Marcus Brutus: A True Tragic Hero

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Marcus Brutus is regarded as the main character in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by a majority of people. Whether or not Caesar is the main protagonist in the play has caused much controversy. Unfortunately, Shakespeare is not here to justify these thought-provoking questions. All there is to help determine the truth is his writing of the play. Caesar’s early demise is enough evidence that the play is more focused on Brutus, but further proof of this is that Brutus is an absolute Roman, his demise at the end of the play saddens the people of Rome, and he is regarded as the play's true tragic hero. Brutus’s pure Roman-like behavior makes him an essential character in the play. A true Roman is someone who is kind, honest, and loyal, for that person puts the needs of Rome before his own. When Brutus is first introduced in Act 2, his conflicting feelings about Caesar prove that he is a genuine character and is caught between doing what is right for Rome and being a loyal friend to Caesar. As Caesar is returning from defeating Pompey’s sons, Brutus says to Cassius, “Be not deceived... Vexéd I am / Of late with passions of some difference, /…show more content…
A true tragic hero would think of others before himself. A tragic hero is someone who expresses heroism but has a fatal flaw that will later get them killed. In Brutus’s case, it is his naiveté. Brutus is easily manipulated by Cassius, with his letters, who gives Brutus a reason to join the conspiracy and kill his best friend. After reading the upsetting letters that were written by “distraught citizens”, Brutus declares, “O Rome, I make thee promise, / If the redress will follow, thou receivest / Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus” (JC. 2. 1. 59-61). Even though Brutus murders Antony’s best friend, Antony still recalls him as the “noblest Roman of them all” (JC. 5. 5. 74). after Brutus kills
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