The Tragic Hero in Julius Caesar - Research Paper Example

The author of the paper states that through Brutus, Shakespeare effectively portrays a member of Rome’s ancient order, an idealistic character who believed in the ideals of Republicanism. The death of this order announces the arrival of the triumvirate, for which the death of Brutus is necessary. The tragic hero meets his doom not just through the interventions of fate and his enemies but also through his own error of judgment. Brutus commits a number of errors during the play, all of which contribute to his downfall.

The outdated nature of Brutus’s vision for Rome can be seen in the conspiracy scene where he thinks over the ideals that were followed during the time of his ancestors. This was the time of the creation of Rome. Caesar was about to destroy this Rome with the introduction of kingship. My ancestors did from the streets of Rome The Tarquin drive when he was called a king. ‘Speak, strike, redress!’ Am I entreated To speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise, If the redress will follow, thou receivest Thy full petition at the hands of Brutus.

  This speech clearly proves how adamantly Brutus clings on to the old ideas which the Roman society had been itching to throw away, as is seen in the warm welcome that was being prepared for Caesar in the opening scene of the play and also through accounts of how Pompey was treated. The other important character in the play, Julius Caesar, however, is a contrast to Brutus. He stands for the new ideas of emperorship. In the play, he is popular and has the support of the commoners in his mission to be king.

Unlike Brutus, he is able to identify the mood of the people and act accordingly. As is seen from Casca’s account of the crown-giving ceremony to Cassius and Brutus in the persuasion scene, he is a skilled manipulator of the masses unlike Brutus who is unable to sway the masses to his side, as we see in Act III Scene II, as a result of which the initiative is seized by Caesar’s trusted aide, Mark Antony. Brutus’s inability in dealing with political situations is contrasted with that of Caesar and his friends, including Antony and Octavius Caesar, who are representatives of a slimier political structure.

As opposed to Brutus, however, Caesar’s tragic flaw is not his lack of foresight but his pride. This prevents him from finding out about the conspiracy from the soothsayer. The contrast between the two characters is thus, also one between two tragic heroes, who meet their doom through different errors of judgment.