Brutus: A Tragic Hero In Julius Caesar

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Multiple plays by Julius Caesar feature a tragic hero, and in Julius Caesar that tragic hero is Brutus. Aristotle wrote that a tragic hero is a person of nobility who suffers misfortune or defeat due to a flaw or weakness in their personality. From the play there is obvious evidence that Brutus suffers misfortune due to the death of Caesar. Said act was commuted because Brutus is extremely naive. More than once the story conveys Brutus as someone who believes people without question. He is also undeniably noble, which is stated throughout the play. However, Brutus ' misfortunes and defeat are what often distinguish him as a character.
After killing Caesar in act 3 scene 1, Brutus begins to suffer multiple misfortunes that lead up to his defeat.
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Without Cassius, Brutus is at a major disadvantage. However, Brutus is ill-fated and suffers again. Shortly after Cassius ' death, Brutus dies himself. "I held the sword, and he did run on it." states Strato (V:v:65). This quote by Strato is spoken shortly after Brutus ' death, explaining his demise to Messala. This is the final misfortune-his death. The act is also considered his defeat since he dies and is defeated in battle. Brutus ' misfortunes truly make him a tragic hero.
As mentioned by Aristotle, misfortunes are caused by a flaw. For Brutus, this is his nativity. He often does not question anything around him and because of this, he lacks judgement. A good example of this is when Brutus compels himself to kill Caesar after reading letters from Cassius as a Roman citizen. Brutus proclaims "O Rome, I make thee promise, if the redress will follow,thou recievest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!" (II:ii:56-58). He is essentially saying that if Rome deserves justice, then he will be the one to give them justice. It proves he is naive because he does not question the letter. If the people of Rome sent the letter, they would not be telling Brutus to get rid of Caesar. In act 1 scene 1, the citizens all cheered for
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He has both a high class and high moral principles and ideals that make a noble person. One such example is that Brutus does everything for the good of Rome. He says, "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." (III:ii:22-23). Here Brutus is saying he knows that killing Caesar is wrong, but he did it for the people of Rome. Brutus is convinced that if he did not take action, Caesar would have caused the people to suffer. This is moral because Brutus is concerned with Caesar 's behaviour and whether it is right or wrong for the Roman citizens. Choosing to protect the people of Rome is what makes Brutus noble. He then later admits that killing Caesar was wrong as well and states, "I kill 'd not thee with half so good a will." (V:v:51). These are Brutus ' dying words. Brutus announces that he didn 't kill Caesar half as willingly as he killed himself. He did not enjoy killing Caesar, Brutus commits the act because he feels there is no other way to protect Rome. He knows it was wrong, and that makes makes him him noble. Brutus is able to acknowledge right from wrong then choose which act is the most moral, to defend the people. Even Brutus ' enemies declared Brutus was noble. In his final speech, Antony proclaims, "This was the noblest Roman of them all" (V:v:68). Brutus and Antony are at war with each other for the last two acts, yet Antony proclaims him as noble. But not just noble, the noblest person in

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