Essay on Classical Arrangement

Submitted By samuelgaree98
Words: 919
Pages: 4

The Tragic Hero: Brutus With good qualities come bad decisions. Brutus has great qualities; however, he makes one bad decision which leads to his moment of catharsis and then to his death. He could have done the right thing and not betrayed Caesar, but for the “greater good” he does. Brutus is a just honorable man and is known as such all throughout Rome. Everything he does is for the good of the people . . . or so he thinks. He wants to serve Caesar faithfully and nobly, but when Cassius comes along, he is convinced that with Caesar deceased everything in Rome will be better. Cassius turns a noble man into a man who is dishonorable and un-just. Brutus is a great man but turns bad when he befriends Cassius. Yes, Brutus is the tragic hero in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar; this is because he is of noble birth and stature, and he experiences a brief moment of catharsis which then leads to his death. Being the tragic hero of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar he is the center of a lot of problems. This is known because Aristotle gives us the explicit definition. Tragedy is a very complex word yet here it is broken down in to one sentence for everyone to know, “A little more than a century later, Aristotle bestowed on the world the mixed blessing of explicit definition: the purpose of Tragedy was to provide a catharsis for the pity and the fear that it evoked” (Segal, 32, 33). This quote shows people what tragedy is all about; it also depicts what a tragic hero should have, and Brutus has those qualities. Brutus is known all throughout Rome as a just and honorable man so this goes to show that even the most just and honorable men you know make bad decisions that have very bad outcomes. He holds a high position and that is being Caesar’s right hand man. Brutus is like Caesars’ right hand man, but then Brutus betrays him. Caesar’s death happens because of Brutus’ decision to befriend Cassius. “It must be by his death: and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general” (Shakespeare; II; I; 10-12; Internet). With this quote it shows that he is doing something for what he thinks is right even if it is for the wrong reasons. It shows that he does not want to kill Caesar; however, he will because he believes it is for the better of Rome. Because he is narrow-minded; he never is thinking of the big picture and all the possible of consequences after the matter is handled. Although Brutus was born noble and holds a high position in Rome it does not mean that he is the smartest person and obviously doesn’t make the wisest choices. Just because someone is royalty does not mean that they are correct all the time and that the choices they make are always the wisest. After Brutus betrayed Caesar, he began to experience catharsis. When he experiences catharsis, he knows his guilt and what he did was wrong. When he experiences this he has already won the battle. Brutus feels so much guilt that he commits “suicide.” He has someone hold his sword then stabs himself with it. “Farewell good Strato” (Shakespeare; V; v; 2731; Internet). He does this because he cannot kill himself and no one will kill him. Therefore he decides to kill himself or have someone kill him; he has someone hold his sword then runs into and dies, that way it is “noble.”
Brutus is the tragic hero in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and Julius is not. This is because everything revolves around Brutus.