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Julius Caesar Tragic Hero Essay

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In Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, everyone was celebrating the return of Julius Caesar and their holiday, Lupercal, making Caesar the new ruler of Rome. There were conspirators against Caesar that did not want him to be the new ruler, so they made a plan and assassinated him. The conspirator that started this was Cassius. Cassius instigated Marcus Brutus, one of Caesar’s closest friends as well as the main conspirator, that was the tragic hero in the play. At the end, there was a war that caused two tragic deaths, Cassius and Brutus. A tragedy is when an event has occurred causing a great amount of destruction. A tragedy includes a tragic hero. A tragic hero is the main character of a tragedy. According to Aristotle, there is a few characteristics that can be identified as a tragic hero. Such as Hamartia, Peripeteia , Anagnorisis, Hubris, and Nemesis. Marcus Brutus is a fantastic example of Aristotle 's definition of a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition of characteristics. Throughout the play, Brutus bases all his decisions on honor. He believes that being honorable is more important than his own life, or the lives of his closest friends and family. Brutus stated, “For let the gods so speed me as I love, the name of honor more than I …show more content…

Shakespeare wrote, “Caesar, now be still. I killed thee not with half so good a will (Shakespeare V.v.50-51). Brutus has finally began to notice that the decisions he made created bad outcomes. Brutus accepts his own death because he made this his punishment for the bad destruction that he caused to occur in Rome. Brutus said, “I know my hour hath come” (Shakespeare V.v.20). This proves that Brutus is naive and weak. He lost his strength and courage because he realized that things got even more worse than better. Moreover, Brutus was so blinded by his reputation and honor that he ended up wanting to commit suicide; more in fact, a tragic

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Brutus also contains several other characteristics of a tragic hero. For example, Brutus possesses a hamartia. “Th’ abuse of greatness is when it disjoins/ Remorse from power; and, to speak truth of Caesar” (Shakespeare II.1.18-19). In this quote from the story, Brutus is saying that he believes Caesar would abuse the power of being crowned king.

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Does his sense of patriotism really justify killing a friend and a major political leader? You may notice that Brutus isn't very sympathetic as he is defending what he did.     The dramatic character has a flaw. That flaw maybe one single word, but there can be many parts to that word. For Brutus there are many parts of his flaw that make him the dramatic character.

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This could be true, but Brutus would fit more into the tragic hero persona. Some of Brutus’s tragic flaws included trusting people too much, not listening to others that have more experience, and thinking about the people more than himself. All of these flaws ultimately led to Brutus becoming a coward and committing suicide. In act 3 scene 1 Brutus kills Caesar because he thinks he is doing it for the good of Rome. In reality, when he killed Caesar he just signed his death note, and he hurt Rome more than helped.

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Brutus and Cassius are two prominent conspirators in the play Julius Caesar; one of these two fits Aristotle's depiction of a tragic hero. The difference between a normal hero and a tragic hero is that the latter will have a tragic flaw that keeps them from succeeding. These characters are often sympathetic and will cleave to the reader's pity. Firstly, we shall discuss Cassius. He was a man of questionable character.

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Julius Caesar’s desire to become the greatest ruler of Rome causes the Roman people to want him dead- including his best friend. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, a group of men devise a scheme to kill the treacherous leader of their country. Conspirators believe Julius Caesar’s ambition will inevitably lead to the downfall of Rome. Each man with their own specific reason unite as conspirators to get rid of Caesar. Through his role in the conspiracy, Brutus’ actions depict Brutus as honorable and gullible.

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I killed not thee with half so good a will (5.5.50-51) When he says this he is stating that he killed himself with motives twice as pure of that which caused him to kill Caesar so therefore Caesar should consider himself avenged. One example of how some people think Brutus is a villain is they think he killed Julius Caesar just for his power. The power to rule Rome.

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When Brutus spoke about his motives to kill Caesar he said, “As he was valiant I / honor him. But, as he was ambitious, I slew him.” (3.2.27-28). Brutus honored Caesar but saw that his ambition has the potential of being very dangerous. He thought that a danger like Caesar could not be left to grow more powerful when there is a solution to the issue now.

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Julius Caesar got stabbed and he had bled out so he got killed. Cassius, Brutus, and the other conspirators stabbed him because they did not want him to get the crown and to become powerful. Brutus gave a speech to show everyone how ambitious Caesar was. Brutus was getting the people what they wanted, like freedom and peace. Cassius also gave a speech after Caesar died and said that he did Caesar a favor by killing him because he wouldn’t have to worry about dying.

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“This was the noblest Roman of them all…‘This was a man!’” (V, v, 68-75). In one of William Shakespeare's most renowned plays, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a nobleman by the name of Marcus Brutus is highly respected by his fellow “Romans, countrymen, and lovers” of Rome, including his adversary, Antony (III, ii, 13). Throughout this tragedy, Brutus in his admired state has the most considerable effect of any character on the play and advancement of the plot. This admiration is demonstrated several times in which Brutus is highly regarded among his numerous comrades, including the common people of Rome, a very intelligent man by the name of Gaius Cassius, and a man of very high rank in Julius Caesar.

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Sometimes human life is like a game, only a mistake leads to many failures. Brutus is truly a hero, but he is a tragic hero, a very poor hero. Caesar and Brutus are both ambitious, Caesar wants power for himself, but Brutus want power for the best of Rome. One of the thing that makes Brutus fits the definition of a tragic hero more than Caesar is that he has a noble personality. Brutus is always afraids that Caesar will become a tyrant, and at that time, everyone will become slaves, who live in misery.

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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.

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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).

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The unlikely pairing of Hamlet and Brutus is attributed to their specific characteristics that categorize them as tragic heroes. Both characters die in the end of their tragedy, both receive punishments that exceed the actual crime, and both are of noble stature, to name a few. When Brutus succumbs to his fate of death, he is not reluctant but rather ready to die as he has wronged his greatest friend in life, Caesar. “Come poor remains of friends rest on this rock./... Farewell good Strato- Caesar, now be still;/ I killed not thee with half so good a will (The Tragedy of Julius Caesar V.v.1-51).”

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In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the person most responsible for the death of Julius Caesar is Cassius, he started the conspiracy and developed the plan of how to manipulate and convince Brutus to kill Caesar and lead Rome. While it may look like Brutus was the one responsible for his death, it was Cassius who made him think that he needed to that by slipping fake letters into his room. Cassius began the rebellion against Caesar, and then developed a plan to make Brutus think he need to kill Caesar and become the leader, and finally as well as the other conspirators, Cassius contributed to stabbing Caesar. TS 1: in the beginning of the story we are introduced to the conspirators, who are lead by Cassius and we discover that they are determined to destroy Caesar. In the beginning of the play Cassius is trying to convince Brutus that there is nothing special about Caesar, he is “Like a Colossus, and [they] petty men Walk under his huge legs”(I, II, 137).

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He has realised his faults so clearly that he tells Caesar, the person he killed, to rest in peace. Brutus is definitely the tragic hero in this play because of the pity we feel for his realisation of his faults and ultimately his honourable

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