to an error in judgment resulting from a tragic flaw. Sometimes this flaw is an excess of virtue. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare people are arguing over who is the perfect tragic hero Julius Caesar or Marcus Brutus. They both fit the criteria of a tragic hero, but Marcus Brutus proves to be the better and more fit of the two.
In Julius Caesar, Brutus displays the traits of a tragic hero throughout this play, but is a good person but makes an error in judgment, and when this error occurs it causes his own downfall. First off is that Brutus makes an error in judgment by joining the conspiracy to overthrow Caesar. But the only reason that Brutus had joined was because his tragic flaw was honor; he lived his life on the guidelines of honor and loyalty. Now lastly Brutus had caused his very own downfall when after killing Caesar all of Rome has now turned against the conspirators. Those are some of the reasons that Brutus is a tragic hero.
Julius Caesar is a play written by William Shakespeare. The play tells the tragedy of Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar was one of the greatest leader of Roman history. Caesar had many victorious moments in history and continued to grow more and more powerful. When he had started to govern Rome hatred by some people had grew. He had liberally gave many a spot to hold an important position. Even though he helped the nobility, they had betrayed him. They secretly were planning a way to cause Caesar’s death. Then plan was portrayed by Cassius and he had convinced Brutus to join along with his plan also. On March 15th they had circled around Caesar and stabbed him numerous of times thus, Caesar had fallen to the ground by his last stab by Brutus. Throughout the entire play Caesar and Brutus are notably different. Caesar is very egoistic, while Brutus is very considerate and is mannerly to others. Caesar is an extrovert, while Brutus is an introvert. Caesar is ambitious and Brutus is not ambitious.