Shakespeare Expository Essay (Grade 9)

Shakespeare seldom has a character in his play that is heroic without flaw, Julius Caesar. Some may argue that Brutus is the hero, or Caesar is the villain, but the truth is that no single character is 100% villain, or 100% hero. Julius Caesar is the closest thing to a hero that Rome will get, due to his generous, un-ambitious and wise nature. Caesar’s downfall was partly due to his “ambition”, although further evidence will prove this a flawed reason on behalf of the conspirators. As Marc Anthony stated sarcastically, Caesar is the furthest thing from ambitious (act 3, scene 2, pg 56). He denied the crown three times (act 1, scene 2, line 119-226), and trusted Brutus as an honest roman, with an honest opinion (act 3, scene 1, line 76). He had already denied the crown, but the crowd was trying to convince him otherwise. Had Brutus explained his thoughts to Caesar, Caesar most likely wouldn’t have even considered taking the crown. Even if the ambition was a villainous trait, Caesar still considered a villainous. If anything, Brutus is to be blamed for his communication error and his naive ways for the death of Caesar. Throughout Caesars life, he never exhibited any signs of ambition. And other rural retreat that Caesar has, although on revealed until later, is his overwhelming generosity, Caesar, in his will, left all his money and his private garden to the citizens of Rome (act 3, scene 2, line240-253). A typical wealthy nobleman would leave his wealth and his life earnings to pass down the family, although, Caesar is not a typical wealthy nobleman. Caesar is a generous leader. Bad leaders neglect the poor and commoners, and this is seen throughout history. A good leader gives the poor hope, and words of guidance, but Caesar is even better than that. Caesar is a great leader, who gave all his wealth to the city. Anyone that claims Caesar was greedy would be ignorant to overlook the previous facts. Caesar was generous, maki9ng him a revolutionist emperor. Julius Caesar raised to the top by making wise decisions and this contributes to his heroism. Caesar didn’t live to be the last living person in the First Triumvirate by being foolish. He paved his way to success by being wise. He pointed out that Cassius was a snake, and was not to be trusted (act 1, scene 2, line 3), and had Marc Antony not told him otherwise, he may have acted on his instincts. This is an incredible feat, considering Cassius lead Caesar to his downfall. If Caesar’s friends had been wiser, perhaps they wouldn’t have let the conspiracy happen. Caesar was a very wise leader, which is another reason that contributes to him being the most heroic character. Julius Caesar was wise, generous, and un-ambitious. He is undoubtedly the closest thing to a hero that Rome had. Caesar showed he wasn’t ambitious by denying the crown, that he was generous by giving his belongings to the roman citizens, and that he was wise by spotting a snake. When Caesar died, he accepted it, because Brutus killed him. Rome killed him. Caesar died not only a fearsome leader, but a hero and a martyr. He accepted death, because although unethical, that’s what the “noblest” Roman wanted.