In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare creates the central idea that Brutus is a man with honor but his honor leads to tragedy. Marcus Brutus is torn between the two sides of being noble, but standing idly by and watching or being dishonorable in killing Caesar, but for the right reasons. This internal struggle then leads to his demise. First and most important, Shakespeare sets Brutus up to be the tragic hero. Throughout the play Shakespeare comes back to an idea again and again. It is the idea that Brutus is a noble and honorable man. Shakespeare created the idea that a tragic hero has to be of noble blood. If a person is of noble blood, they have a lot of important things to lose. This makes the storyline more dramatic and interesting,
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Marcus Brutus is noble because he is descended from Junius Brutus. Junius Brutus vanquished the Tarquin kings that were ruling Rome and established democracy. Junius Brutus also created the Roman Republic. Cassius says in Act I, “There was a Brutus once that would have brook’d The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome” (I.ii.18-24). In this scene Cassius is trying to convince Brutus to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar by playing on Brutus’s love for the democracy that his noble ancestor brought to Rome. Brutus decides to join them, but only because of his love for Rome, which leads to the next point of Shakespeare’s tragic hero. In order to be a tragic hero, the character has to suffer a catastrophe. Brutus’s catastrophe is that he sided with the conspiracy for the right and honorable reasons, while the rest of the conspirators did not. The reader can see from the beginning that Brutus is the only conspirator who can not make a decision about killing Caesar. This means that out of the group of conspirators, Brutus is the only one doing it for the just and honorable reasons. Later on in the play Brutus realizes he was the only one who killed Caesar for the good of Rome and not out of jealously. He voiced this thought to Cassius in an …show more content…
This element supports the idea that a wealthy and noble person makes a perfect tragic hero because they can lose everything. The first smaller choice that Brutus makes that later has a negative outcome is not killing Marc Antony along with Caesar. Brutus makes this decision because he wants the conspiracy to seem honorable and not bloodthirsty. It turns out that this was a bad decision because Antony then wages war on the conspirators. In Act V, the two sides are talking before battle and Cassius remarks, “Flatterers! Now, Brutus, thank yourself; This tongue had not offended so today, If Cassius might have ruled,” (V.i.45-47). Cassius comes right out and says here to Brutus that he did himself wrong because he did not want to kill Antony,and that Antony would not be offending them had he had his way and killed him before. The second smaller choice Brutus makes the wrong decision on is letting Marc Antony speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus, wanting to see the good, believes that Antony will be grateful for letting him go and only speak good things about the conspirators in his funeral speech. This was a very bad decision on Brutus’s part because Antony may have seemed like he had good intentions, but he never did. Cassius once again questions Brutus’s decision, but Brutus ignores him. In Antony’s soliloquy he voices how
Marcus Brutus is noble because he is descended from Junius Brutus. Junius Brutus vanquished the Tarquin kings that were ruling Rome and established democracy. Junius Brutus also created the Roman Republic. Cassius says in Act I, “There was a Brutus once that would have brook’d The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome” (I.ii.18-24). In this scene Cassius is trying to convince Brutus to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar by playing on Brutus’s love for the democracy that his noble ancestor brought to Rome. Brutus decides to join them, but only because of his love for Rome, which leads to the next point of Shakespeare’s tragic hero. In order to be a tragic hero, the character has to suffer a catastrophe. Brutus’s catastrophe is that he sided with the conspiracy for the right and honorable reasons, while the rest of the conspirators did not. The reader can see from the beginning that Brutus is the only conspirator who can not make a decision about killing Caesar. This means that out of the group of conspirators, Brutus is the only one doing it for the just and honorable reasons. Later on in the play Brutus realizes he was the only one who killed Caesar for the good of Rome and not out of jealously. He voiced this thought to Cassius in an …show more content…
This element supports the idea that a wealthy and noble person makes a perfect tragic hero because they can lose everything. The first smaller choice that Brutus makes that later has a negative outcome is not killing Marc Antony along with Caesar. Brutus makes this decision because he wants the conspiracy to seem honorable and not bloodthirsty. It turns out that this was a bad decision because Antony then wages war on the conspirators. In Act V, the two sides are talking before battle and Cassius remarks, “Flatterers! Now, Brutus, thank yourself; This tongue had not offended so today, If Cassius might have ruled,” (V.i.45-47). Cassius comes right out and says here to Brutus that he did himself wrong because he did not want to kill Antony,and that Antony would not be offending them had he had his way and killed him before. The second smaller choice Brutus makes the wrong decision on is letting Marc Antony speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus, wanting to see the good, believes that Antony will be grateful for letting him go and only speak good things about the conspirators in his funeral speech. This was a very bad decision on Brutus’s part because Antony may have seemed like he had good intentions, but he never did. Cassius once again questions Brutus’s decision, but Brutus ignores him. In Antony’s soliloquy he voices how