...William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, set in Rome in 44 B.C, focuses on the character of Julius Caesar and his gruesome assassination by the members of the Roman Senate. Mark Antony, Caesar’s best friend, plots his revenge and incites a riot, causing the exile of the conspirators and their impending defeat. The tragic hero with a tragic flaw can be found in the character of Julius Caesar, an example of this being Caesar’s prominence in society as well as his fatal flaw of hubris. Another example is Caesar’s recognition of his fatal flaw following his betrayal and downfall. A third example is Caesar’s redemption, when his death is fully grasped by Marcus Brutus, who was once Caesar’s friend but betrayed him. The tragic hero is Julius Caesar because of his fatal flaw of hubris, his recognition of his flaw in his...
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...A Tragic Flaw During many of Shakespeare’s tragedies, a tragic hero is identified as a heroic figure that has a flaw that leads to the character's downfall. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, there are many arguments over who is the tragic hero. Some people say it is Marcus Brutus. Others say that it is Julius Caesar. After examining these two options, a solution has been made. Brutus is the tragic hero because he possesses such heroic qualities and dies at the end of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus deserves the title tragic hero for many reasons. First is because Brutus is a noble man. He never deceives anyone in the play. Even though he was part of the conspiracy and killed Julius Caesar, he did it for the benefit of Rome. Brutus stated: “if then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (870). Brutus did everything for the benefit of someone else. Brutus was a noble man and he cared about others more than himself. Another example of this is when Brutus did not tell Portia his plans to murder Caesar because he felt it would stress her even more in Act two, Scene one. Brutus was a noble man....
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...In Julius Caesar, Brutus is a tragic hero. His tragic flaws are honor, poor judgment, and idealism Cassius and the other conspirators take advantage of Brutus’ honor. The conspirators wrote Brutus fake letters from the public to get him to join them. Once he joined the conspirators, they used him to bring good to killing Caesar. This idea worked until Antony showed up. That’s when Brutus’ second flaw showed itself. The second flaw is Brutus’ poor judgment. His judgment is taken advantage of by Antony. The first sign of this is when Antony talks Brutus into letting him speak at Caesar’s funeral. Another example of Brutus’ poor judgment is how Brutus thinks that Antony could cause no harm to the conspirators and their plan. The judgment Brutus made when he let Antony speak at the funeral was the turning point of the play and it led to the conspirator’s downfall. Brutus’ final act of poor judgment was when he decided to attack Antony and Octavius at Philippi. These decisions lead too many deaths including his. Brutus’ final flaw is his idealism. His idealism leads him to believe everything that everybody tells him. His idealism causes him to believe in Antony and Cassius. Cassius uses Brutus’ idealism by getting him to believe that they are killing Caesar for the betterment of Rome. Antony uses the idealism to get to talk to the com Brutus’ tragic flaws are part of what makes him a tragic hero. In Julius Caesar, Brutus is a great example of a tragic hero. His tragic flaws are...
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...bliss, however that doesn’t apply to Caesar. It is because of ignorance that Caesar is killed by the conspirators in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. However it is not only ignorance that leads to Caesar’s death, fatal flaws also play a role in Caesar's demise. Caesar has his fair share of fatal flaws affecting both his private and public life. Caesar’s public pride, stubbornness to those close to him, and constant naiveness and nobility ultimately led him to his doom. In Caesar’s public life, his pride runs his life. For example, Calpurnia had convinced Caesar not to go the Senate after having a terrifying dream about Caesar’s death. In her dream, Calpurnia saw Caesar's body in a fountain of blood with Romans...
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...From the savage Neanderthal to the charismatic Julius Caesar, humans have selfishly betrayed one another since the dawn of time. Written by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar portrays the tragedy of the Roman ruler. Deceived by his friends, Caesar is brutally murdered as the conspirators try to prevent him from ascending to the throne as the next leader of Rome. By placing their own egotistical interests and misconceptions before Rome’s, the conspirators wrongfully murdered Julius Caesar. Throughout the play, Brutus continually questions whether or not he should follow through with the plan to assassinate Caesar. He even makes the remark several times that Caesar personally did nothing to him saying, “It must be by his death; and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general. He would be crown'd: How that might change his nature, there's the question” (II.i.10). Brutus recognizes that other than his own fears for the future, Caesar has done nothing to deserve death. The conspirators repeatedly claim that because of Caesar’s unruly ambition, he would take the throne and expose his greedy, selfish side, although he has never shown any sign to actually having one. Convincing Brutus of this, they become obsessed with the idea that Julius Caesar would become a megalomaniac after his rise to the throne, making this the main incentive that the conspirators have against him, eventually making a rash decision to “sacrifice” him, supposedly for the good of...
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...William Shakespeare, born April 23, 1564, was a playwright from the late sixteenth century. He enjoyed writing characters as tragic heroes. In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the tragic hero is Brutus. Although the play is named after Caesar, Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger is the main character. The literary work focuses on the emotions, actions, and decisions made by Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger. Brutus is the best friend of Titular character, Julius Caesar. Gaius Julius Caesar is a member of the first Triumvirate of Rome, a form of government that is run by three people. Traditionally, a tragic hero is a character in a literary work who is usually of noble birth or who has notable ancestry. The character that is the tragic hero also has another distinguishing characteristic. The tragic hero has to have...
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...JULIUS CAESAR BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR Question 1 In what way does the crowd function as a character? In the play “Julius Caesar”, the crowd plays a crucial role in portraying the setting of their society. The crowds would usually portray characteristics of one character or individual. They acted like this in the way they went about doing things e.g.- they would always take the side of the person in power, they were easily persuaded because of their naïve state of mind. Question 2 One thing Julius Caesar and Brutus have in common is their divided selves. Compare the two characters with special reference to their public and private selves. Both Caesar and Brutus have two distinguished personalities, (divided selves). In reference to Brutus’ public personality, he is confident and hold himself in high esteem. He refuses to show even a spec of weakness. He takes great pride in his speeches. As opposed to his private self, who is very timid and gentle. This was portrayed in the play when he tries to conceal tis side of him from his wife. In reference to Caesar’s public personality, he is fearless, arrogant and noble in public. Caesar was unable to separate his public self from his private self unlike Brutus. Caesar would discuss his private affairs publicly. Question 3 Compare and contrast the scene between Portia and Brutus and the scene between Caesar and Calpurnia Brutus and Portia share a more respectful relationship with an understanding that they are...
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...Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare William Shakespeare Renowned English poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare’s birth date is not known; however, he is said to have been baptized on the 26th of April 1564. He died on the 26th of April 1616 but not before he had written about 38 plays, 154 sonnets and other literary pieces. Shakespeare’s plays have been translated into several languages over the years and have been produced in many forms throughout the ages. The Play Julius Caesar is a play about friendship, betrayal and power. The play is a historical tragedy as it presents the biography of one of the greatest man to have ever lived in Rome. Caesar was made Dictator and Consol after he chased Pompey and his forces out of Rome in an attempt to obtain ultimate power. Caesar’s ultimate goal was to become Rome’s first king and he remained focus on this goal until his death in 44BC. His death was as a result of fate and his refusal to acknowledge the many signs and omens that foreshadowed his fall. Brutus a very good friend of Caesar also took part in his assassination. Brutus feared that Caesar would become a tyrant and harm the people of Rome. In an attempt to ‘save’ the people Brutus helped Cassius to take Caesar’s life. After Caesar’s death he is avenged by his loyal servant Antony who skillfully manipulates his way into the band of conspirators. Later, after winning the love of the people Antony pursues and conquers Brutus’ and Cassius’ forces...
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...are distinct differences in Shakespeare’s tragic heroes, and other tragic heroes. A Tragic hero is usually a character that makes a mistake that leads to his failure, but a Shakespearean tragic hero is initially one, who is born noble, but not necessarily virtuous; there are some great aspects of personality that he has in excess which would often also be his weakness which creates a conflict for the character. His own destruction brings out the principle or moral of the play. Scholars argues that Othello is not a hero but a murder that commits a crime of passion, but just as every Shakespearean tragic characters, Othello is a person that has made an error of judgment, had a fatal flaw and was destined for defeat; which when combined with external forces, will bring on a tragedies like Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Like many other characters in Shakespearean tragic plays, Othello is not a weak character nor is he a person of failure, but he is the captain of the Venice army, he is married to one of the most beautiful woman of Venice named Desdemona, and he is very well known even though he was of a different ethnicity. When Brabantio accuses him of putting a spell on his daughter Desdemona; in front of the Venetian senate, no one believes the charges because of his outstanding reputation "Here comes Brabantio and the valiant Moor,"(Othello 1.3.47). Unfortunately, this was only the beginning, Othello’s main role in the play started to unravel when he made his first mistake...
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...Julius Caesar If Caesar had been more astute and willing to accept his own vulnerability, he might have recognized warnings around him which foreshadowed his assassination. One of the warnings, which was very important, was Artemidorus’ letter which contained names of all conspirators. This takes place in Act III scene i lines 5-10. Caesar ignored this warning by refusing to read Artemidorus’ letter, because he wanted to read it last, as he says “What touches us ourself shall be last serv’d.” The second warning that he ignored was Calphurnia’s (his wife’s) dream about Caesar’s blood upon the Capitol (Act II scene ii). After he received this warning, at first he decided not to go, but then Decius came and changed his mind by interpreting the dream such a way that seems to be good. Decius said those bloods and all mean that great Rome regards you as its lifeblood. Therefore, Caesar changed his mind and decided to go to the Senate House. As you see the warnings were all around Caesar and he just had to listen to others. The last warning that I found in the play were fortune-tellers. Before Caesar goes to Senate House, he asked soothsayers and fortune-tellers about it, and they advised him not to go out on that day (Act II scene ii). This is what they said: “Opening up the innards of a sacrifice, they couldn’t find a heart inside the beast.” From these warnings, and assassination of Caesar, we conclude that Caesar was proud of himself, believing himself as eternal as...
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...is particularly relevant to the character of Brutus during the play. During the scenes of William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, characters are able to rise to power through their particular strengths. These characters, Cassius, Brutus, and Antony all have different characteristics that helped them gain power within the city of Rome. However, these people also showed that they were human by having weaknesses that led to their down fall. Within a leader, it is important to look at their trustworthiness, honorability, reputation, and their use of empathy. These three characters all displayed differences within these traits which made them unique in their own ways. Within the scenes of Julius Caesar, Cassius, the leader of the conspiracy against Caesar, displays many strengths that guide him to the rise to power, and weaknesses which direct him to his eventual fall. Cassius believes that the people of Rome are responsible for the government of Rome. They have allowed a man to gain excessive power; therefore, they have the responsibility to stop him, and with a man of Caesar's well-known ambition, that can only mean assassination. Clearly, the most significant characteristic of Cassius is his ability to perceive the true motives of men; in other words, the ability to read or see through other people, which is called empathy. Caesar...
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...In William Shakespeare’s woeful play Julius Caesar, Roman nobleman and friend of Caesar Marcus Brutus embodies the customary role of tragic hero, a flawed character solely responsible for his own downfall resulting from a series of unfortunate and poorly made choices. As a first example, Shakespeare illustrates Brutus’ nobility, a prime and essential characteristic of a tragic hero, when conspirator Casca describes him as “ ‘sit[ting] high in all the people’s hearts. . . . His countenance, like richest alchemy, / Will change to virtue and worthiness’ ” (Shakespeare I.iii.157, 159-160). Certainly, through Casca’s description of Brutus’ honor, status, and aristocracy, Shakespeare confirms his social standing within Roman society, a key trait...
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...secret. While Juliet has taken a sleeping potion to make her seem dead, Romeo kills himself himself not knowing she is really alive. Juliet eventually wakes up and also kills herself. Some critics call this play the greatest example of a romantic tragedy during the Renaissance. While other critics believe that Romeo and Juliet both possess flaws that contribute to their fate. This play is so famous because their has been multiple paintings illustrated toward the work, as well as musicals, operas, and ballets set to the theme of Romeo and Juliet. Commonly mistaken as one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, Macbeth, was produced around the year 1606. Shakespeare was believed by scholars to write Macbeth to celebrate and win over the...
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...In Julius Caesar, Mark Antony’s main claim is that Caesar's death was unjust because he had no such ambition for which the conspirators decided her should die for. Antony uses sarcasm to point out the flaws in the conspirator's logic subtly to allow his audience to come up with their own conclusion that Caesar’s death was a treasonous mutiny. Throughout his funeral speech Antony often brings up Brutus and the others as honorable in a sarcastic manner to again, persuade Romans to produce their own conclusion of Brutus and the others. This a very strong, and...
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...If killing someone meant helping the people around you, would you do it? The Tragedy of Julius Caesar portrays an endless amount of betrayal, flaws, and defeat between many characters, inevitably causing death for most of those characters. Brutus' funeral speech is most effective due to his use of logos, pathos, and ethos. Brutus powerfully uses logos in his funeral speech for Caesar. For example, when Brutus says, "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more;” Brutus is very skeptical about the plan of the conspirators to kill Caesar. When he finally joined, he is convinced that he is doing this deed for nothing more than the good of Rome; Caesar was too ambitious and would soon become a tyrant. His ambition causes distress for the entire city of Rome; "death for his ambition." Caesar was becoming too powerful, and it would soon do no good for Rome as Brutus explains in his speech....
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