In Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar there is a controversy over who is the true tragic hero of the play: Brutus or Caesar? The tragic hero has an inner flaw that creates adversity for the character. This adversity then leads the tragic hero to make a serious error in judgement that leads to his demise. Aristotle once said: "A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty" Brutus is the respected and admired representative of republicanism due to this honor, courage, and justice. Despite all of his accolades and noble traits, suffering rapidly fills his life. He loses his best friend, Julius Caesar, Portia dies, and many of his friends were killed by the Second Triumvirate. These events later transpired to his eventual death; he committed suicide with Strato's assistance. Even though Caesar is killed, Brutus is the tragic hero because of his noble personality, his tragic flaw, and eventual defeat.
Brutus' noble personality is shown through his integrity, bravery, ethics. Even when he murdered Caesar, Antony still recognized him as "the noblest Roman of them all." The reason for Antony saying this is because Brutus was the only conspirator that assassinated Caesar for the wellbeing of Rome. He could have backed out of the Senator's scandal at anytime to prevent punishment. However, he was willing to take any punishment so that Rome could remain its republican government. In Act 2 Scene , another example of Brutus' selflessness is when he doesn't tell Portia his conspiracy to murder Caesar because he feared it would add more stress for her to deal with.
Brutus' actions are based off of his amorousness towards others and Rome. In Act 1 Scene 1 he is squeamish to join Cassius' conspiracy because he fears betraying his friend. Brutus murdered caesar only because he feared what would happened to Rome, especially the plebeians, if Caesar became an emperor. Even though Caesar was ambitious, Brutus notices that Caesar had honorable traits. For this reason, he shows respect to Caesar when he says that Caesar shall have a proper funeral and he allows Antony, Caesar's closest friend, to speak at the funeral.
Brutus shows his mourn for the lose of his friends in Act 5 Scene 5 when he kills himself partially due to this reason. Every tragic hero has a flaw that leads up to to their defeat and death. Brutus, like every tragic hero, had a flaw. He...
