How Is Brutus A Tragic Hero

Jordan Berger
Mrs. Voshell
Honors English 10
10 May 2017
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar: The Tragic Hero The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a play written by William Shakespeare, shows the conspiracy of the killing of Julius Caesar. The play has five acts in it, each with a few different scenes. Marcus Brutus is one of the main characters in the play and has the main focal point on him throughout. He is one of the conspirators that killed Caesar and was the biggest surprise to Caesar, for he was one of his closest allies. The play really reveals that Brutus was the tragic hero of it. In order for a character to be a tragic hero, they must conduct a few traits and elements to them. Marcus Brutus was of noble birth because Junius Brutus, the …show more content…
Firstly, he focusses on his decision to side with Cassius and the conspirators to kill Caesar. In 2.1 Brutus says, “Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, / I have not slept” (Shakespeare 2.1.61-62). When Brutus says ‘I have not slept’ he is admitting to contemplating the idea to side with Cassius and go through with his plan. Secondly, a major choice he makes is allowing Antony to speak to the Romans after Caesar’s death. When it is brought up about letting Antony speak for Caesar's death, Cassius immediately shuts it down and says it is a bad idea because Antony could start something against them larger than they know. However, Brutus thinks that it is okay to let Antony speak and says he must speak in the same place and after Brutus. He also must make it clear the the conspirators gave him permission to talk and he must not talk bad about them. In an article by J.L. Simmons, he states, “When they discussed the execution of their plan...to kill Antony as well as Caesar” (Simmons 64). The rest of the conspirators thought it would be a good idea to kill Antony as well, but Brutus declines their notion because he says it is necessary and they don’t want to seem like cold murderers, just doing what needs to be done. Now, with Antony still alive and about to make a speech to the …show more content…
Brutus’s reason for deciding to kill Caesar was he thought Caesar would try and become the dictator of Rome and change the government. The thing that was holding him back was that he was an honorable man that the people respect, but wouldn’t respect if he killed their leader. That is why Cassius wrote a bunch of letter out to Brutus that were to seem to be from the countrymen of Rome telling Brutus it would be a good idea to get Caesar out of power and get himself in power. Cassius had convinced him that killing Caesar would be for the betterment of Rome and with Brutus thinking the people had his back on it and would respect him for it, he went ahead and joined Cassius. The outcome of these events however, was not what Brutus was expecting. By letting Antony speak, he was able to fire up the countrymen of Rome against the conspirators and made them all want to kill them for what they have done. The choices which Brutus thought would be better for Rome as a whole and himself, turned out to be what lead to his death when his army was defeated and he killed himself with a sword held by

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