Honor : A Tragic Hero

In 1599 Shakespeare wrote the play Julius Caesar. The main character of the play Brutus as he represents a tragic hero. being a tragic hero means. He is above us but human And he falls from a high place, He struggles against his own fate, he is guilty of a fatal flaw (honor), he has an epiphany, and by the end of the play, he is dead

In tragedy plays, there is always a tragic hero who has a tragic flaw in his personality may it be excessive pride, poor judgement, or both which eventually leads to the hero’s downfall where the hero can perform no action to prevent it. In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Marcus Brutus is the tragic hero of the play due to his tragic flaw which is his naïve and over-trusting personality, which he eventually realizes too late and performs an action to prevent his loss of dignity.

In act 2, scene 1, Brutus is finally introduced to the group of conspirators; in this act we notice the first mistake Brutus makes. "Alas good Cassius do not think of him. If he loves Caesar, all that he can is to himself, take thought, and die for Caesar. And that were much he should, for he is given to sports, to wilderness, and much company." Brutus believes he has only to explain his reasons for killing Caesar and everyone will accept them.

He wrote letters under different peoples’ names and threw them into Brutus’s window to try to convince him to work with the conspirators. Once Brutus was convinced, he and a few other conspirators started their plans to kill Caesar in hopes of saving Rome. One of the only reasons these men hate Caesar was because he was offered the crown of Rome three times and denied it every time it was offered to him. Throughout the beginning of the play, one of Brutus’s faults was shown. Brutus was easily manipulated by others which could’ve lead him to do bad things.

In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, Marcus Brutus is proven to be the most noble tragic hero there is. A tragic hero is someone who is born of noble birth and who suffers a catastrophe, which definitely defines Brutus. “Caesar you can rest now. I didn’t kill you half as willingly” (Shakespeare 5.5.56-57) is one of the most important quotes said by Brutus to end the tragedy of the play.

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.

To begin with, Brutus is too trusting of those around him. Brutus’s friend Cassius recognizes that Brutus is driven by what is best for Rome. Because of this Cassius devises a plan to plant a fake petition from the people of Rome stating that Caesar needs to be executed. Brutus never even questions that the petition is real. After reading the petition Brutus’ response is:

In a tragedy, the tragic hero always has a downfall and sense of enlightenment by the end. Brutus’s downfall is horrid enough that it has made it this far in history. It is a fall that people will always study and remember. Brutus starts out as a popular man, a friend of Caesar. People think very highly of him, he has a strong relationship with his wife, and he lives in Rome, which he loves deeply. After murdering Caesar, Brutus has the nerve to speak at his funeral and tell the people of Rome that he had a right to kill him; however, Antony talks sense into citizens in his famous speech. All of Rome soon considers him and his counterparts to be traitors, enough so that they become a murderous mob. “We’ll burn the house of

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:

Brutus is one of the more complex character in Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Shakespeare added a lot of complexity to Brutus through dialogue, monologue, and soliloquy. Shakespeare created opposing desires in Brutus and created both hesitation and doubt. His major back-and-forth conflict is him trying to give himself an honorable reason for killing Caesar. He is manipulated by Cassius and the other conspirators into assassinating Caesar, a life-long friend of Brutus. “The ultimate factor in persuading Brutus to join the conspiracy is his belief, a belief based on the the letters cast in at his window or conspicuously left for him in public places” (Shalvi 71). When Caesar was attacked by the conspirators, it had been Brutus’ blade and betrayal that had finally killed him. During the beginning and the end of the play, Brutus struggled to accept that killing Caesar was not what he wanted to do. In his head, Brutus is content that he killed Caesar for the good of Rome. In a speech to Romans after Caesar’s death he says, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but

This also utilizes Cassius’ sullen behavior to accentuate Brutus’ unbiased and unprejudiced opinions. It supports the idea that Brutus is a fantastic decision maker because it reveals his apathetic nature. In addition to this, an example of the differences in the emotions of Brutus and Cassius is displayed when Brutus attempts to bury the death of Portia in his mind, “Speak no more of her.—Give me a bowl of wine.—/ In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius” (4.3.163-164). This asserts Brutus’ progressive nature because he wishes to move forward from Portia’s death. This sharply contrasts the pessimistic nature of Cassius. It juxtaposes the two to increase Brutus’ credibility as a leader. Likewise, Cassius is displayed as a foil to Brutus when he declares to Brutus what would happen if he was in charge: “Flatterers! Now, Brutus, you have only yourself to thank. / Antony wouldn’t be here to offend us today if you’d listened to me earlier” (5.1.47-49). This represents the violence and hatred inside Cassius’ heart. It contrasts this vengeful personality to Brutus’ forgiving and considerate nature. This portrays Brutus as an even more noble and honorable man because it points out his benevolence and affection for the people of Rome. Cassius and Brutus are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to their motivations and personalities, but they still manage to bring out the best in each other in various

“Honorable” is defined as “in accordance with or characterized by principles of honor”. It then defines “honor” as “honesty, fairness, or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions”. For Brutus to be considered an honorable man he would have to display those qualities throughout the whole play of “Julius Caesar”. Brutus, however, may have acted with honor in the beginning of the play, but he did not continue to throughout the play. Brutus’s willingness to trust people, naiveté, and pride causes Brutus to not display the qualities of an honorable man.

In the beginning of the play, we meet Brutus, a highly respected, much loved, senator of Rome. He loved Rome as a republic and he has a good life until he is led astray by Cassius. When he becomes embroiled in the assassination of Caesar, he is very reluctant to do so. In the way he acted, you could tell he has sleepless nights over what he should do. He decided to kill Caesar for

Brutus possesses many ideals and mannerisms that make him the tragic hero in William Shakespeare’s tragedy. To begin with, Brutus has a deep sense of love for his city, and concerns himself with its well-being. His concern for Rome is actually what causes him to backstab Caesar. He worries that he is too arrogant to be an adequate leader, “I do fear the people/ Choose Caesar for their king.” (Shakespeare I.ii. 85-86). Secondly, Brutus has an undying moral compass that navigates him on his integrity driven choices. Brutus thinks long and hard before he joins the conspirators, and wonders whether or not it is the right choice and questions his choices, “Into what dangers would you lead me…/ That you would have me seek into myself/ For which is not in me?” (Shakespeare I.ii. 69-71). His strong beliefs are what ultimately convince him to join the conspirators, for the good of Rome. Also, Brutus believes in equality and respect. He gives a speech to the public because he feels they deserve to know the reason why Caesar dies, ‘And, waving our red weapons o’er our heads,/ Let’s all cry “Peace, freedom, and liberty!”’. (Shakespeare III.i. 121-122). This heroic quality is one of the things that drives him to be a good leader, and a good person as well. As much as these traits lead us to believe