Julius Caesar Flaws

Julius Caesar Final Essay

With all power, comes great responsibility. But no man can ever live a perfect life, without being at fault sometime. The mistakes and flaws of our lives are what make us human, and respectfully similar. Yet, in some cases these flaws may become more serious especially when given much power. By definition, the idea of “a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” (Bainbridge Island School 1), is called a tragic hero. All writings by Shakespeare include this type of “hero”, with the characteristics also, of being respected, and of high stature. But since the existence of one of his pieces, the idea of who is truly the tragic hero of the play has been debated. Titled,

From birth, Brutus falls under this category and has a close friendship with Caesar as is known to be “honorable” by the people. From the early stages of the play the reader can see that his future conspirators and friends all believe that he is right-minded. Cassius who later persuades Brutus to lead the conspiracy against Julius Caesar, does so because he believes he is honorable. Cassius states to Brutus: “Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that “Caesar”? Why should that name be sounded more than yours? Write them together, yours is as fair a name; Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well; Weigh them, it is heavy; conjure with ‘em, “Brutus” will start a spirit as soon as “Caesar.” (Act I. Scene II. Page 6). In his conversation with Brutus, Cassius praises him and his name as being no less superior than Caesar himself. He believes Brutus should be held to the same powerful standards as the beloved dictator, and Brutus should realize this as well. Cassius may need Brutus to gain this self-confidence, but also personally believes in his partner and friend, along with what he can bring to Rome. Many important people, including Caesar and Cassius consider Marcus Brutus to be “honorable”, and from birth he is of high stature, which is the first stage of being considered the tragic

Displaying all aspects so far of a tragic hero, the final example is the end of the character himself due to his flaw. After both the killing of Caesar and also the speech by Mark Antony, both events perpetrated and influenced by Brutus, Rome goes into a bloody civil war as the people uprise with anger. Both Brutus and Cassius go into hiding at the end of Scene IV but when faced with the decision to go to war with Mark Antony they do. But in the end when his troops are defeated, and after seeing the Ghost of Caesar in his sleep, Brutus decided to kill himself saying, “The ghost of Caesar hath appear’d to me...I know my hour is come...Even for that our love of old I prithee, Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it” (Act V. Scene V. Page 79.). Filled with personal guilt for sending Rome into civil war, Brutus’s fatal flaws lead to the killing of himself, and provide the final evidence of Marcus Brutus being the tragic hero of the