Tragic Hero in Julius Ceasar

Who was the tragic hero?

There are several characters in Julius Caesar that are tragic heroes. I Feel that Marcus Junius Brutus known as Brutus, is one of the tragic heroes. I chose Brutus because, Brutus stands out as a tragic hero more than the other characters, he was high ranking by being a senator, made poor choices at times and being too naive. There are several meanings of “tragic hero”. They all mean the same thing. According to Aristotle, “ A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty”. The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to making a serious error in judgement, and leads to an eventual downfall and death.

In Julius Caesar, Brutus displays the traits of tragic hero throughout this play. Brutus’s tragic flaw was being too naive. He makes an error in judgement, and when this error occurs, it causes his own downfall. But Brutus causes his own downfall when after killing Caesar and all of Rome turns against the conspirators. However, the factors that made Brutus the tragic hero are the main reasons that Brutus deserves the title of tragic hero in his noble personality.

Throughout the play, he never deceives anyone. Although he did murder Caesar, it was for the good of Rome, not to deceive Caesar. Everything he did was for the benefit of someone else. Even though he killed Antony’s best friend, Atony still recognized Brutus as “ the noblest Roman of them all” he does this in Act 5 Scene 5, after Brutus’ death, because Brutus the only conspirator that actually killed Caesar because he “loved Caesar less but loved Rome more”. He cared more about others than he did himself. For instance, in the process of killing Caesar, he could have easily backed out because he knew he might have been punished, but he knew in the long run, that it would help the plebeians most. Another example of his selflessness is in Act 2 Scene 1, when Brutus decides not to tell Portia his plan for the murder of Caesar. He feels she already has enough stress in her life and does not need to worry or deal with his plans.

Brutus also frequently demonstrated many acts of affection toward others. In Act 1, Scene 2, he is reluctant to join Cassius’s conspiracy because he did not want to betray Caesar. He had to weigh his choices. In Act 3, Scene 2, Brutus kills off Caesar only because he is afraid of what will happen to Rome if Caesar remains ruler. He knew the commoners’ life would be difficult with the ruling of Caesar. He realizes what a horrible man Caesar was. This is shown again is the same Act and Scene when Brutus allows Mark Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral even though Cassius highly disagreed. Brutus realized Caesar deserved a proper ceremony, and that the best way to do that would to let Antony speak. Finally he shows his endearment for others in Act 5, Scene 5. This is the scene in which Brutus kills himself partly because of Cassius, his best friend, died, but mainly because of his guilt he feels for killing Caesar.

All tragic heroes possess a character flaw that leads to their defeat. Brutus thought that everything was good in the world and that all men were honorable. He believed all that people told him and felt no one would lie or deceive him . He also believed the world would return this act.