Julius Caesar Essay

[Harley Scarow]

Did you ever find the title of a written work unfitting? Many vivid readers advise, "Don't judge a book by its cover." This case is met in a common controversy amongst Shakespearians and literature critics in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a tragic play about politics and treachery in ancient Rome. Although the title of this play is Julius Caesar, many readers believe that the true tragic hero of the play is Marcus Brutus instead. Brutus' tragic flaw was revealed in 3.1 when he killed Julius Caesar with the final slash for the good of Rome, as seen in his idealistic view of the world. In addition, Brutus' tragic flaws of idealism and honor are more impactful upon the play than Julius Caesar's self-centered persona. As seen in many of William Shakespeare's other tragic plays, the tragic hero usually holds traits generally considered morally righteous rather than obvious personality flaws. Finally, the resolution of the play's central conflict is resolved in ACT V when Brutus commits suicide to prevent capture during the war, along the way avenging Caesar.

Brutus' idealism and righteousness, seemingly positive traits that are actually tragic flaws, are seen throughout the play as they affect Brutus' judgment. Brutus' tragic flaw is first established when he fell under Cassius' persuasion in 1.2, ending with Brutus joining the conspiracy after influenced that Caesar was Rome's budding tyrant. Brutus’ magnanimous morality further advanced when he declared, "It must be by his death; and for my part, / I know no personal cause to spurn at him, / But for the general (2.1.10-12 p47).” By letting his honor dominate, Brutus announces he will halfheartedly eliminate Caesar as a friend but honorably purge Caesar as a tyrant for the good of Rome, under the logic that killing one person important to him was better than if that person emerged as an empire-torturing tyrant. Act of killing Caesar marked the clear establishment of Brutus' fatal flaw; his self-believed praiseworthy act was a fatal setup, eventually sweltering into regret that would eventually swallow Brutus in 5.5 of the play. In 5.5 of the play, Mark Antony admits to Brutus’ honor after Brutus’ death when he admits, “[Brutus] was the noblest Roman of them all (5.5.75 p197).” Mark Antony indirectly sums up that Brutus’ death was caused by the good honor that was actually his tragic flaw.

[Harley Scarow]

Peter Dang
Friday, November 09, 2007
Writing (7)
Essay – Julius Caesar

Should The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Be Titled The Tragedy of Brutus Instead?

Did you ever find the title of a written work unfitting? Many vivid readers advise, "Don't judge a book by its cover." This case is met in a common controversy amongst Shakespearians and literature critics in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a tragic play about politics and treachery in ancient Rome. Although the title of this play is Julius Caesar, many readers believe that the true tragic hero of the play is Marcus Brutus instead. Brutus' tragic flaw was revealed in 3.1 when he killed Julius Caesar with the final slash for the good of Rome, as seen in his idealistic view of the world. In addition, Brutus' tragic flaws of idealism and honor are more impacting upon the play than Julius Caesar's self-centered persona. As seen in many of William Shakespeare's other tragic plays, the tragic hero usually holds traits generally considered morally righteous rather than obvious personality flaws. Finally, the resolution of the play's central conflict is resolved in ACT V when Brutus commits suicide to prevent capture during the war, along the way avenging Caesar’s death.

Brutus' idealism and righteousness, seemingly positive traits that are actually tragic flaws, are seen throughout the play as they affect Brutus' judgment. Brutus' tragic flaw is first established when he fell under Cassius' persuasion in 1.2, ending with Brutus joining the conspiracy after influenced that Caesar was Rome's budding tyrant. Brutus’ magnanimous morality further advanced when he declared, "It must be by his death; and for my part, / I know no personal cause to spurn at him, / But for the general” (2.1.10-12 p47). By letting his honor dominate, Brutus announces he will halfheartedly eliminate Caesar as a friend but honorably purge Caesar as a tyrant for the good of Rome, under the logic that killing one person important to him was better than if that person emerged as an empire-torturing tyrant. Act of killing Caesar marked the clear establishment of Brutus' fatal flaw; his self-believed praiseworthy act was a fatal setup, eventually sweltering into regret that would eventually swallow Brutus in 5.5 of the play. In 5.5 of the play, Mark Antony admits to Brutus’ honor after Brutus’ death when he admits, “[Brutus] was the noblest Roman of them all” (5.5.75 p197). Mark Antony indirectly sums up that Brutus’ death was caused by the good honor that was actually his tragic flaw.

Brutus’ tragic flaw didn’t only affect one part of his judgment—it eventually became a spreading nature of his that evolved into clouding out many other aspects of his judgment, making Brutus’ personality gaps more impacting than Caesar’s simple defects. Brutus’ honor obscures his view of the world as he sees everybody around him as having the same honor that he has within their hearts, making Brutus extremely gullible when that defective trait was tested. As opposed to Caesar’s hardheadedness towards inquirers, Brutus’ noble drive but easy-to-fool mentality is established after he reads the forged letters and declares, “O Rome, I make thee promise, / If the redress will follow, thou receivest / Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!” (2.1.58-60 p93). In his affirmation, Brutus’ honor-doubled-gullibility ignites his fire to take action and purify Rome, while Caesar’s unawareness and cockiness, as seen in 3.1, would have just ignored the comments. Additionally, Caesar dies as early as 3.1 at the Capitol at the slashing stabs of the conspirators while Brutus dies in 5.5, which is the last act, by committing suicide to prevent his capture. A common motif in Shakespeare’s plays is that the tragic protagonist usually dies by the repeated influence of departed central characters, as seen when Brutus disclosed, “The ghost of Caesar hath appeared to me / Two several times by night—at Sardis once, / And this last night here in Philippi fields. / I know my hour is come” (5.5.20-23 p193). Caesar himself was not desperately influenced by any recently deceased people, and was against his will killed by the conspirators; Brutus’ was heavily influenced with regret since the moment he killed Caesar, eventually committing suicide—as commonly seen in many of Shakespeare’s plays..

[Harley Scarow]

Peter Dang
Friday, November 09, 2007
Writing (7)
Essay – Julius Caesar

Should The Julius Caesar Be Titled The Tragedy of Brutus Instead?

Did you ever find the title of a written work unfitting? Many vivid readers advise, "Don't judge a book by its cover." This case is met in a common controversy amongst Shakespearians and literature critics in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a tragic play about politics and treachery in ancient Rome. Although the title of this play is Julius Caesar, many readers believe that the true tragic hero of the play is Marcus Brutus instead. Brutus’s tragic flaw surfaced in 3.1 when he killed Caesar with the final cut for the good of Rome, as seen in his idealistic view of the world. In addition, Brutus’s tragic flaws of idealism and honor are more impacting upon the play than Caesar's self-centered persona. As seen in many of William Shakespeare's other tragic plays, the tragic hero usually holds traits morally righteous rather than obvious personality flaws. Finally, Brutus’s life-impacting mistakes, which build up more suspense and outweigh Caesar's, allow the resolution of the play's central conflict to be resolved in ACT V when Brutus commits suicide to prevent capture by enemy soldiers and avenge Caesar’s death.

Brutus’s idealism and righteousness, usually positive traits that were actually Brutus’s tragic flaws, are seen throughout the play as they affect his judgment. Brutus’s tragic flaw established when he fell under Cassius' persuasion in 1.2, joining the conspiracy after influenced that Caesar was Rome's budding tyrant. Brutus’s magnanimous morality further advanced when he declared, "It must be by his death; and for my part, / I know no personal cause to spurn at him, / But for the general” (2.1.10-12 p47). By letting his honor dominate, Brutus announces he'd halfheartedly eliminate Caesar as a friend but honorably purge Caesar as a potential tyrant for Rome. The act of killing Caesar marked Brutus’s fatal flaw; his self-believed praiseworthy act was a fatal setup, eventually sweltering into regret that swallowed Brutus in 5.5 of the play. In 5.5 of the play, Mark Antony admits to Brutus’s honor after Brutus’s death when he admits, “[Brutus] was the noblest Roman of them all” (5.5.75 p197). Mark Antony indirectly sums up that Brutus’s death was caused by the good honor that was actually his tragic flaw.

Brutus’s tragic flaw didn’t only affect one part of his judgment—it became a spreading nature that clouded out other aspects of his judgment, making Brutus’s personality gaps more impacting than Caesar’s simple defects. As opposed to Caesar’s hardheadedness towards inquirers, Brutus’s noble drive but easy-to-fool mentality surfaced after he reads the forged letters, declaring, “O Rome, I make thee promise, / If the redress will follow, thou receivest / Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!” (2.1.58-60 p93). In his affirmation, Brutus’s naive gullibility ignites his fire to purify Rome, while Caesar’s unawareness and cockiness, as seen in 3.1, would've ignored the comments. Additionally, Caesar dies as early as 3.1 at the Capitol by the conspirators while Brutus dies in 5.5, the last act, by committing suicide to prevent capture. The tragic protagonist usually dies by the repeated influence of departed central characters, as seen when Brutus disclosed, “The ghost of Caesar hath appeared to me / Two several times by night—at Sardis once, / nd this last night here in Philippi fields. / I know my hour is come” (5.5.20-23 p193). Caesar himself wasn't desperately influenced by any recently deceased people, and was against his will killed by the conspirators; Brutus’s was heavily influenced with regret since the moment he killed Caesar, eventually committing suicide. Although Caesar's ghost materialized from Brutus’s regret to haunt him, this was only further buildup in Brutus’s eventual death. Overall, the title of the play fit more as being Brutus’s tragedy because Brutus’s seemingly good view of the world ended up being his downfall.

While Caesar's impatience and cockiness made many easily avoided mistakes that led to his downfall, Brutus’s nobility caused him to make mistakes. Brutus’s first mistake was seen as early as 1.2, when Brutus listened and believed Cassius's plot, seeing only the good of Cassius. Brutus’s second mistake was when he let Mark Antony live, assuming, "And for Mark Antony, think not of him; / For he can do no more than Caesar's arm When Caesar's head is off" (2.1.195-196, p59). Ironically, Brutus’s choice of allowing Antony to live ended in his own death, as seen in ACT V when Brutus loses the war to Antony. Brutus’s third and most egregious mistake was when Brutus decide to meet Antony's army, who wouldn't have rose to this power if Brutus killed Antony earlier, in Philippi instead of waiting at the camp, naively declaring, "Come on refreshed, new-added, and encouraged; / From which advantage we cut him off / If at Philippi we do face him there, / These people at our back" (4.2.239-242 p157). Although Brutus made many well-thought decisions that appeared foolproof, ironically, they led to a downfall with more dramatic buildup than Caesar's assassination.

Overall, Brutus’s more emotionally dramatic death in Julius Caesar proves that a title can be misleading after a reader finishes reading a piece of work. Shakespeare constantly hinted to the audience that Marcus Brutus was the true tragic hero by showcasing his regret after killing Caesar, his naive idealism, and Brutus’s foolproof thought but actually egregious mistakes--common traits of a tragic hero that made Brutus deserving of the title. Hypothetically speaking, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar wouldn't have been as big of a hit to the audience if it was instead labeled The Tragedy of Marcus Brutus, although the audience would've surely found the title more fitting. While misleading titles are often in written works to persuade readers with someone or something well-known on the surface, they are also present in franchise and organization names to persuade its audience to buy products and do certain actions; Shakespeare probably named this work so because people were familiar with Julius Caesar, although readers might say otherwise. So what the title, Julius Caesar can be misleading? Brutus’s unexpected lead role proves that a character in a piece of writing can fit the title better than the character that is actually stated in the title.