Julius Caesar Tragic Hero Essay

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Many Americans of today share the same fatal flaw as Brutus leading him to his downfall. As a democracy, Americans have the right to vote, and the mentality of this voting process has drastically changed for the worse. Every election, people define themselves as a republican or a democrat, and only look at the possible negatives of the opposing party having control over the federal government. In Brutus’ case, he looked at the might be negatives of a king Caesar, and refused to look at the opposing perspective, even though Caesar and Brutus were close pals. Why is it that in Caesar and modern day life, electing who to control us is the biggest worry? William Shakespeare depicts Brutus as a tragic hero in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by displaying Brutus’ importance in society, expounding his fatal flaw, and resolving his unfortunate end. First of all, in order for a character to be considered a tragic hero, he needs to be an important member of society. Julius Caesar, the future ruler of Rome, played a big role in Brutus’ recognition by not only being noble acquaintances, but best friends. Brutus’ name is so noble and well known, his battlefield …show more content…
For a tragic hero to be a tragic hero, the main character, in this case Brutus, has to come to some sort of calamitous end. This end was Brutus taking his own life by telling Strato, “Hold, then, my sword, and turn away thy face… Caesar now be still”. (Shakespeare 5.5, 51) Good nature in a person is the true cause of guilt. When a good natured person, like Brutus, can’t get over a bad deed, guilt kicks in. The only way for guilt to eradicate itself is to be confessed to. In this case, guilt was confessed to by suicide. Brutus saying, “Caesar now be still” is when the true guilt comes out and Brutus will join him as a ghost by killing himself with the same sword that killed