Julius Caesar Tragic Hero Essay

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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare reveals a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a major character, usually of noble beginnings, in a play suffers a life-shattering catastrophe. Marcus Brutus is a well known politician and friend to the public. Marcus Brutus is our tragic hero.
Marcus Brutus is a noble character because of his ancestor, Junius Brutus. Junius Brutus during his time, overthrew the monarch family of Tarquins and established the Roman democracy as we know it today. Cassius states “There was a Brutus once that would have brooked the eternal devil to keep his state of Rome as easily as a king” (I. ii. 160-163). Marcus Brutus suffers a catastrophe because of his honorable reasons for killing Caesar. He thought he was killing Caesar because Caesar was about to become a tyrant of Rome and start a monarchy again, but really, he was manipulated by the other conspirators because they were doing it …show more content…

Marcus Brutus is a complex character because he has a battle within himself on whether he should kill Julius Caesar or let him live. He was considering killing Caesar because Caesar was becoming too powerful for the democracy, if Caesar would live, he has the potential of become a tyrant and abusing his power, getting rid of democracy and starting another monarchy. Marcus Brutus explains “The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.” (II. i. 18-19) He wanted to let Caesar live because he somewhat believes that Caesar being a king wouldn’t change him, Brutus conveys his thoughts “For the general. He would be crowned. How that might change his nature, there’s the question” (II. i. 12-14). This is the moral complexity that William Shakespeare is well known for, he also does it best through Brutus’s soliloquy in his orchard right before some of the conspirators visit him, “Shall Rome stand under one man’s awe?” (II. i.

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