Brutus Was The Tragic Hero of Julius Caesar

Essay by DeadenedhateHigh School, 10th grade July 2004

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Tragic hero: A tragic hero has the potential for greatness but is doomed to fail. He is trapped in a situation where he cannot win. He makes some sort of tragic flaw, and this causes his fall from greatness. Even though he is a fallen hero, he still wins a moral victory, and his spirit lives on. In every one of Shakespeare's plays, there is a hero. In Julius Caesar, there are a number of people to pick from; Caesar himself could be the hero, Cassius could be considered the hero, Calpurnia could be the hero...etc. This boils down to the main question; who was the hero of Julius Caesar? Almost every character has it's heroic moments; but which one really qualifies to all of the requisites to be a hero? After careful examination or all of the characters, any reasonable person should realize, that, of course, this hero was none other than Caesar's best friend, Brutus.

By definition, a tragic hero must, of course, have heroic qualities. So what qualities does Brutus have that would make him any more applicable to the title than any other character in the play? There are a few of these. For one, Brutus was a genuinely nice person. He did not wish to harm anyone, and really only wanted to general good for all people. Secondly, as stated in Act 2, scene 1, lines 10-12, "It must be by his death; and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general...." He killed Caesar, not out of envy or greed, but for the benefit of the Roman people. Thirdly, he wished not to die at the hands of his enemies; he wished to die in a way that was considered honorable at the time,