Through his hubris, the pleasurable shaming of the victim in one's overconfidence, Brutus meets the criteria for a tragic hero when he claims himself above Caesar in terms of leadership ability. During a conversation with his close friend Cassius, one of the initial conspirators who convinces him to join their cause, Brutus reveals he “had rather be a villager then to repute himself as a son of Rome under these hard conditions as this time is like to lay upon us”, showing his questioning of a man of higher status and skill than his own (add citation). After the conspiracy he allowed himself to fall into fails, his display of arrogance leads to his tragic downfall, directing the loss of not only the empire he hoped to claim and his friends,
Does his sense of patriotism really justify killing a friend and a major political leader? You may notice that Brutus isn't very sympathetic as he is defending what he did. The dramatic character has a flaw. That flaw maybe one single word, but there can be many parts to that word. For Brutus there are many parts of his flaw that make him the dramatic character.
1. Introduction In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, Gaius Julius Caesar is described by the character of Mark Antony as being, “…the noblest Roman of them all…” (Shakespeare Julius Caesar 5.5.67.231). Julius Caesar has been represented in history as a multi-faceted Roman leader, excelling in the military, social and political spheres of Roman life.
Here, Brutus seems genuine that he is not in search of glory and that he has no issues with Caesar. This example backs the claim that Brutus does have noble intentions. Apparently, however, Cassius’ words were able to affect Brutus more than he knew, as soon after he was turning on Caesar. Furthermore, when the other conspirators are deliberating whether or not to also kill Mark Antony, Brutus convinces the group not to kill anyone other than Caesar.
In Julius Caesar, both Brutus, and Caesar die because they suffer from a critical main character disease named ‘hubris’. Brutus thinks of himself as a savior of Rome because he killed Caesar. When the conspirators knock of his door, Brutus acknowledges his visitors and he asks them to consider how loyal they are, “Sham’st thou to show thy dangerous brow” (Shakespeare, 2.1.78). His placement in this scene shows his way to seem in a higher standing than others.
In William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, Cassius is a foil to Marcus Brutus, for Brutus is consistently described as honorable and kind, contrasting the always clever and self-centered, Cassius. Cassius acts as a character who goes against the virtues and weaknesses of the main character. Brutus announces, “Why man, he doth bestride the narrow World like a Colossus, and we pretty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves” (Shakespeare I. 2. 142-145). By appealing to Brutus' feeling of honor and loyalty to Rome, Cassius hopes to persuade him to join the conspiracy against Caesar.
The last words spoken by Julius Caesar were “Et tu Brute? Then fall, Caesar!” These words resonate the feelings of disbelief and betrayal Julius Caesar felt the moment his trusted friend and fellow roman, Brutus came out from the shadows of his fellow conspirators to assassinate him. Though Brutus was an honorable person his flaws caused both himself and Caesar to succumb to brutal deaths. The decision by Brutus to commit this act of mutiny upon Caesar was immoral.
Brutus also contains several other characteristics of a tragic hero. For example, Brutus possesses a hamartia. “Th’ abuse of greatness is when it disjoins/ Remorse from power; and, to speak truth of Caesar” (Shakespeare II.1.18-19). In this quote from the story, Brutus is saying that he believes Caesar would abuse the power of being crowned king.
Brutus fled his country where he eventually killed himself. While Brutus experiences an impactful turning point, Cassius ' actions and personality remain fairly constant within the negative traits. He represents gloominess from the beginning of the play; he is jealous, manipulative and pessimistic. “O coward that I am, to live so long to see my best friend ta 'en before my face.” (V.III.34-35).
He has realised his faults so clearly that he tells Caesar, the person he killed, to rest in peace. Brutus is definitely the tragic hero in this play because of the pity we feel for his realisation of his faults and ultimately his honourable
Cassius saves the life of Caesar, sees him beg for water, and witnesses his epileptic seizure. From these weaknesses, Cassius finds himself to be just as worthy of the crown as is Caesar. His reasons are emotionally tied to getting rid of Caesar, Brutus chooses to become a conspirator for the good of Rome. He does not know how Caesar will use his power.
Brutus and Cassius are two prominent conspirators in the play Julius Caesar; one of these two fits Aristotle's depiction of a tragic hero. The difference between a normal hero and a tragic hero is that the latter will have a tragic flaw that keeps them from succeeding. These characters are often sympathetic and will cleave to the reader's pity. Firstly, we shall discuss Cassius. He was a man of questionable character.
Shakespeare uses the idea of hubris, or tragic flaw, as the defining feature of his major characters in the play “Julius Ceasar.” The Greek word hubris refers to impertinent pride as a sense of security. Because of pride and arrogance, the character who personifies hubris always has a tragic downfall. William Shakespeare expertly portrays the tragic downfall in a character by thoroughly exposing their tragic fall. In “Julius Caesar,” both Caesar and Brutus suffer from hubris – both of them are filled with a sense of overconfidence and arrogance that leads to their tragic downfall.
Julius Caesar Zakary Powers Julius Caesar, leader of Rome, had a overwhelming ego and it is shown many times throughout the play of, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”. One of the times Julius Caesar showed his overwhelming ego was towards the beginning of the play when the soothsayer warns Caesar about the “ides of march”. The second time Julius shows his ego is when he says that he is not afraid of anybody - and people may talk behind his back, but never to his face as they would be too scared. The third time Julius shows his ego when he ignores his wife’s caution and worries about going to the Senate. Julius Caesar overall is seen to be arrogant and he has a very large ego.
Citizens of Rome, It has been brought to my attention that numerous citizens are angered by the supposed “grievous” plot the conspirators committed on the ides of March. Therefore, with this letter, I am attempting to enlighten the many of you as to why eliminating Caesar was the rightful action to have taken place. Caesar was a self-interested and ambitious tyrant, whose arrogance would have caused indubitable disaster for Rome and its citizens. First and foremost, Caesar was an arrogant and self-interested individual. His arrogance was evident, as he was in apparent denial of any potential danger he faced.
In “Julius Caesar” by Shakespeare, Julius Caesar is superstitious and arrogant. Julius Caesar is superstitious because he believes his wife’s bad dreams are a sign that he should stay home because he thinks something bad is going to happen. Is wife was screaming in her sleep saying, “Help, ho! They murdered Caesar!” He then decided to obey his wife to ease her worries.