Shakespearian tragedies usually have a well-defined tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, a tragic hero is a character of high rank and nobility, exhibits a tragic flaw, and recognizes how his actions led to his eventual downfall. William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar incited a century old argument over who really deserves the title of “The Tragic Hero.” Many argue that Caesar is the tragic hero. However, I believe that Brutus should hold the title of "tragic hero" because he is a noble and respected man, he holds tragic flaw of poor judgment. But most importantly, what separates him from Caesar, is that he recognizes how these flaws and his decision to murder his leader resulted in his own demise.
To accomplish their plan, the conspirators needed a noble man of high stature to justify their actions. The best man for the job was Brutus. Brutus was Caesar’s best friend, loved by the people, and he loved the people back. Therefore, it only made sense for the conspirators to recruit Brutus guarantees the support of the Roman people. Cassius admits this too, “Brutus shall lead, and we will grace his heels / With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome” (3.1.135-136). Cassius himself says that Brutus’s credibility will lead to the success of the plan. If Brutus leads the way, then the people will assume that maybe Caesar’s death was not that terrible since this noble man killed Caesar. Brutus’s nobility in the conspiracy not only convinced the
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
A Tragic hero is a character who exhibits traits of poor judgment, calls or has personal flaws. In Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, the tragic hero is Brutus. Brutus had a good heart, but his call of judgment to assassinate Caesar led him into his ultimate demise. Cassius manipulated him, he had a moral dilemma, and his speech all factored into his timely end. To start, in the first act of the play, Brutus experiences manipulation from Cassius, and he is unaware of this betrayal.
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.
I would consider Brutus a tragic hero. He does have positive attributes as well as being a strong leader. Brutus’s character represents what being a tragic hero is. Brutus’s upbringing in the story is the killing of Caesar.
Sakespear's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar holds two possible candidates for a tragic hero, however Brutus fits the persona best. The true definition of a tragic hero, as found by Aristotle, is a character who falls from a high standing to a low standing. They suffer enourmous loss, but are eventually enlightened of their own flaw or flaws. Initially the play begins with Caesar returning to Rome from defeating Pompey. Meanwhile, the first seeds of conspiracy are begining to take root. Although Brutus ignores Cassius's chiding to join the conspirators his tragic flaw of being easily molded and persuaded lead him to fall prey and join. As time progresses Brutus makes many grievous errors, and his flawed logic leads him to become bereft
Marcus Brutus does qualify as the tragic hero in Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. A tragic hero is a good or even great man and thus wins our sympathy causing catharsis. A tragic hero displays hamartia— the hero makes a mistake causing the downfall of his fortune. A tragic hero usually brings suffering and death to other characters, even a whole country. Finally, a tragic hero goes into a situation in which there is no getting out of because of the decisions he has made. Marcus Brutus has many characteristics of a tragic hero thus making him the tragic hero in Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.
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.
William Shakespeare is a world renowned English poet and playwright famous for many tragic plays such as Macbeth and Julius Caesar. These two plays both contain tragic heroes with Marcus Brutus from Julius Caesar, and Macbeth from Macbeth. A tragic hero is defined as a protagonist of high standing with heroic or potential heroic abilities who must oppose some external or internal force. A tragic hero needs to have a “tragic flaw” where a character has too much or too little of one of Aristotle’s twelve virtues. Macbeth and Brutus are both considered tragic heroes but have many similarities as well as differences.
The tragedy “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare should be renamed “Brutus” because Caesar is not the tragic hero. He is only in a small portion of the play and does not possess a major tragic flaw; however Marcus Brutus fits the description of tragic hero much better than Julius Caesar. Typically, tragedies are named after the tragic hero, which Aristotle describes as: a person of noble birth with a tragic flaw that leads to his or her downfall because of that flaw. Brutus exhibits all of these qualities, therefore rightfully naming him a tragic hero.
Caesar or Brutus? Many people think that the tragic hero in Julius Caesar is Caesar, only because the title of the play. The real tragic hero is Marcus Brutus. There are many traits you can have to be a tragic hero, Brutus has at least three of them. In WIlliam Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, it is shown that Brutus is the tragic hero because he has noble stature, he has a tragic flaw, and free choice.
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:
Marcus Brutus was a very well thought out man. Brutus declares to himself that his role in the conspiracy is to save Rome. He says to the people that, "If then that friend demands why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more."(Act 3, scene 2, lines 19-21). If Brutus was not in the plot of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the whole plot would've fallen apart. Since Brutus "...loved Rome more."(Act 3, scene 2 and line 21), he decided to be a part of the conspiracy. Cassius and the rest of the conspirators would probably not have continued on without Brutus because they would have no "insurance" afterwards. The people would think that there was no reason for Caesar's death and most likely beheaded all the conspirators. These are the reasons why Brutus was needed
Aristotle once said “a man does not become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” He noticed a common theme in stories, there often seemed to be a character of noble character (hubris), who has a fatal flaw which leads to his downfall (hamartia) and a reversal of fortune.(peripeteia) From this concept the title of a ‘tragic hero’ was formed and has remained prevalent throughout classic and current literature. Hamlet from hamlet, Romeo from Romeo and Juliet, Oedipus from Oedipus Rex, Macbeth from Macbeth, and King Lear from King Lear. In shakespeare's classic play Julius Caesar, because of the title, many assume Julius Caesar to be the tragic hero. But although the morals, heros, and villains in this play are far from black and white. Brutus is surprisingly seen to be the tragic hero for the following three reasons; he is of noble character, he displays a fatal flaw, and he has a change of fortune.
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
A hero is one who comes in and saves the day, who is recognized at some point as a hero. People look up to this person and most love them and/or idolize them. But a tragic hero is different. A tragic hero may not save the day, may not be the people's favorite, and maybe not even be recognized. This is the case in Shakespeare’s The tragedy of Julius Caesar. There is quite a conflict about whether the famous Julius Caesar is the tragic hero or the not-so famous, Marcus Brutus. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a character who has a great reputation and prosperity but their misfortune isn’t due to depravity. The hero is a virtuous person but an error in judgement resulting from a tragic flaw ,that’s sometimes is from the hero’s virtue, leads to their downfall. Both Caesar and Brutus meet the criteria but Brutus is a better fit as the tragic hero.