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.
Admittedly, Caesar could be considered the tragic hero due to his realization of his wrongdoings when he sees Brutus after being stabbed. However, Caesar never fully accepted responsibility for his actions before he died, unlike Brutus. Brutus’s dying words are, “Caesar, now be still. I killed thee with half so good a will (V.v.50-51).” These words confirm that Brutus recognizes that killing Caesar wasn’t the best course of action. Within these final words, we also see Brutus’s regret for what
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Shortly after realizing defeat, Brutus falls on a sword before Antony and Octavius reach him so as to die an “honorable” death. Antony names Brutus the noblest Roman of them all because he did not envy Caesar like other conspirators, but he killed Caesar to protect Rome (V.v.68-70). This shows that Brutus was an honorable all the way through until after his death. His commitment to Rome and to his morals is an admirable trait, that becomes even more admirable in defeat. Naturally, Octavius says that Brutus deserves a proper funeral and burial to honor him and his life (V.v.76-77). Funerals were an important part of Roman culture and proper burial of an enemy symbolizes Octavius’ respect for Brutus. Both Octavius and Antony’s attitudes towards Brutus after his death demonstrates that not only do the readers find Brutus to be admirable after his death, but the characters also have a degree of respect for him. This perfectly portrays Aristotle’s definition of a tragic