Tragic Hero In The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar

A tragic hero, as defined by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, is a character who makes an irrevocable mistake because of due to an undesirable character trait that leads them to their potential downfall called a tragic flaw. Examples of tragic heroes include Macbeth of The Tragedy of Macbeth, whose ambition leads to his demise, and Oedipus of Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex, whose ignorance and hubris leads to eternal humiliation. In Shakespeare’s tragedy, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the tragic hero is portrayed as an idealistic man who is in conflict between his love of his dear friend, whom he believes in turning into a tyrant, and his love of the Roman people, who he believes deserve freedom. This character is not the eponymous Caesar, who
In The Tragedy of Macbeth, it is ambition. In Oedipus Rex, it is hubris. Brutus is known for betraying Caesar, a sin so severe that he suffers in the deepest circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno: the circle for treachery, where he is being chewed on by the mouth of Satan himself. However, the Brutus that Shakespeare portrays is not flawed because of his betrayal, but instead his idealistic nature. Brutus is described as “the noblest Roman of them all” (V.v.68), as he is the only conspirator to betray Caesar to ameliorate Rome for the sake of the people. He is a man strongly driven by his ideals, of his belief that the Roman public must have autonomy in their government and not be ruled by a tyrannical monarch. Despite having noble reasons for betraying Caesar, Brutus’ literal backstabbing of Caesar is still backstabbing: a violent act of treason made worse by how Caesar was his friend. Because of his immutable moralism, he is easily manipulated by Cassius, who appeals to Brutus’ morals in order to convince him to participate in the conspiracy, saying that “Where in many of the best respect in Rome… wish’d that noble Brutus has his eyes” (I.ii.58-62). In fact, Brutus is recruited for the conspiracy as everyone knows of his noble personality. He is used to legitimize the idea that Caesar is being assassinated for being a tyrannical megalomaniac, so that
For Brutus, his tragic mistake is his betrayal of Despite having noble reasons for betraying Caesar, Brutus’ literal backstabbing of Caesar is still backstabbing: a violent act of treason made worse by how Caesar was his friend. His reasoning for betraying Caesar, that he must “...think him as a serpent's egg / Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous (II.i.32-33) and kill him while he is not yet a dictator is faulty reasoning, because there is no evidence of Caesar is a dictator. Caesar, while being portrayed as haughty and stubborn, never shows totalitarian tendencies in any of the three scenes he is seen alive. Considering the greed of the patricians, it is best that the power not be in their corrupt hands but instead with Caesar. Brutus’ betrayal of Caesar is the most harrowing, not only because he is betraying a political leader, but also because Brutus is betraying a personal friend who has done nothing to hurt him. Caesar cries out “Et tu Brute? Then fall Caesar!” (III.i.77) when he sees that even noble Brutus took part in the assassination. Brutus’ betrayal leaves a deeper wound than the rest of the conspirators, because Caesar knows that the other conspirators carry animosity towards him. Brutus’ betrayal of Caesar and the other conspirator’s betrayal can be compared to a relationship in which one partner commits adultery versus an acquaintance