Comparing Brutus And Hotspur In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Many tragic heroes had honor which was either their downfall or their positive trait. In Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1, Hotspur, a hot tempered traitor, makes honor his first priority for him and his family . Although the king praised him, he led a rebellion against him. In Julius Caesar Brutus, a honor driven conspirator, believes too much in honor and uses nor as a way to justify his action. He is admired by the Roman people, but was easily manipulated into joining a conspiracy and immediately took as the leader to killing Caesar. Both of these characters are very similar in how they perceived and lived their lives. Shakespeare creates Brutus and Hotspur as characters whose principle concern is for themselves and honor which ironically
Worcester makes all of the plans for the conspiracy and manipulates
Hotspur into taking control of the operation. Equally, Brutus is also a poor decision maker. First of all, he decides to assassinate the king and in making that faulty decision, he makes other flawed decisions. He decides that Cicero, a wise and respected man, should not be in the conspiracy. The only reason Brutus did not want him in the conspiracy is that he did not want competition for the position as the leader of the conspiracy. When the other conspirators decide to kill Antony along with Caesar, Brutus disagrees because he believes that Antony will not cause problems for the future. The other conspirators try to give reasons for killing Antony, Brutus does not listen, interrupts Cassius in mid sentence, and just decides that they will not kill Antony. Cassius also manipulates Brutus just as Hotspur was by Worcester. Cassius flatters Brutus and provokes Brutus by telling him that it is his duty for his family is to kill the king. He says, “ There was a Brutus once that would have brooked th’ eternal devil to keep his state in Rome as easily as a king” (Julius Caesar, I,