The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Essay
Julius Caesar is the perfect example of Aristotle’s tragic hero, he is a king, he has a big ego, his friends are his enemies, and he dies in the middle of the play, it’s perfect. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, Caesar defeats Pompy and becomes King of Rome. His friends believe that he will become to powerful, so they decide to kill him. After his death, his closest friend, Antony, gives a heart wrenching funeral speech, which turns the citizens of Rome against Brutus for killing Caesar. Because of that, the country goes into a civil war, in which, at the end, Brutus kills himself with the help of another man, because he feels that all is lost. In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, I believe that both Caesar and Brutus should be considered tragic heroes, but seeing as there can only be one character that can be considered the tragic hero; I believe that it is Caesar. Shakespeare is correct for making Julius Caesar the tragic hero.
In 400 BC Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, wrote the five basic requirements for being a tragic hero. Aristotle was a student of Plato and the teacher of Alexander the Great. Known as a Greek philosopher who wrote books on subjects such as physics, poetry, logic, zoology, politics, and excreta, he also wrote the five fundamental requirements for being a tragic hero. Aristotle is important because he was a Greek philosopher, and in addition wrote the five essential requirements for being a tragic hero, which was a writing technique used by many famous writers, like Shakespeare. There are five necessary requirements to being a tragic hero. Aristotle wrote about them in his book, Ars Poetica. The first requirement states that a tragic hero must start out in high society. High society means that he could be a king, a noble, or royalty, but no matter what the tragic hero must be on top of society. The second of the requirements is that they have to have a tragic flaw. A tragic flaw is a blemish in a character’s personality, leading to their downfall. Third on the list of requirements is that he needs to have a downfall, which would partially be their fault. Fourth, is recognition, which means basically that the tragic hero needs to realize what he’s done wrong. Fifth, is the last requirement, he needs to die, plain and simple. In Ars Poetica Aristotle wrote the five basic requirements for being a tragic hero.
In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Caesar defiantly meets the requirements to be a tragic hero. The first requirement that he needed to have, to be considered a tragic hero, was to be in high society. Caesar defeated Pompey after a long civil war, and was to be crowned king of Rome; therefore he clearly is part of high society. Caesar also had a tragic flaw, his big ego. “Danger knows full well that Caesar is more dangerous than he.” (2.2.44-45) When Caesar said that it made his ego seem huge, and his ego is basically the reason they decide to kill him, because they thought that he was going to get to full of himself. Caesar’s downfall was in fact that the people who murdered him, were the ones he used to call friends. Caesar’s recognition could be that by the end of his life he realized that he could not trust anyone, not even his close friends. “Et tu, Brute?” (3.1.76) Caesar of course fits the fifth requirement of death, he gets stabbed to death at the Capitol. Because Julius Caesar fits all the requirements of being the tragic hero, Shakespeare’s play should indeed be titled The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.
The Shakespeare play is rightfully named The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, it could be called The Tragedy of Marcus Brutus, because Brutus does meet most of the requirements for being a tragic hero, but he doesn’t take them to the extreme that Caesar does. Brutus is a senator, which is high society, but he is not king, like Caesar. He also has a tragic flaw, Brutus is to easy to persuade. Cassius begins to convince Brutus that Caesar is bad for Rome, and fakes letters to Brutus that say how bad Caesar is for Rome, and because Brutus is so noble and wants to do what’s best for Rome, he believes him. Brutus’ downfall is when Rome turns on him after Antony makes his speech about the death of Caesar. “We’ll burn the house of Brutus.” (3.2.254) Brutus’ recognition probably happened when he saw the ghost of Brutus, or perhaps he only realized that all is lost and he might as well end his life anyway, which is not as good a recognition as Caesars. Also, Brutus does die, which is the fifth requirement, he asks three men to kill him, and each decline, except Strato, who agrees. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is rightfully called so, and in other words should not be called The Tragedy of Marcus Brutus.
William Shakespeare is correct for making Julius Caesar the tragic hero. In conclusion, Julius Caesar makes a better tragic hero than Marcus Brutus, because his 5 requirements were more severe then Brutus’. Also, Brutus did not have a very clear recognition, which makes it difficult to see if he has all five requirements. Caesar is the perfect example of a tragic hero, because, he is a king, he has a big ego, his friends are his enemies, and he dies in the middle of the play, it’s perfect.
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