Julius Caesar is a Tragic Hero Essay

Caesar says that cowards die many times before their death and death will come when it will come. Then Caesar asked a servant what the augurers say about the subject and they say they found no heart within the beast. This is a simple act of showing how superstitious Caesar is sends him in to a rage and he decides he will go to the capitol. Then Calpurnia (the voice of reason) says “your wisdom is consumed in confidence” and tells him to tell them it is her fear and not his own that keeps him from the capitol. And Caesar grudgingly agrees. Then Decius Brutus comes in and ruins the whole thing by telling Caesar that her dream was telling how great he is and Decius manages to flatter Caesar enough that he decides to go to the capitol and he tells Calpurnia how foolish her dreams seem now and he leaves. Calpurnia, as we know was right the whole time and Caesar gets assassinated at the capitol. This scene was important in foreshadowing Caesar’s death and showing how overconfident Caesar is, and although Calpurnia’s warning was only one of many she seems to be the only warning with real impact, that is until Decius Brutus comes in to play.

Caesar’s boundless power was not agreeable to all of the Senate. Sixty members of the Senate, led by Marcus Brutus, secretly plotted to assassinate Caesar and restore power to the Senate and Republic. Marcus philosophically tested members of the Senate to determine who would support the cause, least he be discovered before the deed could be carried out. Cassius, Labeo, Brutus surnamed Albinus, Tillius Cimber and Casca were among the sixty senate members willing to support Marcus. The conspirators determined the best opportunity to carry out the deed non-conspicuously was during a Senate meeting in which Caesar

Then, Caesar was brought with his second warning from his wife Calpurnia. His wife Calpurnia had the same dream three times that Caesar was being killed. To please his wife, Caesar did not leave that day to go to the Senate. Finally, the last warning of Caesar’s death was brought through a letter. In the letter, it basically was warning Caesar that the conspirators were going to do something towards Caesar. Caesar did not look at the letter and his fate ends up coming towards him. In similarity, Jesus was brought with 3 predictions of his Passion. Jesus first predictions of his Passion was that he will “Suffer, be rejected, killed, and will rise after three days ( 8:31).” Jesus’s disciples did not comprehend. Second, Jesus had another prediction, but this time he predicted that he will be “delivered, killed, and will rise in three days (9:30-31).” Third, Jesus once again had a final prediction that he would be “delivered, condemned, mocked, flogged, killed, and will rise after three days (10:33-34).” In the play, Julius Caesar had an abominate conspiracy group towards him. Julius was betrayed by a close

In Shakespeare's theatrical-dramas there is a consistent trend of there being a tragic hero of some sort. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar the tragic hero just so happens to be Marcus Brutus, this is quite obvious because he fits some of the set standards that makes up a tragic hero in any of Shakespeare's stories. Brutus is the tragic hero in Julius Caesar, because he posses a great trait of good, then it becomes his downfall in the end. He makes many errors in judgement which leads him to committing the deed that begins his downfall. And He is often blind or has a distorted image of reality. This is why I believe he is the tragic hero of Julius Caesar.

He compares Caesar to a serpent in an egg which he must kill before it hatches. Brutus knows that Caesar is gaining too much power too quickly and it must come to an end. He shows his belief in a republic government by saying, “We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar / And in the spirit of men there is no blood" (II.i. 180-181). Cassius is a character who is jealous of Caesar’s power and also wants it to end. He forms a group of conspirators who are against Julius Caesar. He persuades Brutus to help him and the other conspirators to kill Caesar during the ides of March. Brutus joins but only due to his love for Rome and its people. He proves this by saying "Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius." (II.i. 179). This also proves his love for Caesar because he wants to kill him with some sort of honor. Brutus wants the citizens to look at him not as a murderer but for someone who cares for his country. He expresses his ideas toward the stabbing by saying , “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer-not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" (III, ii, 17-19).

William Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar highlights how weak leaders affect society’s condition. Shakespeare displays this through the actions of multiple characters, one of whom is Julius Caesar, a Roman general and senator greatly favored by the people. Caesar enters the play by ignoring a soothsayer’s omen to beware the ides of March, an action that is indicative of his belief in his personal invulnerability. Caesar’s continuous disregard of warnings of his death manifests into his ultimate demise. Shakespeare extrapolates Caesar’s arrogance, physical weakness, and unfortunate fate to elucidate how rulers with similar traits would eventually fail and foment disarray between their people.

Noticing this, Brutus, one of the conspirators whom Caesar trusted, convinced him to ignore pleads of others by stating “Come, good sir, pay no attention to the babblings of these men, and do not postpone what Caesar and his mighty power has seen fit to arrange. Make your own courage your favorable omen.” ("The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 BC,"). Caesar entered the Senate not knowing that amongst those showing him respect by standing up were the ones conspiring against his life. Those that were afraid to meet in public while planning the attack had the audacity to put their plan in motion confident that none of the other fifty other

The definition of a tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragic story in which he or she is destined for

Julius Caesar biggest flaw was his pride. He ignored warnings from people. He was told by a soothsayer to “Beware the ides of March” but Caesar ignored the warning and called him a dreamer. He ignores the warning from his wife Calpumia. His wife had a dream that the senators were washing their hands in Caesar blood in front of Pompays statue.

The Senator’s of Rome murdered Julius Caesar by stabbing him with daggers. They felt they had to kill him to prevent him from ruling and to save Rome. Caesar’s pride, carelessness, and arrogance led to his demise, and he blindly drove others to this end with his own actions. Caesar’s pride contributed to his downfall. He saw himself as the fearless General who could not be defeated, and as the perfect ruler who was never wrong.

	Julius Caesar vacillates, or changes, his mind throughout the play and this downfall is shown to be one of Caesar’s hamartias. On the day Caesar is to go to the Capitol, he changes his decisions frequently. Caesar defies the warnings of Calpurnia and the priests and Caesar says that she, Caesar, shall go forth to the Capitol this day. "Caesar. Caesar shall forth. The things that threatened me Ne’er looked but on my back. When they shall see The face of Caesar, they are vanished." Through this quotation, it seems Caesar has made his mind to go forth to the Capitol. Calpurnia, though, is able to persuade him to stay home and send word that he is sick. Caesar replies, "Caesar. Mark Antony shall say I am not well, And for thy humour I will stay at home."(2,2,55-56) Decius then flatters Caesar and is able to persuade him that Calpurnia’s nightmare is misinterpreted and that he

For example, in the beginning of the second scene in the first act, Caesar orders Antony, his friend, to touch Calphurnia, Caesar’s wife, so that she will be liberated from the curse of sterility. Antony agreed to this and right after this moment, Caesar is given his first warning of being killed. A fortune-teller interrupts the foot race to alert and warn Julius Caesar of the ides of March. To this, Caesar acts with indifference, ignores the soothsayer’s predictions, and calls him crazy (Shakespeare 1.2.8–26). This instance proves that Julius Caesar believes it is unnecessary to focus on the ‘negative’ things that the soothsayer predicts which shows how arrogant he is.

Twenty-three wounds, that is how the once great ruler of Rome passes away. Murdered in cold blood by whom he thought were his friends. That is what happens to Julius Caesar because he ignores all the warnings he is given. Artemidorus with the note, Calpurnia with her dream, and Soothsayer with his glance into the future. Those are the three people that came up to him and warns him about the future, but he chose to ignore them. In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, he is given warnings from Soothsayer, Calpurnia, and Artemidorus, but due to his conceited nature he ignores them and ends up killing him.

Caesar acknowledges that certain happenings lie beyond the control of our free-will, but instead of cowering in fear, to transgress valiantly. “It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.” (II.ii.35-37) Caesars fate was abundantly evident, Caesar uses free-will to ignore fate, for example a soothsayer says," beware the ides of March" (I.i.23). Caesar chooses to ignore the soothsayer and later, during the ides of March, Caesar once again sees the soothsayer and says, "The ides of March have come" (III.I.1). Caesar was poised there was no entail to stress over the ides of March. “Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out, ‘Help, ho! They murder Caesar!'”(II.ii.3-4) When Calpurnia descries Caesar in her ominous dream being assassinated, Caesar, being full of pride disregards Calpurnia’s plea when he is presented with an alternate

Caesar manipulated the actions of others and the situations of the play in order to avenge his assassination. Antony describes the spirit of Caesar, “…ranging for revenge,/With Ate by his side come hot from hell…/Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war” (3.1.296-299). The spirit of Caesar causes havoc in the battle scene where Cassius assumes Titinius is captured. This misunderstanding comes from the spirit of Caesar in order to lead to Cassius’ suicide. Later in the battle scene, Brutus and Cassius both commit suicide in order to escape capture and both of their last words are of Caesar. Caesar or the spirit of Caesar has invaded their thoughts until the end. Brutus’ death turns out to be his own downfall because now Rome is left with a corrupt Triumvirate, including Antony and Octavius, which leaves Rome in ruins of its former glory during Caesar’s reign. Antony and Octavius will not act for Caesar now that the conspirators are dead but will use their power to gain even more. Caesar’s wishes in his will and for Rome will be destroyed by Antony and Octavius causing his inevitable downfall.