The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a play about the assassination of Julius Caesar in ancient Rome. A group of eight conspirators got together and planned his death. One of the conspirators, named Marcus Brutus, was among Shakespeare’s best tragic heroes. He has all the original elements of a tragic hero and even the new elements that Shakespeare added. Brutus was an honorable man that only wanted what was best for Rome. He did what he thought was necessary for its survival. Brutus has all the characteristics of a tragic hero. Born of noble birth, his ancestor is Junius Brutus. Junius was apart of the group of people who kicked out the Kings of the past and replaced them with a Roman democracy. Since, his ancestor was …show more content…
ii. 158-161). Another characteristic of a tragic hero that Brutus has, is he suffered a catastrophe in his life. His catastrophe was killing his friend/Caesar for the right reasons, but the people he sided with to kill Caesar killed him for selfish reasons. The rest of the conspirators only had their own best interests in mind, whereas Brutus was thinking about the good of Rome when he did what he did. This quote is when Brutus finally realized the he sided with the wrong people by killing Caesar, “Remember March the ides of March. Did no great Julius bleed for justice’ sake?... I’d rather be a dog, and bay the moon, Than be such a Roman.” (IV. iii. 18-28). Brutus’s tragic flaw was that he was naive. He trusted people to easily, especially the conspirators. They used him to make their actions seem honorable and just. When reality they just wanted Caesar dead for their own personal gain. Caesar was Brutus’s friend so it took him some convincing for him to be able to justify his actions. He never realized, until