Julius Caesar Tragic Hero Essay

Taylor Chance

Mrs. Voshell

Honors English 10

12 May 2017

Shakespeare’s Tragic Hero The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a play written by William Shakespeare, is the story of honor, sacrifice, and brotherly love between two characters. Brutus is established as a tragic hero in Shakespeare’s play. However, he does not claim a spot in the title of this tragedy. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, we follow a series of characters who have a conflict with Julius Caesar, their potential leader. To handle the dilemma they conspire to murder him. After the death of prominent Caesar, conflict arises and the once strong Rome begins to crumble. As known, Marcus Brutus takes the role of our tragic hero. Shakespeare shaped him into a tragic hero using traditional

Does he trust a beloved friend or do what is best for Rome? With the help of conspirators influence, he decides what he must do. After the death of Caesar and during his speech he preaches to the plebeians, “Not/that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (3.2.21-22). On one side, Caesar is a brotherly- or maybe even fatherly- figure to Brutus. He respects Caesar and sees him as an honorable ruler. As he states in the text, “...he was valiant, I honor him...” (3.2.26). Despite the fact that he murdered Caesar, he still truly loved him. But as said before- he loved Rome more. To Brutus, Rome was the first priority and Caesar was said to be too ambitious. In the words of J.L. Simmons, “...Brutus put the good of his country above his friendship with Caesar.” (Simmons, 61). He wanted the best for Rome. The most efficient way to get this accomplished was to murder Caesar. Brutus has an inner turmoil in the play. Before Caesar's death, inside of his orchard, he admits to himself that since the moment Cassius mentioned killing Caesar he has not slept. In his own words, “...I have not slept./Between the acting of a dreadful thing/And the first motion…” (2.1.62-64). Brutus’s turmoil is a step to his realization that he is the only one who killed Caesar for noble

His fate was not pre-determined, he made decisions to get where he was by the end. The first mistake he made was joining the conspirators in the beginning. Brutus believed that Caesar was eventually going to be dangerous, and that they need to stop him now. He claims, “And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg/Which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous,/And kill him in the shell.” (2.1.32-34). He compares Caesar to a serpent's egg. He might not be dangerous now, but once he becomes a ruler he has the capability of being that way. That’s what makes him come to the conclusion that he needs to be killed now. Although, Brutus is the only one of the conspirators to think about Rome's sake and what Caesar could ruin. His next mistake involves sparing Antony along with permitting him to speak at the funeral. Brutus was wrong and didn’t realize what Antony was capable of doing. He believed it would be simple and he could set a list of rules to make sure him and the other conspirators were safe. One author wrote, “By allowing Antony to live and underestimating Antony’s own oratorical abilities and personal ambitions, Brutus fails to achieve his noble goal- the restoration of Rome’s republican system.” (Shalvi, 70). The final choice that he makes is when he marches to Pompey and then does not rest his soldiers. But instead he urges them to fight, despite Cassius’s warnings. He voices to Brutus, “So shall he waste his