Brutus is the Tragic Hero of Julius Caesar Essay

In Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar defeats Pompey, the previous ruler of the Romans, and takes control of Rome. Many people object to it, including the conspirators who assassinate him. Marc Antony, an ally of Caesar, speaks at his funeral and turns the citizens of Rome against the conspirators which ultimately leads to the death of the majority of the assassins, including their unspoken leader, Brutus. A truly insightful glance is offered into the character Brutus in Act II, scene i, lines 120-146. At this point in the tragedy, conspirators led by Brutus are plotting the death of the tyrant of Rome, Julius Caesar, and moving on to the final stages of their planning stage, preparing

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.

    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.

Brutus’ downfall begins when the group of conspirators finally kills Julius Caesar at the Roman Senate. Chaos ensues, and the group knows that something disastrous shall occur soon. “Fates, we will know your pleasures:/ That we shall die, we know; ‘tis but the time,/ And drawing days out, that men stand upon” (939). His fall continues after he learns of the death of his beloved and loyal wife Portia. “O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs…/No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead” (972). These events have caused the noble character of Brutus to become internally distraught and turbulent, but his outside guise shows little hint of this. Finally, he dies in the final battle between the liberation forces and the Roman army. “I prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord:/ Thou art a fellow of a good respect;/ Thy life hath some smatch of honour in it:/ Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face,/ While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato?/… Farewell,

Brutus’ tragic flaw is his honor, poor judgement and his idealism. The conspirators wrote him fake letters to get him to join them. They made it seem good that they were killing Caesar. For his second flaw, which is first taken advantage of by Antony, when he talked Brutus into letting him speak at Caesar’s funeral. His second example of poor judgement is thinking Antony could cause no harm to the conspirators or their plan. His last example of poor judgement was attacking Antony and Octavius at Philippi. His idealism leads him to believe what everybody tells him, he believes Antony and Cassius. Cassius makes him believe they are killing Caesar for the betterment of Rome. Everybody took advantage of Brutus’ flaws except Caesar.

In the play Julius Caesar, the tragedy of the play was directed mainly at one specific character, Marcus Brutus. Brutus was the tragic hero of the play, because of his idealistic and pragmatic qualities. The mindset that Brutus possessed only allowed him to see the world and its people from one point of view. This point of view allowed him to make judgments that assumed only the best of people. This tragic weakness resulted in many errors throughout the play. The major incidences such as decisions made during the orchard soliloquy, the discussion with Cassius and the conspirators regarding decisions about Antony and the oath, his speech to the commoners after Caesar's

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.

Brutus was a man of noble birth. He had multiple servants and was often referred to as “Lord”, which indicates a certain level of respect for him. He was a very highly thought of

In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two potential protagonists are presented to the audience. Both Brutus and Caesar have been mentioned as possible protagonists, but there can only be one protagonist. But who is the real protagonist? Although there is proof to back up Caesar, Brutus has more proof and solid proof. Therefore, Brutus should be named protagonist of the story.

However it took a quick turn for the worse. “Et tu, Brute?(IIIi)” Caesar’s last words before his death. Brutus turned against his best friend. The killing of Caesar then led to the battle of Antony and Octavius vs. Brutus and Cassius. The battle took a toll on everyone in the country. Brutus would eventually lose his wife during the battle due to his lack of not being there and Antony killing the senators. “ No man bears sorrow better, Portia is dead. ( IViv)” Due to Portia’s death Brutus can not think straight. This is shown throughout the play, he keeps choosing the wrong battles. His making of wrong choices has then led to his final greatest loss, his life. “ I killed not thee with half as good a will.(Vv)” Brutus taking his own life ended the war. Which makes him a tragic hero.

First of all, he is a well-known leader. He is a senator which makes him an important politician. Brutus is also a prized orator, which is seen when he gives his speech to the people after he assassinated Caesar, and the crowd swings in his favor. He is also a noble citizen. Born of a noble family, he is thought of very highly by the people of Rome and his fellow conspirators. When Cassius says, “‘Brutus’ and ‘Caesar’- what should be in that ‘Caesar’... yours is a fair name,” (I.ii.143-147), it indicates that Brutus is held in the same esteem as Caesar is. Brutus also has a rapid ascent to power and glory. Although he was prominent before, his rapid rise occurs when he kills

Marcus Brutus exemplifies prominence, a characteristic of being a tragic hero, by being a highly respected leader in Roman society. He is highly regarded in society because of his long line ancestors. His ancestors were one of the first citizens of Rome. He is married to Portia, who is the daughter of a politician named Cato the Younger. Brutus is the best orator in ancient Rome. He is well regarded by all in the Roman society. Marcus Brutus to be considered to be an honorable and noble man who displays great leadership. Antony remarks, “This was the noblest Roman of them all.” (V.v.68) He is a close friend to Caesar who is envious of his power. Caesar is a Roman dictator and all the common people of Rome love him, but Brutus receives some

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.

A tragic hero tends to make detrimental choices and Brutus does not shy away from this trait. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through an error of judgment.” (Tragic Hero). Throughout Brutus’s life and the tragedy, Julius Caesar, this is increasingly evident. In Act 2 of Julius Caesar, Brutus decides that killing Caesar is the only way to keep Rome from being destroyed by Caesar. He says, “It must be by his death; and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general. He would be crowned. How that might change his nature, there the question.” (II.i10-13). In this quote, Brutus is fearful of what power would do to him and this is how Brutus decides to be part of Julius’s assassination. This is the point that strikes the fear in the audience because if Julius Caesar's best friend is willing to murder him, then the conspirators won’t have anything stopping them from following through with the assassination. This mistake of killing Caesar is what would eventually lead to Brutus’s suicide. Brutus killing Caesar continued to lead him to more decisions including a conflict that followed almost immediately after the murder. The next conflict he would have to face is what molded him into a tragic hero. The error in judgment was Brutus’s decision to allow Antony to live. Being that Antony was subservient to Caesar, this should’ve been clear and obvious that he should