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Julius Caesar Tragic Hero

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In the play, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus is a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is the character should be prosperous and important, moral, realistic, have a reversal of fortune, and poses a tragic flaw. Brutus can be defined as a tragic hero because he is an important and prosperous character, moral, realistic, faces a reversal of fortune, and possess a tragic flaw which leads to his downfall. Throughout the play, Shakespeare paints Brutus as a tragic hero who has a tragic flaw, reversal of fortune, and is a morally good person. According to Aristotle in order to be defined as a tragic hero, the character must have a tragic flaw which leads them to their reversal of fortune. …show more content…

The conspirators want to have Brutus on board with their plan because they know everyone loves him. Casca speaks highly of Brutus to Cassius saying, “Oh, he sits high in all the people’s hearts, and that which would appear offense in us, his countenance, like richest alchemy, will change to virtue and to worthiness” (Shakespeare 1.3.159-162). Casca believes the people of Rome think of Brutus as a morally good person, and even if he murdered someone of high importance, the people would still think of him just as highly. Additionally, Brutus also describes himself as a morally good and fine person saying, “Oh, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit and not dismember Caesar! But, alas, Caesar must bleed for it. And gentle friends, let’s kill him with boldly but not wrathfully” (Shakespeare 2.1.171-174). Brutus knows that Caesar must be killed, but being the morally good person he is, he wants it to be done in a bold and honorable way. Antony also finds Brutus to be a morally good person even after Brutus had stabbed Caesar. When Antony gives his speech to the crowd of Romans, he repeatedly mentions how Brutus is an honorable man, “And Brutus is an honorable man. You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him with a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and sure, he is an honorable man” (Shakespeare 3.2.92-97). Antony bashes against the conspirators, but at the same time reminds the audience of how Brutus is an honorable man. According to many characters in the play, Brutus is thought to be a morally good and fine

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(II, i,11-12).” When Brutus says this to himself it makes him seem honest and trustworthy because it begs the question, “How could killing Caesar be for the wrong reasons if Brutus has no personal stake in this?” Even though Brutus may not have personal reasons for wanting Caesar dead, this is ironic because he is still committing a serious crime that is in most cases seen as unforgivable and

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Multiple times, Antony refers to Brutus as an “honorable man” (lines 10, 15, 22, & 27); however, he is blatantly refuting that statement by proving exactly why Brutus’ honor should not be. Brutus was being praised for the murder of Caesar, turning the people against Caesar, for no good reason. This is where Antony believes using verbal irony could persuade them to think differently, like they did before when they were loyal to their leader. Also, this shows that he is outraged at Brutus for turning so quick on his own close friend. The repetition of this phrase along with its rebuttal, reveals that Antony believes Brutus to be ambitious and

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Brutus makes decisions, time and time again, that are extremely difficult for him, in order to do what he deems necessary for Rome. He kills Caesar, one of his best friends, because he believes that Rome will not be able to flourish with him as leader. Brutus also decides not to kill Antony, even though it would be easier than leaving him alive. He puts his foot down when Cassius says that he believes they should kill Antony, and says that they are not murderers. So, he does not take the easy way out, he remains honorable.

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He states, “when the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; Ambition should be mad of sterner stuff,” which indicated that Caesar’s kind self should not have been killed for his caring actions. He then says, “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, And sure he is an honorable man.” Antony was obviously being sarcastic because killing a good friend is definitely not “honorable”. All of the citizens then begin to feel anger towards Brutus’ unloyalty, which is exactly what Antony intended to do. Antony uses the phrase “Brutus is an honorable man,” so many times in his speech.

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But Brutus says he is an honorable man… when that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept… yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man...” (Shakespeare, 49) by repeating that Brutus is an honorable man, made the Romans start to question and disagree with his

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Talking about tragic hero, it is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. There are a lots of famous heroes can be classified as a tragic hero, including Hamlet, Romeo, and Julius Caesar. They all have a sad ending, and they fall from a highly position to the hell throughout the book. For instance, Romeo was the son of the Capulet, a general and powerful lord, but he made a huge flaw about fall in love with Juliet, then he began to degenerated, and eventually committed suicide. Similarly, Shakespeare’s Othello is a moor general of Venetian.

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In addition, Brutus is the more prominent tragic hero from the story because he ends up obtaining more of the qualities listed by Aristotle than Caesar. In this list includes how he recognized his wrongdoing and took responsibility for it, which as I mentioned earlier in paragraph one is a deal breaker for my choice. The difference between Caesar that decides who is the tragic hero has to do with their last words from my point of view. Caesar dies kind of dramatically, in the 3rd person even, and was arrogant to the very end, allowing the conspirators to get too close for his safety as proven, and killing him. Brutus, however, died proclaiming how much he regretted his choice to stab his dear friend, and was more understanding of what he did wrong before he died over all.

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Brutus loves Caesar but knows he has to kill him for the good of rome. He says, “I know

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Could Caesar be categorized as the tragic hero? A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. Through Antony’s speech, Caesar is revealed to be a tragic hero because of his ambition that is outweighed by his care towards the Roman people. Brutus displays Caesar as a tragic hero because of his quest for power and the decisions he was liable to make for Rome. Caesar can be categorized as a tragic hero through his caring attitude, his power, and his ambition, which led to his downfall.

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Antony teaches the crowd about one of Caesar’s great qualities, yet seems to end it in “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; / And sure he is an honorable man” (3.2.107-108). This seems to contradict the statement. Each one of Caesar’s virtues that Antony list, he provides a counter-view from Brutus. Antony tries to make the crowd notice that Brutus use of ambitious equals tyranny.

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Brutus is the tragic hero of the play Julius Caesar. During Act 1 Scene 2 page 32,"As if they came from several citizens, writing all tending to the great opinion That Rome holds of his name. " Where Cassius strokes Brutus's ego to get him to join the conspiracy by saying that the people of Rome want him to lead them. This proves the thesis he is the tragic hero because his gullibility is a trait that would lead to his downfall.

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The play depicts Brutus as an ethical and noble person. Throughout the play,

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Tragic Hero Aristotle says that a tragedy shows the downfall of a hero through fate or a mistake. The character who must go through a struggle and who experiences a downfall is the tragic hero. Shakespeare follows Aristotle’s guidelines for a tragedy in his plays. In William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus is the tragic hero.

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In order to be a tragic hero you must be in a position of power, have a tragic flaw, and have a downfall that is emotional for the audience. Caesar definitely has all three of those traits , but Brutus does as well and arguably a much more honorable and well lived life. Also when Caesar is killed it is by a vicious murder because he was too greedy. When Brutus dies he dies of sadness and with honor because he allows nobody the honor of killing him. Brutus was the better tragic hero because he was more honorable, had a lesser tragic flaw, and his downfall led to more pity among the

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Brutus was a good friend to Caesar in the beginning, but ended up being neither dependable nor honest. Brutus never said he had anything to hold against Caesar. His intentions for killing Caesar seemed good to himself and the conspirators at the time. Even though Brutus was Caesar’s friend, he only agreed to kill him for the good of Rome. As he says so in the play, “It must be by his death, and for my part I know no personal cause to spurn at him but for the general.”

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