Julius Caesar: Tragic Hero
by Barry Wright
Essay: Julius Caesar: Tragic Hero
Pages: 10
Rating: 3 stars
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In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus is portrayed as a tragic hero. He is one of
the two characters from this play that goes from being very high in society to completely falling because of
themselves. Brutus makes many mistakes but owns up to them. The fact that he is too pliable and accepts his
death as his own cause shows the true tragic hero within Brutus, and every person has their own view and
interpretation of him. The problem in this story, although its called “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, is far from
being just about Caesar himself. Brutus has to overcome many obstacles, one being his involvement in the murder
of Caesar, his best friend. He must live with this guilt forever on and it causes problems between him and one of
the other conspirators. Brutus is, to say the least, the most fitting example of a tragic hero.
Brutus is a pliable character in this story. He knows he is Caesars best and most
faithful friend, but was still able to turn on him with the words of another. He knows it is
not the right thing for him to be a part of at first because he goes to say, “I know no
personal cause to spur at him/ but for the general”(924 ). The conspirators attain their
mission of getting Brutus in on murdering Caesar, but not for the right reasons. He knows
how sincere and true Caesar is but goes on to compare him to a serpents’ egg. “And
therefore think him as a serpent's egg/ which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow
mischievous,/ and kill him in the shell”(926). In my opinion, it could only take a truly evil and malevolent person
such as this to turn on your dearest friend. Being able to be moved like this is a major flaw and is not something
Brutus can be proud of....