Julius Caesar Tragic Hero Analysis

“Farewell, good strato. Caesar now be still: I killed not thee with half so good a will” (5.5.78). “Julius Caesar” is a historic Roman story about the genius scheme Marcus Brutus conspires against Caesar. Brutus conspires to kill Julius Caesar and deals with the consequences in a rather brutal way. Brutus is the definition of a tragic hero and demonstrates the qualities a tragic hero needs. A tragic hero is a character that makes a decision that leads to their fate.The characters actions often influence or foreshadow what will happen. Brutus is the tragic hero of “Julius Caesar” because he incorporates many admirable heroic qualities, has a tragic flaw, and is responsible for his own fate. Brutus is the perfect advocate for a tragic …show more content…
He has the tragic flaw of being trustworthy to all people and seeing the best in everyone, also he thinks that everything he does is honorable. Thinking that everyone is reliable and trusting them with big decisions is his downfall. He wants the people of Rome to respect him and think of him as a noble person. Also Brutus has the terrible habit of thinking everything he does is honorable. Having a great tragic flaw like this is one of the main focuses of being a tragic hero. Brutus with the two major flaws fits the requirements of a hero way more than Caesar and shows it a little more in the book. Cassius says, “He should not humor me. I will this night, In several hands, in at his windows throw, As if they came from several citizens, Writings all tending to the great opinion That Rome holds of his name” (1.2.12 ). This shows that Brutus was too trusting and gullible and he thought the people wanted him to make the decision to kill Caesar. Being that trustworthy of the people is a tragic flaw and is a perfect example. Being trustworthy of everyone is a tragic flaw but thinking everything you do is honorable is even worse. Antony says, “But Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man” (1.2.8). In this quote antony is saying that Brutus says he honorable and did nothing wrong in the killing of Caesar. His biggest flaw in the book is this, he …show more content…
Brutus makes many mistakes in the book and his is unspokenly responsible for his own fate. When a character causes their own fate they are considered a tragic hero and he definitely contributed to his own fate and his decisions decided that. Causing one's fate can be rather hard to do in a book because that requires them to make rather important decisions on their life. Brutus not only needs to make his decisions for himself but all of the conspirators. With this responsibility he is the tragic hero because he is deciding for everyone. Antony says, “Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him: if he love Caesar, all that he can do is to himself, take thought and die for Caesar:” (2.1.24). His greatest fault here was that he trusted Antony too much and it came back to hurt him. His fault was great and that makes him a way better tragic hero than Caesar. In the same way Brutus says, “By your pardon: I will myself into the pulpit first, and show the reason of our Caesar’s death: what what Antony shall speak, I will protest” (3.1.42). He was way too lenient with Antony and should not of let him go into the pulpit but that shows his flaw. If he wouldn’t of let Antony speak the war would not have started and he may not have caused his own fate. These quotes prove that Brutus was a better tragic hero with the greater