Tragic Hero Aristotle says that a tragedy shows the downfall of a hero through fate or a mistake. The character who must go through a struggle and who experiences a downfall is the tragic hero. Shakespeare follows Aristotle’s guidelines for a tragedy in his plays. In William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus is the tragic hero. Admittedly, Caesar could be considered the tragic hero due to his realization of his wrongdoings when he sees Brutus after being stabbed. However, Caesar never fully accepted responsibility for his actions before he died, unlike Brutus. Brutus’s dying words are, “Caesar, now be still. I killed thee with half so good a will (V.v.50-51).” These words confirm that Brutus recognizes that killing Caesar wasn’t the best course of action. Within these final words, we also see Brutus’s regret for what …show more content…
Shortly after realizing defeat, Brutus falls on a sword before Antony and Octavius reach him so as to die an “honorable” death. Antony names Brutus the noblest Roman of them all because he did not envy Caesar like other conspirators, but he killed Caesar to protect Rome (V.v.68-70). This shows that Brutus was an honorable all the way through until after his death. His commitment to Rome and to his morals is an admirable trait, that becomes even more admirable in defeat. Naturally, Octavius says that Brutus deserves a proper funeral and burial to honor him and his life (V.v.76-77). Funerals were an important part of Roman culture and proper burial of an enemy symbolizes Octavius’ respect for Brutus. Both Octavius and Antony’s attitudes towards Brutus after his death demonstrates that not only do the readers find Brutus to be admirable after his death, but the characters also have a degree of respect for him. This perfectly portrays Aristotle’s definition of a tragic
The Selfishness and jealousy of Brutus and Cassius identified as the reasoning behind the killing of Caesar. Prior to the killing Brutus notably honors Caesar in a special way. He comes to realization that the ghost of Caesar payed him a visit as a sign and it did not take long for Brutus to understand the message given to him. Brutus determines that the way to prove how much regret he carried towards his actions, he would need to plunge into his sword and end his life. Before Brutus does so, he shows his sorrow for Caesar by saying, “Caesar, you can rest now.
Brutus uses the appeals of Ethos, Pathos, Logos to manipulate the thoughts and feelings of the plebeians to join Brutus’
Julius Caesar: Analysis of Tone in Funeral Speeches MLK, Jr. once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” (Goodreads). In the play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, actions and words are used and spoken against a friend and a rival contributing to the assassination of their fellow friend Caesar. Two people that were very close to Caesar speak out against each other during their funeral speeches. Brutus, who is a “friend” and also a conspirator against Caesar, and Antony who is a very loyal friend to Caesar, use several rhetorical and literary devices as they create tone of proud assertive and defiant manipulation to get the Roman citizens on their side.
Brutus’s words emphasize his desperation for help in his death, “thou knowst that we two went to school together; Even for that our love of old, I prithee, Hold thou my sword whilst I run on it” further emphasizes that though they have been long friends who love each other Brutus’s need of not facing bondage leads him to his
Julius Caesar was a politician, general, and dictator. He once said, “It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” He was an incredible speaker of the time and was very well liked by most citizens. He brought a lot of change to Rome and was a very strong leader. Julius Gaius Caesar was born in Rome Italy, in 100 B.C., on July 13th.
In Act 3 Scene 2 Brutus said during his speech, “If that friend then demands to know why Brutus turned against Caesar, this is my answer: Not because I cared for Caesar less, but because I cared for Rome more”. Brutus had courage to kill Caesar, not because he wanted to, but for the good of Rome and its people. During the entirety of the story, Brutus
In Julius Caesar written by, William Shakespeare, we can see the different ways that Brutus is the tragic hero. A tragic hero is someone, who is usually noble, that makes an error in their judgement which ultimately comes back to haunt them. We can see that this is the case from Brutus because he makes a bad judgment decision. Brutus was a noble man that was well-respected and spoke very well. His great friend Julius Caesar was getting too tyrannical and he had to do something about it.
Romans knew Caesar as an ambitious and honorable man, but Brutus is said to be as well. Which one might have assumed from Antony’s speech, was a plea for righteousness for the death of Julius Caesar. Antony states that he has come to bury Caesar but as the speech goes forward we come to realize he has come to bury the conspirators for their wrongdoings. Using ethos, pathos, and logos throughout his speech to shine the light on the truth of this tragedy. Using ethos by stating “Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.
When Antony is brave enough to come out of hiding he asks Brutus two favors. One of them is to make a speech at Caesar’s funeral and the other is to bring his body with him. Brutus agreed to both of these demands. He would later then realize that he should not have let Antony make a speech at Caesar’s funeral.
Proving a Tragic Hero A character who makes a judgement or error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction, defines a tragic hero, according to Aristotle. In William Shakespeare’s writings, one character generally identifies as a tragic hero. Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, comes from the true events that took place in Rome during the time that Caesar rose and gained power as dictator. After Pompey’s death in Egypt; caused by each of their power-hungry desires, Caesar declared himself dictator of Rome.
But in the end, Brutus felt he had not made an honorable use of Caesar’s death and realized he made a mistake so he took his own life, and unlike Cassius, he died an honorable death for honorable reasons. “This was the noblest Roman of them all./ All the conspirators save only he/ Did that they did in envy of great Caesar./ He only in a general honest thought/ And common good to all, made one of them”
When Brutus spoke about his motives to kill Caesar he said, “As he was valiant I / honor him. But, as he was ambitious, I slew him.” (3.2.27-28). Brutus honored Caesar but saw that his ambition has the potential of being very dangerous. He thought that a danger like Caesar could not be left to grow more powerful when there is a solution to the issue now.
Samantha Durand 27 October 2015 Dunipace 4th Julius Caesar Essay Brutus is the Tragic Hero William Shakespeare wrote “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” to tell the story of the tragedy that happened to him. When Caesar was going to become king, his own friends turned into conspirators against him. Since the conspirators said that Caesar would abuse the power of being king, they decided to murder him for the sake of the Roman people.
Brutus has negatively affected the outlook of Rome and created more harm than good for the situation. Not only did it harm Rome, but it brought his own demise and hallucinations of Caesar’s ghost. Brutus’s speech to the plebeians after Caesar’s death, about his dilemma and his viewpoint towards Caesar, influenced the viewpoints of the plebeians and causes them to believe he is the best roman until Antony speaks to them. Brutus’s idealism led to his own death later on and brought him more misery than his idealism could
Brutus delivers his speech in a laudatory manner by conveying Caesar’s deeds and claiming he was ambitious, although Antony contradicts Brutus’ claims and says Caesar spurned the crown with the intent to merely rule as a de facto dictator. Brutus’ speech reveals his motives were truly for the benefit of Rome given his nationalistic tone and Antony’s speech was merely used to obscure his true motives, which was to embroil Rome in a series of civil wars to attain power. Brutus and Antony’s speeches consisted predominantly of Pathos and Ethos, but it is Antony who ultimately it is Antony who prevails because of his almost disingenuous attitude and even use of Logos which is seen when claims that reading Caesar’s will would dishonor his compeers and even Caesar