Flaws. Everyone has them. Even play characters have them, especially Brutus from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. His tragic flaw – a flaw that leads to one’s demise – is his struggle to keep up his reputation as someone who was noble. This eventually led to him giving up and killing himself. When Brutus was taken to see Cassius’ dead body, he very clearly said, “Friends, I owe moe tears / To this dead man than you shall see me pay” (Shakespeare 649). He said this to keep it a secret that he is miserable about Cassius’ unfortunate death. He never wanted to tell anyone how he was feeling in order for the soldiers serving under him to have someone strong, noble, and brave to look up to. Being depressed wasn’t a part of their criteria. Brutus then saw his doom because of what actions he took. He knew that, in the end, he wouldn’t be able to take the pain of guilt and suffering anymore, and ended up asking around for someone to help him end his life. Brutus said to those who, “I know my hour has come” (Shakespeare 651). He knew that, after feeling all this remorse, all this pain, it was time for him to leave, time for him to die. He did not want anyone else to die because of him. Brutus’ …show more content…
He only ever wanted to kill Caesar and go to war against Antony and Octavius because he wanted to “protect” Rome. He explained in Act 2, “Oh, Rome, I make thee promise / If the redress will follow, thou receives / Thy full petition at the hands of Brutus” (Shakespeare 573). Here, Brutus was explaining how if Rome ever needed anything, Brutus would personally do it. And during Julius Caesar, he lived up to his promise, killing Caesar and trying to stop Antony and Octavius from taking over Rome. But this fault also caused Brutus’ demise. With him trying to do anything (and he did anything) to protect Rome, which caused Cassius to be killed, Brutus to bottle up emotions, and in the end, Brutus killing
The Consequences of Honor Being an honorable person requires one to follow a code of ethics for the greater good, even at the cost of his own life. If one breaks his code of ethics, he believes that living with the shame of breaking it for the rest of his life would be a “fate worse than death”. These selfless individuals care more about the needs of others than their own personal desires. However, there are people who take advantage of one’s honorable nature and use it for their own gain. This concern of acting honorably is shown in Brutus, the main character in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Brutus has a vision, and he intends it to work out in every way he plans. In a sense he achieves what he wants, and killing Caesar may have been crucial to his short-lived success.
In Act 3 Scene 2 Brutus said during his speech, “If that friend then demands to know why Brutus turned against Caesar, this is my answer: Not because I cared for Caesar less, but because I cared for Rome more”. Brutus had courage to kill Caesar, not because he wanted to, but for the good of Rome and its people. During the entirety of the story, Brutus
High Risk High Reward In certain situations it may be justified for a political leader to bend or break the law for the good of the country. Usually when the average person hears that someone has broken the law, they would immediately assume that it was a bad decision. Although, that may not always be the case. For example if someone were to break into your home, you would then have the right to injure/kill that intruder based on self defense.
Proving a Tragic Hero A character who makes a judgement or error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction, defines a tragic hero, according to Aristotle. In William Shakespeare’s writings, one character generally identifies as a tragic hero. Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, comes from the true events that took place in Rome during the time that Caesar rose and gained power as dictator. After Pompey’s death in Egypt; caused by each of their power-hungry desires, Caesar declared himself dictator of Rome.
When Brutus was talking to the conspirators Brutus was going back and forth think if he should help the conspirators kill Julius Caesar. He was going back and forth because he was thinking of the power he could have and could rule Rome. The reason behind Brutus killing Caesar was for the better of Rome. If Brutus would not have killed Caesar, Rome would have turned into a dictatorship, and in turn it would have ruined Rome and all of its people. Brutus did not kill Julius just for the power to rule Rome, he killed Julius to save Rome from Caesar’s dictatorship.
And while Brutus did work in part with other conspirators, which eventually led to him killing Caesar, he did it for a more morally sound reason which was that Caesar was going to cause the downfall of Rome because he was too ambitious, which is ironic because Caesar's death led to a string of unfit leaders, and civil unrest that eventually led to the downfall of the roman empire. Brutus was also focused on preventing corruption. “The name of Cassius honors this corruption,/ And chastisement doth therefore hide his head (IV.iii.15-6)... Remember March, the ides of March remember./ Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake” (IV.iii.18-9).
Brutus realized the great harm Caesar could bring to Rome if the was crowned king. Although Brutus was easily persuaded by Cassius to go as far as committing a murder, Brutus did it because he thought that it was the best for Rome. Brutus does what he thinks is the absolute best for Rome which really shows his great honor and
He would have rather watched himself die a thousand deaths than to watch his city in peril. Cassius helped talk Brutus into killing Caesar over jealousy. Brutus only went along with the idea because he knew that Caesar was an improper ruler for rome and its people. Brutus put his city and its people n front of him and that was his tragic flaw. Since brutus put his city before himself t stopped him from thinking what was the best himself.
This quote by Cassius distinctively shows the different reactions between Brutus and himself. Cassius quickly kills himself to escape pain. On the other hand, Brutus is mentally stronger and lasts longer as he waits for the gods to decide his fate. In the end, he took Caesar 's ghost as a sign
(II, i, 53-55) which allows to say that he wants Rome to be just and do whatever it takes to maintain it away from any threat. Indeed, Brutus states this very clearly when he says, “If it’s for the good of all Romans, I’d do it even if it meant my death. Let the gods give me good luck only as long as I love honor more than I fear death.” (I, ii, 86-88), he explicitly says that the good of the majority is over any feeling or personal benefit which in this case is the love of Caesar for him and viceversa, and the throne. To conclude, Brutus is a complex character that is characterized by three recurrent traits: his well-intention, his hypocrisy, and his naivet.
Is it justified to kill someone because they have gained too much power and are going to use it for the worse? Brutus has a very bad circumstance on his hands, he can kill Caesar and possibly be executed for his actions or he can let Caesar become king and watch Rome fall. There are many reasons why Brutus should and should not join the conspiracy. Brutus says, “I know no personal reason to spurn at him But for the general.” (II,i,11).
He was unable to see through the fake letters that are supposedly written by the people of Rome, but in reality are being written as a scam from Cassius. Brutus interpreted these letters as a protest against Caesar. He believed the people of Rome were telling him their desires through this letter, he tries to resolve this by listening to the societies challenge to “speak, strike, redress” (II.i.47). Reading these letters from “random citizens” it is what finally pushes him over the edge.
Brutus 's speech: Brutus speaks to the people of rome why he killed caesar so they will not turn on him. He talked about how he didnt kill him because he didn 't love him but because it was for the better of rome. He also tells the people of rome that letting caesar become king would mean the government type would change and all the wars and hard work his family had put into the government would go away. He also states, for the welfare of rome that he would die for rome if rome demands his death Rhetorical devices: Brutus used questions, logos, parallelism, and pathos to stir the people of rhome. Question-
Brutus has negatively affected the outlook of Rome and created more harm than good for the situation. Not only did it harm Rome, but it brought his own demise and hallucinations of Caesar’s ghost. Brutus’s speech to the plebeians after Caesar’s death, about his dilemma and his viewpoint towards Caesar, influenced the viewpoints of the plebeians and causes them to believe he is the best roman until Antony speaks to them. Brutus’s idealism led to his own death later on and brought him more misery than his idealism could