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How Is Brutus A Tragic Hero

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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

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