A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. There are many characteristics of a tragic hero that help decide whether a character can be considered one. In Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, one of the main character’s, Brutus, can be considered a tragic hero. In the play he has a major fatal flaw, he is easily manipulated. This fatal flaw leads to a serious error in judgement, and eventually his downfall. When Brutus is faced with death he takes control and accepts the fact honorably. Three of the main characteristics of Brutus that make him a tragic hero are that he was doomed to make a serious error in judgement, he was responsible for his own fate, and he faced and accepted death with honor. …show more content…
One of the biggest errors in judgement being allowing Antony to speak last after the conspiracy kills Caesar. Brutus believes it will make him look good and work in his favor, but it winds up backfiring and Antony sways the crowd to his side which ultimately makes Brutus and Cassius lose the war. Brutus states to Antony, “...And shall speak/ in the same pulpit whereto I am going,/ After my speech is ended” (3.1.250-252). Another one of his errors in judgement is trusting and joining the conspiracy, but he does not realise this until it is too late. One of Brutus’ last quotes is about how killing Caesar was a mistake that he regrets, and he is now owning up to it and killing himself to make up for what he did. Brutus states, “Caesar,/ now be still./ I killed not thee with half so good a will” (5.5.49-51). By saying this you can see that even Brutus knows he made many irreversible lapses in
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 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 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.
A tragic hero is a person who has qualities of a hero such as intelligence and strength but makes choices that lead to their self-destruction. The tragic hero is usually from a noble family or high position. Oedipus from The Sophocles is a tragic hero because he possesses tragic flaws such as hubris, hamartia, and too much curiosity. Marcus Brutus, a Roman politician, also serves to be a tragic hero since he is too naive, honest, and sometimes impulsive. Both Oedipus and Brutus have certain characteristics that determine them to be 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.
According to Aristotle, “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…” The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.
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.
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.
According to Aristotle, “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…” The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.
Brutus and Creon have both made some unforgiving mistakes. In the end, the tragic hero always realizes what mistakes they have made, and tries to fix it, but most of the time it is too late. Brutus realizes his mistake after Antony says his speech. But he has no time to think over his actions because he has to flee with the rest of the conspirators. Brutus does feel bad for letting himself get tricked like that. For example in Act 4 Scene 2, Brutus tells Cassius’ servant, “Your master, Pindarus,In his own change or by ill officers Hath given me some worthy cause to wish things done, undone.” Brutus expresses regret for his own actions, rather than regretting the violence that he and the rest of the conspirators have caused. Brutus is not clearly
Another major aspect of a tragic hero is that he realizes his mistakes after it is too late. In the last few minutes of his life, Brutus realizes that killing Caesar was wrong. This one event ended his wife’s life and also his dear friend’s life. This leads to a monarchy, which is what the conspirators were trying to avoid in the first place. One of his slaves says, “Now is that noble vessel full of grief, /That it runs over even at his eyes,” (982). Brutus is apologetic about his actions: “I know my hour is come” (995). Brutus realizes he is reprehensible for all of his mistakes. Brutus kills himself by running into a sword that one of is slaves is holding. His final words are: “Caesar, now be still. /I killed not thee with half so good a
He wishes that he had never fallen for Cassius’s insidious plan to assassinate Caesar, “Caesar, now be still; / I killed not thee with half so good a will”(997). He regrets, that through these actions, he destroys his name and his stature. Brutus, scrutinizing all of his mistakes, and wishing that he had done things differently verifies that he is the main tragic hero in this classic work. Through these final moments of Brutus’s life, the audience of the play can truly see that Brutus is not lying about his love of Caesar, but that he honestly regrets participating, and is sympathetic about the last years of his life. Brutus, even though he has made many mistakes throughout his life, he makes one final one with his last action. Unfortunately, the audience does not know whether or not he regrets committing suicide. Had he not done so, Antony most likely would have restored some of his stature in Rome, and granted him his life, “This was the noblest Roman of them all. / All the conspirators save only he / Did that they did in envy of great Caesar; / He, only in a general honest thought / And common good to all, made one of them”(998). It is clear that Antony is saddened by the loss of Brutus, because he realizes the true meaning of Brutus’s actions.
Brutus fulfills the first important characteristic of a tragic hero since he is very prominent and respected in society. He is the foremost orator
Throughout many of Shakespeare 's plays, a tragic hero is present. A courageous character that has a tragic flaw, which leads to his downfall. Brutus is indeed the tragic hero of this play because when a person who possesses such heroic qualities dies, it is a true tragedy. A tragic hero has to start with everything and then end with near to nothing. This character often begins well liked and then starts to become less popular. At the beginning of the play, Brutus is a much different man than he turns out to be. He does not want to take part in the conspiracy, but Cassius is very persuasive and convinces him that it is what needs to be done. Brutus become too confident that their plan will work perfectly and that nothing will go wrong. This leads to his downfall. In order to be the tragic hero the person must contain at least one tragic flaw, and Brutus contains many, but three of them stick out distinctively. In William Shakespeare 's Julius Caesar Brutus’s impatience, his nobility, and lastly his idealistic thoughts cause him to be a tragic hero.
According to Aristotle a tragic hero should have certain characterics. One of them is that a hero must be noble but still have a tragic flaw. Brutus was in the senatorial class and his father