Essay about Brutus: Tragic Hero in "Julius Caesar"

Clearly, Brutus thinks that by killing Antony alongside Caesar, the conspirators will be seen as butchers. Brutus’s idealism backfires against him as Antony later takes revenge against the conspirators for killing Caesar.

This question ran through Brutus’ mind moments before executing the assassination. What Brutus did is what truly makes him evil, he planned and carried out the act of killing his leader, role model, and great friend. Caesar really loved Brutus and would never have thought of him to act in this way. The effect from Brutus actions, resulted in many feeling betrayed and confused, making Brutus a villain out of nowhere. The line that best represents this is Caesar's last line of the play, “et tu, Brute?” Which translates to, “even you, Brutus?” Caesar was so shocked from his best friend, that he died from a broken heart and not the stab

The play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, entails the rise and fall of Julius Caesar and Brutus, the man plotting against him. At the opening of the play Julius is being celebrated for his victory over Pompey. Later, he is offered kingship; but Caesar refuses the crown. On the ides of March Brutus and some other men come before Caesar to plead a case; except, their only motive is to kill Caesar. Antony, Caesar’s right hand man, pretends to side with the conspirators after Caesar is killed, while he gathers an army to defeat Brutus. Antony and Octavius’ army defeats Brutus’ troops; forcing Brutus and many others to commit suicide. The tragic character, Brutus, is usually the protagonist that has a tragic flaw and this causes his defeat. A tragic flaw is the cause of their downfall, usually an action or belief. Brutus’ tragic flaws are his nobility, trust and the inability to wrong people. Brutus is the tragic character in Julius Caesar because of his nobility and because he does all his deeds for the good of Rome.

Brutus in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar In 'Julius Caesar', Shakespeare intended us to see Brutus as 'noble'. I wish to review his actions, and the motivating factors behind those actions. I intend to prove that Brutus had a strong and well-grounded character. He had good intentions, however, he made one fatal mistake and that was his downfall. When learn that Brutus is dedicated to the public, when Brutus decides Caesar must die, because he fears his ambition, this comes as a big shock to the Shakespearian audience as well as the modern day audience.

Similarly, by not destroying Mark Antony along with Caesar, let alone allowing him to speak in Caesar’s funeral, Brutus engineers his future’s demise. “‘. . . Antony is but a limb of Caesar. Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers . . . let’s kill him boldly, but not wrathfully . . . and for Mark Antony, think not of him; for he can do no more than Caesar’s arm when Caesar’s head is off’”(916). This is an even greater fallacy than the first. Antony’s rage and passion is enough force alone to drive him and the Roman army to kill every last conspirator, gossiper, and senator who was set against his great Caesar. The fiery drive behind Antony was an imminent threat to Brutus and the conspirators, yet because of Brutus’s flawed logic, Antony lived and they died. Another illustration of this is when Brutus makes the decision to allow the silver tongued Antony to speak in Caesar’s funeral. After a weak, unconvincing speech given by Brutus to the public, Antony takes center stage, capturing the hearts, minds, and attention of the people, essentially turning them on their former leader. “‘Oh most bloody sight!’ ‘We will be revenged.’ ‘Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! Let not a traitor live!’”(954). Brutus’s most prominent, fatal flaw is his lack of sound judgment.

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a tale not completely focused on Julius Caesar himself. But is instead focused more on the conspirators that surrounded him. Julius Caesar is unwilling to believe several warnings that could have saved his life, Julius Caesar ends up being murdered after ignoring all of the warnings, everyone has a different view of Julius Caesar. A tragic hero is a character of high standing in society that has a flaw that leads to their downfall and must feel enlightened in the end. Julius Caesar is a tragic hero.

As noble and great as Brutus might be, all tragic heroes have some tragic flaws and make some errors of judgment, which leads them to their downfall. In this case Brutus's great flaw is that he is too honorable, and he's too naïve when he is dealing with people. An example of an error of judgment is when Brutus underestimates Antony, and thinks him incapable of being dangerous after Caesar's death, "For Antony is but a limb of Caesar...he can do no more than Caesar's arm When Caesar's head is off."  This turns out not to be the case. One example of Brutus's excessive honor being damaging to him, is when he decides that only Caesar should die and no one else even if they seem to threaten his cause, as Cassius warns repeatedly that Antony does.

The tragedy “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare should be renamed “Brutus” because Caesar is not the tragic hero. He is only in a small portion of the play and does not possess a major tragic flaw; however Marcus Brutus fits the description of tragic hero much better than Julius Caesar. Typically, tragedies are named after the tragic hero, which Aristotle describes as: a person of noble birth with a tragic flaw that leads to his or her downfall because of that flaw. Brutus exhibits all of these qualities, therefore rightfully naming him a tragic hero.

A tragic hero in Shakespearean literature is understood as a noble and heroic character who makes a series of bad decisions based on his bad judgment that leads to his downfall and eventually death. In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, the tragic hero is Marcus Brutus, a powerful Roman senator who joins a conspiracy to assassinate the Roman ruler, Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus is a tragic hero because of his noble reputation, his moral personality, the cathartic experience that the audience feels from his life and his tragic flaw: idealism.

In Julius Caesar Brutus displays the traits of a tragic hero through out this play. His tragic flaw is his being too naive. He makes an error in judgment, and when this error occurred it causes his own downfall. But Brutus causes his own downfall when after killing Caesar all of Rome turns against the conspirators. And all these events cause his death. However, the factors that have made him a tragic hero are discussed below:

    Shakespeare’s tragedy, Julius Caesar, displays Brutus as a tragic hero, blinded loyalty and devotion. Brutus's heroic belief of honor and virtue was so powerful that it drove him to perform villainous actions and lead to his destruction.

Sakespear's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar holds two possible candidates for a tragic hero, however Brutus fits the persona best. The true definition of a tragic hero, as found by Aristotle, is a character who falls from a high standing to a low standing. They suffer enourmous loss, but are eventually enlightened of their own flaw or flaws. Initially the play begins with Caesar returning to Rome from defeating Pompey. Meanwhile, the first seeds of conspiracy are begining to take root. Although Brutus ignores Cassius's chiding to join the conspirators his tragic flaw of being easily molded and persuaded lead him to fall prey and join. As time progresses Brutus makes many grievous errors, and his flawed logic leads him to become bereft

A hero leaving the world in a fiery blaze and in all of his glory to which his enemies honored him after his valiant battle. Marcus Junius Brutus (June 85 BC - October 23, 42 BC) is the infamous, tragic hero in ancient Rome and in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Brutus was infatuated with Rome, made hazardous decisions, and then his expiration; not only was Brutus the best tragic hero in his time in the Roman era, but rather the best of all time.     Brutus was loyal to Rome. Fortunately for him, he made a very respiting decision by killing his beloved, omnipotent best friend, Julius Caesar, which was quite a convenience to Rome.

The play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, has two main tragic heroes. Set in Rome and spanning from forty- four to forty-two B.C., the play tells of Brutus and Caesar whom both fall from the highest positions to the lowest of misfortune and then are enlightened on their mistakes. Brutus is the stronger example of a tragic hero in this story. Throughout this play, Brutus commits many faults, falls more drastically than all other characters, and regrets his previous actions by the end of the play.

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar was written by William Shakespeare in 1599. Throughout the play, it was all about the death of Julius Caesar and what he had caused for Rome. Caesar was not the only one in the play to change Rome, it was the decisions of others and the events those characters had gone through. Decius Brutus was one of the characters that had helped change the future of Rome. He had to make decisions such as if he should join the conspiracy, kill Caesar, and what was best for Rome. Brutus is considered to be one of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes. A tragic hero is a person, usually of noble birth, that suffers a catastrophe. Shakespeare’s heroes have certain aspects to them, the character has traditional elements, complexity, internal conflict, choices made rather than on fate, and reasons for the action done to solve the problem. Brutus has all of these characteristic to him and there are several reasons to why he is considered one of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes.