The tragic fall of Marcus Brutus in Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar
Brutus as a Tragic Hero
The tragic flaw is not a bad quality, on the contrary, one would be hard put to find dishonest or reprehensible quality in a tragic figure, like Hamlet for instance; however, this quality leads to that man's fall. To know the protagonist of this play, I will present the features of Julius Caesar, Cassius and Brutus. For Caesar, pride and ambition lead to his downfall. Although there is no tangible proof to his ambition, which will change him into a tyrant; yet, the "conspirators" feared his greatness. His pride is a bad quality while the tragic flaw must be a good quality leading to his fal
l .Cassius cannot be taken for a tragic hero because he has more
bad qualities than good. He deceives almost everyone around him in
order to kill Caesar. His motives were his envy and jealousy of Caesar .
This contradicts the main features of a tragic hero, namely, nobility ,
honesty, etc. Brutus' idealism is the tragic flaw. It lies I that there is a
slight and subtle but pervasive undercutting of himself in almost every
one of his sterling qualities.
Brutus is not only an idealist, but also and
unrealistic idealist.
Therefore, his idealism is no match for ruthlessness and deceit. His
devotion to the abstract virtues which indeed are what he lives by remove
him from the common arena in which most men live. He is so poor a
judge of men's characters as to prepare the ground for his disaster. In
other words, the nature of Brutus is such that t contains in every virtue a
subtle consequence of harm to him and this is a tragic flaw which through
his actions, interactions, emotions, and intellectual reasoning brings him
to his end; yet, his death is not the tragedy. The tragic flaw has brought
about the waste of all the virtues, love and life values of the man,
Brutus. (AMEER, 2009,p9).
I propose, then, that the roots of the tragic actions in Julius Caesar lie
in communal identity; and that the actors, in asserting their
individ uality, do so by responding to impulses that emanate from the
col- lective mind . The ambivalence of"act", so exhaustively explored in
the canon ,is here defined in terms of Roman society. What the Romans
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imitate is their ancestry; what they aspire to be is the reflection of the
dead .Always their names stand to them as a gauge of conduct, a living
tribunal over which their ancestors preside. Hence the play becomes, in a
very Roman way, a sacrifice to one's ancestors. It is perhaps the most
pessimistic, the most unillusioned of all ~hakespearean trage- dies, this
vision of a society that knows no other way of defining its present, no
other exit from its past. In the end even the individuality of the name
disappears, lost in the collective formation. Like Hamlet, this play poses
the question, "Who's there?" (1, iii, 41). Unlike Hamlet, it supplies an
answer: "A Roman."(Berry ,1981, p335)
Defining the Concept of a Tragic Hero and Its
Relevance to Brutus
Definition and characteristics of tragic heroes Why are they arrogant ?
Tragic hero Enjoys a prominent position in society either by birth or by
extraordinary achievements. Demonstrates wisdom, moral or
philosophical greatness - and sometimes physical prowess. Adheres to
and embodies the rules of conduct including respect for God's laws. The
universe, loyalty to family, respect for government He has a personality
or psychological defect that ultimately leads to total destruction ( Grogan ,
,2014p5)
Everyone seems to want something for themselves except Brutus - he
believes himself to be a descendant of Lucius Junius Brutus who expelled
the last emperor of Rome and... The Republic was founded by Brutus, the
judge of Caesar, a high-ranking judge and official in the... Senate Brutus
is a Stoic who believes that big boys don't cry and neither do big girls .
Portia Tell me your advice, I won't give it away. I have provided strong evidence of my vegetarianism by giving myself a voluntary cut Here in
my thigh, can I bear it with patience ?(Julius Caesar) And not my
husband's secrets?
The Stoics live a life characterized by rationality, reason and
responsibility, and are never subject to emotions or feelings of physical
pain. Duty is first. They (in the case of Brutus) are the strong, silent types
who take on their own character. Advise seriously and do not listen to the
people closest to their hearts, Portia knows Brutus He's not sick because
he claims the reason for his strange kingship is some sick crime Within
your own mind” (2.1.268).
This internal conflict is the very weakness that Cassius used for Brutus
turned to love other men "the plot" of . Poor Tuss, who is fighting the war
himself, offers his duty only as a descendant of a noble Roman and The
Ideals of His Creed Brunos is not exactly a smart man and the
conspirators have no plan of action Having killed Caesar, and not even
swearing a pact of fealty, they do not kill Antony, Nacius's right-hand
man, but let him speak at Caesar's funeral with Brunus' permission.
Earlier, he was easily fooled by random notes thrown at his window (Act
II, Scene I)
Don Guide, and makes some military decisions Mrs. (Law (5)
betrays Brutus in such stoicism and this desensitizes him to the actions of
daily life such as getting your hands dirty to lift them Money pays the
salaries of your troops (4.3.65-80), or even mourns the death of your wife
- something for which Brutus is directly responsible Portia, in Brutus's
absence, has become "scattered "and distracted. The creation of fire",
Brunus is the great conqueror, his pride has become his evil Blind
technical stoicism, he is literally "afraid "to deal with the realities of
being human and Preferring to assassinate Caesar during a clear moment
before assassinating Caesar, Brutus does Suicide upon his capture, the very order he had been trying to maintain in Rome was destroyed. The
analogy of man as a yellowish world and the repercussions of his will on
the world of the larger society It corresponds to the beginning of the
calligraphy (Tillyard ,1972, p91-94).
References
- Tillyard, E.M.W. "The Correspondences in The Elizabethan World Picture. New York: Vintage Books, 1972.Tillyard's volume explores the order of the Elizabethan world from the heavens to intricate personalty traits.
- Grogan, Jon. "Arrogance as Evil in the Tragic Hero." 2014.
- AMEER, FATIN ADNAN ABED. "THE PROTAGONIST IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S JULIUS CAESAR." 2009.
- Berry, Ralph. "Julius Caesar: A Roman Tragedy." The Dalhousie Review .1981