Examples Of Brutus As A Tragic Hero

In Roman history, some elite men held certain values that they felt strong enough to take their life in order to defend it. In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, there are certain characters portrayed to show how a person’s values or ideas can change their behavior and influence some significant decisions. The protagonist of the play, Marcus Brutus, supports this thought by having an idealistic view on the world and by showing his patriotism toward Rome. In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Shakespeare uses Brutus as an honorable, idealistic man in order to show the depth that a high-class Roman man will go through in order to defend his honor.

William Shakespeare illustrates Brutus to have outstanding morals but also displays Brutus’s naive and over-trusting personality which becomes his tragic flaw. For example, when Brutus suffers from an internal conflict on deciding if Caesar should be emperor or not, Cassius takes advantage of his confusion and naïve personality to act as the “glass [that] will modestly discover [Brutus] ... / [t]hat ... [shows Brutus’s appearance] which … [he] yet know not of ” (1.2. 68-70) and then says, “‘Brutus,’ and ‘Caesar’: what should be in that ‘Caesar’? / Why should that name be sounded more than yours[, Brutus]” (1.2.142-43). From this conversation, Brutus is shown to allow his naïve and over-trusting personality overcome him. As a result, Brutus follows his close allies in the path considered to be the most noble. Moreover, this characteristic of Brutus makes him weak enough to eventually trust the conspirator, Cassius, to take down Caesar, his own brother. This eventually leads to Brutus’s downfall

Brutus wanting to be very honorable is part of his tragic flaw. He will do crazy stuff just be honorable. While talking with Cassius about why he is not himself, Brutus said “For it let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor than I fear the name of death” (I.II. 91-92). This quote shows that being honorable is a very big thing for Brutus since he would rather die with honor than die without honor. After talking with Lucius Brutus says, “It must be by his death, and for my part I know no personal cause to spurn at him but

Moreover, Brutus is a high-powered man who holds great prestige before all Romans because of his nobility.

Cassius contrasts Brutus by being power hungry. It shows just how trustworthy Brutus is. The text states, “You yourself are much condemned to have an itching palm to sell and mart your offices for gold to under servers.” This shows how Cassius was taking bribes. The text also states, “That struck the foremost man of all this world but for supporting robbers.” This shows how Brutus is upset with Cassius taking bribes.

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

Brutus is an important character in the play ‘Julius Caesar’ as he is portrayed as a tragic hero where he possessed heroic traits such as being noble and honourable that earn the sympathy of the audience. However, he also has flaws and made many mistakes and hamartias that ultimately lead to his downfall.

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 Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the title leads the mind to believe that Caesar is the tragic hero; however, this is not the case. The noble Brutus is a much more accurate fit for the role of tragic hero. A tragic hero is a character with a tragic flaw that goes from good fortune to complete misfortune in a fairly quick downfall. Although some may argue that Caesar fits this depiction, Brutus is a better choice. He goes from the top of the social standings to international scumbag when he joins the conspirators and murders Caesar, his friend. After allowing Antony to speak in Caesar’s funeral, the entire country turns against him and he is forced to flee Rome. His downfall is so incredibly terrible that he is

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:

Yet Brutus fails to notice the facts. Caesar had, in fact, not been crowned, refusing it thrice. Brutus did not wait to see if Caesar would be crowned and become a ruthless tyrant. He plunged ahead in his crusade. Brutus agreed to the conspiracy and elected himself as leader. He became "willful and arrogant, resembling the tyrant he kills and growing more like him as the play unfolds." (Boyce, Charles. 1990, Pg. #78) In the process of endeavoring to stop oppressive rule, he hypocritically developed those same qualities that he despised in Caesar. "Shakespeare's tragic heroes will be men of rank, and the calamities that befall them will be unusual and exceptional disastrous in themselves. The hero falls expectedly from a high place, a place of glory, or honor, or joy, and as a consequence, we feel that kind of awe, at the depths to which is he suddenly plunged. Thus, the catastrophe will be of monumental proportions." (http://student.cscc.edu/ENGL/ENGL264/traglex.htm. 11-29-99.)

As a “speculative man of high motives and refined sensibility”(Catherine C. Dominic) Brutus does have his confusion of motives. Act I, scene ii, is the first we see his weakness, “his concern with reputation and appearance, his subtle vanity and pride”(Gayle Green). Yet the main bases of Brutus’s bewilderment of motives takes place in Act II, scene I, with his famous soliloquy beginning with “It must be by his death”. This speech may be the turning point in which Brutus feels better about the assassination of his once

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 honor that Brutus gains through performing deeds without thinking of his own gain is solidified at the end of the play around the event of Brutus’s death.  At the beginning of act five, scene five, Brutus tells his servants that he believes his time living has come to an end, and he needs their help to kill him. One after another, Brutus’s servants tell him no. They respond to his request saying,  “I’d rather kill myself… That’s not an office for a friend, my lord”

In the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare incorporates an unexpected tragic hero. Unlike what the name of the play suggests, it is not Julius Caesar, but the man who betrayed him, Marcus Brutu. Shakespeare fits him to be the perfect model of a tragic hero based on the traditional Greek definition of a tragic hero. The definition say that a tragic hero is a person, usually of noble birth, who suffers a catastrophe. Shakespeare shapes Brutus to fit this mold of a traditional definition of a tragic hero but adds his own elements to make it his own.