Julius Caesar Tragic Hero Flaws

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What Makes a Tragic Hero? Have you ever wondered what makes a tragic hero? A tragic hero is someone that has been extremely successful, but has only a few flaws that outweigh the positive characteristics and ultimately lead to this person's downfall. A tragic hero may appear very well – almost perfect – to the audience, but when one important moment comes, they fail. These flaws could range from greedy things like being overly ambitious all the way to humble things like trying to be too honorable. When reading Shakespeare’s historical drama “The tragedy of Julius Caesar”, one will find a few different characters who can be identified as tragic heroes. The most obvious two are Julius Caesar and Brutus; however, another one can be found with closer …show more content…

Caesar was extremely ambitious and power hungry, and he really wanted to be crowned king. “Oh, how I wish we could oppose Caesars spirit - his overblown ambition - and not hack up Caesar himself, alas Caesar must bleed” - Brutus, (II,i, 176-178). It is this ambition that causes distrust among many people. When Caesar is offered the crown three times, he refuses only so that the people will trust in him more. Eventually, a few men notice how powerful Caesar has become and worry if Caesar will ever be able to stop. These men plot together and make a plan to kill Caesar. Many people warn Caesar and there are many bad signs, still Caesar remains too ignorant to believe them. “He is a dreamer, let’s leave him, pass” (I, ii, 26), he replied to a soothsayer who warned him about his coming death. Caesar's ignorance leads to his eventual murder. After he is killed, Caesar becomes a ghost that visits Brutus in act 4. In act 5, Caesar gets the last laugh when he causes the suicides of both Brutus and Cassius. Marcus Brutus is another character that comes to mind when you hear tragic hero, and he probably fits this description the

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