Marcus Brutus: A Tragic Hero

He was a senator close to Caesar and had a well-known reputation for being honorable. His integrity is due in part to his ancestors who drove out the tyrant Tarquin to keep the democracy safe and his belief that all should act this way. Brutus was willing to make hard decisions to keep Rome a democracy. The day before the assassination plot was to be carried out, Brutus says to himself, “It must be by his [Caesar’s] death, and for my part/ I know no personal cause to spurn at him/

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

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare depicts a tragic hero, or one who has high standing and causes his own downfall. The tragic hero is Brutus, and he makes multiple and ultimately fatal mistakes that lead to his enlightenment and then his death. Brutus’ death is the result of many misfortunes, including being herded into the conspiracy and thus aiding in the death of Caesar, hearing of the death of his loyal wife, and waging a war against Rome.

Shakespeare’s complex play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar contains several tragic heroes; a tragic hero holds high political or social esteem yet possesses an obvious character flaw. This discernible hubris undoubtedly causes the character’s demise or a severe forfeiture, which forces the character to undergo an unfeigned moment of enlightenment and shear reconciliation. Brutus, one of these tragic heroes, is a devout friend of the great Julius Caesar, that is, until he makes many execrable decisions he will soon regret; he becomes involved in a plot to kill the omniscient ruler of Rome during 44 B.C. After committing the crime, Mark Antony, an avid, passionate follower of Caesar, is left alive under Brutus’s orders to take his revenge on

    Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar is a tragic play, where the renowned Julius Caesar is on the brink of achieving total control and power by becoming emperor of the Roman Empire. Ironically enough, when he thinks he is one step away from pulling it off, his "friends" (most from the senate) decide to overthrow him, with Caesar's most trusted friend, Marcus Brutus, acting as leader of the conspirators. Though the fall of Caesar from the most powerful man in the world to a man who's been betrayed and stabbed 30 times is a great downfall, he is not the tragic hero. Shakespeare's main focus is Marcus Brutus, a noble man who brings upon himself a great misfortune by his own actions,

Marcus Brutus was a reputable man to the people of Rome and to his friend Caesar. Brutus had good intentions for Rome’s people, which is why he did not think Caesar would be a good leader. Although Caesar was in shock to see Brutus included in the men that stabbed him, Brutus only did it for the good of the people. Brutus reveals his nobility to his people when he says in Act 3, scene 2, “…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”(126). Brutus’s statement explains that he had all the respect for Caesar as anyone else, but the love for his people and home was much more prized. He killed Caesar out of fear of what may happen to the beloved people of Rome. This proves that Brutus’s intentions were just as honorable as the man he was. In addition to both characters being honorable, their actions got the best of them and may have changed them for the worst.

William Shakespeare focuses the play on Brutus’s choices even after the assassination of Caesar. The first bad decision of Brutus was trusting the conspirators, which shows his bad judge of character. This was bad because their intentions for killing Caesar were not for justice. It was only because they were jealous of Caesar and his leadership. They did not like the possibility of Caesar becoming the ruler of Rome. Brutus was the only one who did not kill him out of jealousy, which Antony realizes towards the end of the play when he states, “ This was the noblest Roman of them all. All the rest of the conspirators acted out of jealousy of great Caesar.” (5.5.73-75) Another bad choice Brutus made was letting Antony speak at Caesar’s funeral. Antony was going to tell the truth about everything. Before the funeral Antony tells Octavius’s servant, “There I’ll use my speech to test what the people think of these bloody men’s cruel action..” (3.1.307-309) Antony must have been the most angry about Caesar being gone. It’s not surprising for him to be wanting to tell everyone the

This displays that Brutus has no personal resentment towards Caesar, but is doing what is best for the Roman people. Therefore, Marcus Brutus’s moral integrity shows in his decisions, which makes him a tragic hero.

Indeed, Brutus was a honorable man. His honor was his greatest strength, but it was also his weakness. He murdered and betrayed his closest and only friend, due to the fact that he was so focused on doing the most honorable thing. Brutus focused more on principles, than the one person who truly cared about him. Consequently he also cared more about principle, than his own common sense. Therefore, his main focus was on honor and principle, which caused him to kill Caesar. He murdered Caesar because he thought it would solve the problem, but it only caused pandemonium.Consequently, his actions produced an angry mob, ready to avenge Caesar's death. If Brutus never took matters into his own hands, he would not have created a vicious crowd of citizens filled with hatred. He never solved the problem. When it got out of control, he resorted to killing himself. Cowardly, when things got tough, he ran away from it. He

Brutus is truly “an honorable man.” He was initially resistant to Cassius’ suggestion to betray Caesar. Also, Brutus says, “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.”(3.2.22) This proves that he only does what he feels is necessary to protect the Rome. In act 4, Brutus sees the ghost of Caesar, and this tells us that he is regretting his actions. He never felt right about killing Caesar afterwards. In fact, when he realized that he was wrong, he used the knife that he stabbed Caesar to take his own

The main reason that Marcus Brutus deserves the title of tragic hero is his noble personality. First of all, throughout the play, he never deceives anyone. Although he did murder Julius Caesar, it was for the good of Rome, not to deceive Caesar. Everything that he did was for the benefit of someone else. Even though he killed Antony's best friend, Antony still recognized Brutus as "the noblest Roman of them all." He does this in Act 5, Scene 5, after Brutus' death because Brutus the only conspirator that actually killed Caesar because he "loved Caesar less but loved Rome more." He cared more about others than he did himself. For instance, in the process of killing Caesar, he could have easily backed out because he knew he might have been punished, but he knew in the long run, that it would help the plebeians most. Another example of his selflessness is in Act 2, Scene 1. Brutus decides not to tell Portia his plans for the murder of Caesar. He feels she already has enough stress in her life and does not need to worry or deal with his plans.

Brutus was very loyal to Rome, especially because one of his ancestors “would have brooked th’ eternal devil to keep his state in Rome as easily as a king” (I,ii,159-161). Lucius Junius Brutus had a role in establishing the Republic of Rome after expelling the last king of Rome, which put pressure on Brutus to maintain his family’s honor. Although Caesar was his best friend, Brutus became concerned after multiple people had informed him of Caesar’s questionable actions which were considered ambitious. Convinced, Brutus joined the plan to kill Caesar after he became more aware of Caesar’s actions.

In Antonyś speech during Caesar’s funeral, Antony said many times ¨Yet Brutus was an honorable man.¨ (4,3,96) Brutus thought of the good of Rome and the people of Rome before himself. Britannica Encyclopedia (¨Marcus Brutus¨) says, ¨Though he is Caesar’s friend and man of honour, Brutus convinces himself that Caesar’s death is for the greater good of Rome.¨ Brutus was in total distress whether or not to join the conspiracy, but he was thinking about Rome going into tyranny.

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.

William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, was mainly based on the assassination of Julius Caesar. The character who was the mastermind behind the assassination was, ironically, Marcus Brutus, a senator and close friend to Julius Caesar. But what would cause a person to kill a close friend? After I examined Brutus' relationship towards Caesar, his involvement in the conspiracy and his importance to the plot it all became clear. Brutus had one particular reason for killing Caesar and that was for the good of the people and the republic. Brutus had no personal reason for killing Caesar. Some of his most admirable traits were his morality and leadership skills.